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How to Unlock Windows Phone when Narrator is Turned On

Have you turned on Narrator on your Windows Phone (or Lumia) device and now cannot get past the lockscreen? If so, you’re not alone as many other users face this issue as well. Narrator will continue to read what’s on the screen and hence won’t flick the lockscreen up.

While at other areas of your phone, you can use two fingers together to scroll around, but unfortunately that doesn’t work on the lockscreen. So what to do? The answer is simple – Turn off narrator. Read on to know how.

Key Combination to Turn off Narrator

You can turn off narrator at any time by using the following key combination:

  1. Press and hold Volume Up key
  2. Tap or double tap on the Start/Windows Button

The above key combination if followed correctly will turn off the Narrator and you should be able to unlock your phone normally thereafter. If it does not turn off in the first attempt, try again. It may really take a couple of attempts before you master the way of turning it off.

In case you want to enable narrator again, you need to do that again from the ease of access center.

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  • THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!! YOU HELPED MORE THAN THE MANUFACTURER ONLINE SUPPORT, THEY SENT ME TO MY CARRIER FOR THIS ISSUE ! I AM GLAD I CHECKED THIS SITE BEFORE WASTING MY TIME AND GAS. MY PHONE IS NOW UNLOCKED AND FREE FROM TALK/NARRATOR MODE

  • I have to performed hard reset to my phone loosing all my data to get ride narrators lock screen. So difficult way hope Microsoft some day made things well like android or macintosh. Never in my life I will purchase a Microsoft windows product again never I swear. And God bless you for help Nokia users

  • Thanks for the help, have been trying for hour or so before I finally searched for answer, Comments made by bystander made the difference, thanks your a gem bystander

  • After reseting my Nokia Lumnia its now stuck on “Welcome to your windows phone, Let’s get started.” Screen it doesn’t sense when I touch the “get started option, and emergency call” but it unlocks the phone fine when touching the screen. Please help

  • i took so much tension about my phone,n really got annoyed by this narrater. thanku so much for grt help ..this solution really works for me widout taking much time.

  • Thanks a lot for the nice suggestion. The narrator was quite annoying. I was unable to open my phone for two days and quite frustrated. It worked in the first attempt itself.

    • While speech navigator is on.

      Firstly. Any key, first tap is for selection, subsequent double tap is for keying in the chosen/selected key.

      Secondly, speech navigation can be activated/deactivated from “Ease of Access” center.

      Thirdly, while Speech navigation is on, if you want to scroll up or down, use both your thumbs and move them simultaneously.

    • the narrator must be selected on the start window on screen first before you press and hold the volume up button then double tap on the start window.
      So you turn on the screen. press the start window until you see the yellow box selected the start window only. Then press the volume up button and hold it. finally double tap on the window button on the screen.

  • its not plz plz SIR come on tell now what to do..I have window phone 8.1…and I have to wish my Best Friend before clock strike tewelve

  • okay! but now its showing the password bar but not accepting my password
    πŸ™ .
    And BTW I have seen the comment I think thay were lucky that their phone worked
    i think that my window phone will never gonna work..

  • please help my window phone N lumia 625 narrator on n then not respond… plz tell me how to narrator off ???

  • I accidentally turned the narrator mode on on my phone and I was so freaked out that at the time I’m unable to bring it back to its normal settings. I went to search for a solution and stumbled on this answers. Really helpful!

  • Oh my goodness Narender, you are a complete life saver!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I had started looking at phones online and then decided to google the issue I was having. Thanks again.

    Sara

    • Hah! I know how frustrating that narrator thing is on Windows Phones. And I just think what would happen to somebody who is a visually impaired? Poorly implemented feature from Microsoft it is.
      I’m glad that this has helped you and saved you money πŸ™‚

  • Yes Narender, you’re really a lifesaver, I started to freak out that my phone would be locked forever. I wish ? you All the best. M. Svika

  • Thank You Narender Singh , You saved my Life, continue the Great work !

    Best regards, Martin Svika from Latvia.

  • Thanks Mate. I’m new to (temporary phone) windows OS and this Narrator was most annoying..glad I found this info to shut it out.

  • i have done my whatsaap narrator on and i m unable to open my security code….plzz help me out…???

  • Hi my Nokia lumia 820 is freezing am trying to make it on its keep on saying Nokia please advice ….thank you

  • Um, my screen of my windows 8.1 {not sure what brand it is} won’t turn off and when i try pulling my lockscreen up to unlock my phone, it won’t work. My screen keeps showing 7:34 and today’s date plus a text from my boyfriend; which I can’t reply to since my phone isn’t responding. I would really appreciate it if someone would try to help me fix my phone so I don’t have to borrow my mom’s phone.

    • Did you try pulling out the battery and re-inserting to see if the screen responds? If it still doesn’t, it is most likely a hardware issue and the device needs to be sent to a service center.

        • Try a soft reset by Pressing and Holding the Volume Down and Power keys together for over 15 seconds. Turn on the phone then and see if that sorts out the problem.

          • I tried that already and there is still a still. My phone screen showed a “!” after turning on. What could that mean?

  • Good Day, I somehow have the narrator switched on and I am struggling to use my phone (Lumia520)
    I see that you say that I need to hold the volume up button and press the menu button, but my volume up button is broken. Is there any other way I can switch narrator off?

    • None that I’m aware of in this case. You’ll have to factory reset the device if you can’t manage to get past the lockscreen.

  • Someone please help me or tell me how to get my Windows phone off navigation I’ve gone through all the props that they told me to do but I have had no success so far. Tks

  • My narrator is on.After turning my phone on,lam trying to access after entering my start pin but it isnt responding.Plis help

  • I’m really confused. narrator doesn’t help much in any apps, is Microsoft planning to launch some accessible screen reader for us? or, can I install android in my Lumia525?

  • my phone is completely frozen in the lock screen
    the lock screen says 7:56 wednesday 21 and it says try in 825964 minutes it been doing it for days and i dont know how to unlock it please help me

    • You can’t unless that timer is finished. Probably the date on your phone has reset to the factory state and that’s why it is happening.
      Your options are:
      1. Wait for that time.
      2. Insert another SIM card and see if the time gets updated.
      3. Reset your phone to factory state.

  • Thank you!!! So glad the narrator is gone. I don’t understand what good it is since it won’t let you do anything while it is on. Now if I can figure out how to get my music transferred from my computer. I can’t get my computer to recognize it.

    • When connected using a USB cable to a Windows PC, your phone will just appear in your Computer as a portable device and you can open it to cut/paste music into the folders.

      • That’s the problem I’m having…neither one of my 2 computers will show any portable devices when they are plugged in. And since they won’t show up, upgrading drivers won’t work since there’s nothing for it to upgrade.

        • Ah! That’s strange. Firstly, are you certain that the USB cable you used is fine? Does the phone start charging when connected to the computer?
          Next, what version of Windows are you running (XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10)?

          • Yes, the USB cable works…the phone charges when attached to both computers and electrical outlets. My desktop is XP & the laptop is Vista. The phone gives instructions how to transfer the music with both Vista & XP, so I’m assuming that means it should work….somehow. I don’t understand why it won’t show up on either computer. Maybe it’s there and I don’t know what I’m looking at.

    • How did you get out the navigation I cannot do anything with my phone it’s driving me crazy

  • Amazing man !! And that bloody narrator, i hate her voice.. That lady was saying ”doube tap back button, and when i tap double she says – no response ” i could not do anything with the screen. I was planing to go lumia store to get this problem fixed but incidently i saw your site and I tried it.. And when she said ”existing narrator ” I was like in heaven, immense happiness like I won the world. Actually I mentally planned to buy a new phone because i had tried to fix this issue for 3-4 hours !! I thought some virus attacked on it :p πŸ˜€ it was a great experience though.. Thanks a lot for the help πŸ™‚

    • hahah! So far haven’t faced anybody who managed to do some good using the narrator feature. Guess it is simply poor implementation.
      You’re welcome though, Ankit. I’m glad it was helpful πŸ™‚

  • Hi, sorry to be the one for whom this technique didn’t work .I’m using lumia 532 it never happened before that my phone didn’t get pass the lock screen after putting in the pin. But suddenly it won’t. Please help me …

    Regards

  • This saved the day. Thanks so much. Others had recommended to hold the volume up button and start and I tried that SEVERAL times before this Q&A. You saved my sanity.

  • Thanks a lot!!! I was about to die with this narrator thing but thank God your site saved me… i had tried everything and got into the settings screen but it wasn’t letting me scroll down to get to the option … but it was really simple to exit with your help.. Thanks πŸ™‚

  • a big thanks to techmasto….i had got really frustrated and was about to destroy my phone with a hammer…they came on time to make me understand “HASTE MAKES WASTE”.

  • I have a pasword in my mbl when i give a password to mbl its not unlock i will kill my self what the hell is this stuppud fucking app by mistake i had turn it on but i dont know how i off it

    • Did you follow the steps to turn off narrator? It might take a few attempts before you manage to successfully turn it off.

  • Hi the easiest way to turn of the narrator in your Nokia 730 is just click on the search option and and type “ease of access setting” and your right there and you can turn it off and your mobile will come back to the normal stage. I ignorantly turned it on and struggled for almost 10 hrs……

  • This unwanted narrator put me really in trouble, and I had transferred my all data from Nokia 920 to my PC because of this. I am thankful to TechMesto for providing tips to unlocking this chaos, and I am recommending to avoid using the Windows phone, if there is no some easy setting while restarting the phone when some one by mistakenly turn on the useless and irritating narrator.

  • the SOB who wrote the script for that stupidest of all the functions on a windows phone should be hanged on his balls for an eternity…
    nearly broke my phone trying to get that shit narrator off..
    thanks a bunch guys from this site for the easy explaination, worked like a charm…

    • Exactly! I don’t know how this stupid Narrator will help the visually impaired people. Hopefully it will be fixed in Windows 10.
      BTW thanks for the kind words and appreciation πŸ™‚

  • stupid narrator had me in tears, i was ready to scream,and factory reset it but i didnt know how since i couldnt get into my settings so. when i found this site i was ecstatic to be able to fix it, at nearly one am i can sleep safely and not worry about if im going to be able to use my phone if there is an emergency. I am emensly grateful.

  • I was trying to familiarize myself with the lumia phone as it was a gift and I mistakenly screen was locked and the narrator came on. I have tried everything to remove the window lock and it is not going off, please help me

    • very simple just type in the search option “ease of access setting” and you are right there and you can turn it off… I just did it I also had the same problem…………

  • That worked but now my phone is black and I tried to fix that from settings but that didn’t work…. Ant help please

  • I accidentally put narrator on after that touch screen not operates properly,even i does not go in to my setting & change setting .allmost all is hanged & voice navigation started.I cannot scroll my start screen.
    after trying volume key & start button my phone works normal…..

    thanks for this useful help…….

  • Thank you so much to this site. I was playing with my phone and accidentally put this stupid narrator on. And came close to smashing my phone with a hammer. I even took it to a cell phone store and they spent 1 hour trying to turn this dumb app off.

    Thanks you save me from buying a new phone. Great site

  • Thank you so much. I asking myself Γ  simple question: did the buyers
    really need a ” Chinese puzzle” first for reassuring and satisfying their
    communications? Innovate certainly, but not to brutalize and traumatize
    the already stressed memories.

  • ITS ACCIDENTALLY NARRATOR WAS ON ,THE PHONE IS LOCKED. PLEASE ADVICE TO BRING BACK THE NORMAL OPERATION OF MY NOKIA LUMIA PHONE. THANKS.

  • i used narrator for 1st time never again locked my phone took me ages to sort but thanks to this site and people running it i have my phone back to normal ..

    • Thank you so much. Thank Narrow got on my LAST NERVE!!!! I wanted to throw my phone an buy another one. Thanks to this site i dont have to. She is gone and buried alive. Never will i use her again. Y would they install something like that in the phone anyways. This was the most stupid app made!!!! Thank you so very much!!!

  • my lumia 520 is locked and says try after 344351 minutes
    tried pressing volume down n camera button simultaneously alongwith windows n camera button
    in short tried all options of pressing buttons together but its screen appears for less then second and it is unable to access it
    plz help

    • I guess you need to reset your phone to factory state or wait for those minutes to end and then key in the unlock PIN. The second part isn’t an option, so yep. A reset is your only solution.
      BTW, do try restarting it and using another SIM card if somehow the time gets synced and corrected.

  • Assalam u Alaikum!
    I have had problem and found the sulution
    For narrator option!
    Thanks a lot!
    Regards.
    LUQMAN!

  • For my Lumia 520, I had to press both the volume (up&down) keys to prevent it from shouting in my office and then double clicked on teh windows button as suggested.

  • I have the lumia 640.. I try to enter passcode but it doesnt appear and now i cant isecphone. Damn narrator

      • Well done, Gerry πŸ™‚ Be sure to never turn on this thing again now. IDK if its just me or the thing is really poorly implemented?

  • please help, my daughter punched in the wrong password on her nokia windows phone 510 and now it says we must try again in 1866….minutes, how do i unlock it….please help

    • A full factory software reset would be your only solution unless you wanna wait for the time to expire and you key in the correct password this time.

  • i follow the steps but it didnt work……. my phone do not off the narrator mood plz help me i have nokia lumia 530.

  • I’m having a Nokia Lumia 520 phone and facing problem unlocking the screen, what can I do now since power key + tap/double tap, and sliding to the left left have all failed me? Getting to the settings tap has also not been accessed, need you immediate help.

  • Lumia 520 back butten and menu key search butten not working. Some times this opctions working. Please help me. Please solve this problem. Problem solving solution pls mail my inbox.

  • my microsoft lumia 640 voice menu is activate so i total command is voice & tab i cancel this option. pls solve my problem

  • some of the numbers on my lumia 520 windows 8.1 are not responding. How can i unlock the phone through my window live account.
    Thanks

  • Thanks sir for the response…………………but thats the mistake i have done i did not turn on the back up option i will do it fast on my nest use…………………. but one thing i did not get properly “************So, when you reset the phone and sign in with the same Microsoft account, they should come back to the phone. Photos generally follow the same rule**********”……!!!!!!!!……………….. what does it mean………….?……………………………… as i told u i did not turn on the back up option so even after that when i will reset my phone i can get my all my photos?…………………….. did you mean that………………? And is that possible if now i connect my phone with my pc can i copy my photos from my cell phone…………………….. please reply

    • Well, sorry for the confusion. If you did not turn on the backup, your photos are gone unfortunately. However, still try checking your camera roll at oneDrive.com after logging in with your Microsoft account. Maybe they were in fact being backed up?
      Your phone will be inaccessible in the PC unless it is unlocked. So no πŸ™

  • I’m using 520 and last night I accidentally turned this feature on and I struggled since then to turn it off up to the seconds before I posted this.

    Thank you very much. I found this really helpful…

  • Sir plz help me i am using Lumia 535 from last few months but from day before yesterday i forgot my phone lock screen password…………………..i tried several times to remember but i could not now all are saying that i have to reset my phone but if i do i will lose all my data text photos videos…………………. but sir i had some important with my famaly members which are simply price less memories for me……………………………………………so plz sir i bag you plz tell any any way to solve this problem without loosing any data…………………………………. i am eagerly waiting for your response sir please reply me please please……………………

    • Hey buddy.
      I’m sorry to hear that, but as you may also understand, security code will be nothing if it was so easily broken into and important data be accessed. Breaking into your phone without the password is something which is literally impossible.
      So, here we look at the possible alternatives: Your text messages and contacts should by default be backed up to your OneDrive account (if you have internet access). So, when you reset the phone and sign in with the same Microsoft account, they should come back to the phone. Photos generally follow the same rule and if you had backup turned on, you can easily find them in your OneDrive cloud account. Also, they might be saved onto the SD card (if you had one in your phone) and you can access them by connecting the SD card with your PC.
      That’s all the help I can offer you here.

  • You my friend,are a life savor. Got it in first attempt. I m so happy i stumbled upon this link coz i was so frustrated trying all the other button combinations i read at so many other sites. From now on consider me a regular at ur site.

    • That’s really pleasing to hear. Thanks and hope you’re enjoying your Lumia now πŸ™‚

  • Thank you! Awesome save for our phone! My daughter turned it on by accident and about had a meltdown… You are our knight in shining armor!

    • cannot use my window phone apps apart from receiving calls. seems screen is locked and cant even do settings. pls help urgently

  • my friend had turned on this feature by accident and all day couldn’t get it to turn off. I just got home from work and looked it up on here to turn it off and it worked first try. thank you.

  • i am using lumia 520 since 2 weeks.i hv prblm in setting the lock screen passwrd.i am unable to click nd activate the option in settings…what to do?

  • Fiuufh! Mr. Sing
    I tried all the buttons, for 2 days.
    Thank you to your know how, my phone works normally again.

  • Thank you very much for the help. It worked right away. couldn’t have done it without your help

  • friends, I have a Nokia Lumia 520 …
    It was locked with screen lock .
    I know the password of it ….
    but it was saying “try again in 499500 minutes”……
    please help me. …..
    I know the password of screen lock, but it was locked. ….

    • You probably removed the battery and the time has reset to default putting the clock behind. Try removing the battery again and see if the phone picks up the correct time. Else you’ll be needed to reset it.

  • Was F**king completely confused.. Thanks for the tip guys..
    But the easiest way, when turned mobile is turned on is to ” Commanding Cortana to ‘open ease of access’ and the double tap narrator to turn it off”

  • Thanks man. It gave me pain for 15 minutes cause i forgot the key word name (narrator) what i turned on. so it became harder to find the solution on net. Finally get rid of it, thanks again..

  • I have a Nokia Lumia 920 and it is not working. I press the volume up + windows start button and it doesn’t do anything. I tried multiple times and it doesn’t work. Does anyone know a solution???

  • another way is to go through local search

    tap on search window.. narrator will announce that u have selected the search window.. now double tap on search to open bing search

    type in “ease of acces” and it will give result of the settings in ease of acces

    turn off the narrator from the view that you have now

    just remember … listen to the narrator what it says until it finishes.. it guides you perfectly into doing actions

    thank you πŸ™‚

  • guys its not working on my windows 8 lumia 520, am long pressing volume up then double the windows key while am stil holding the volume up key bt stll the lady is barking

    • If it doesn’t work, you’re out of options. You need that to work in order to unlock.
      Only solution would be to either get it repaired or refurbish the phone to reset it to factory state.

  • As I got an info regarding the new update 8.1.1, I am using Lumia 1320. Is it able to update to this? Or any update coming?

    • Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 will be pushed together with the Lumia Denim update which should being rolling out to certain devices by the end of December. However, you can make use of Preview for Developers to get an early access.