How to Turn Off VoiceOver, TalkBack and Narrator
To turn off VoiceOver, TalkBack or Narrator, use your device's shortcut or switch it off in Settings. The quickest shortcuts are a triple-click of the side, top or Home button on an iPhone or iPad (if the Accessibility Shortcut is set up), both volume keys held for a few seconds on Android, and Windows logo key + Ctrl + Enter on a Windows PC. A Samsung TV calls its reading voice Voice Guide, and it has its own setting.
Below: what to do on each device, the settings path, and how touch works while a screen reader is on. Every step comes from the maker's own support page, which we read on October 30, 2026. Menus change with the version and the model, so the names on your screen may differ a little.
Key points
- Touch works differently while a screen reader is on. One tap selects an item and the reader says its name; a double-tap activates it. That is why a phone can seem frozen.
- A shortcut only works if it is switched on. If one does nothing, use Settings.
- Steps vary. Google and Samsung both say the steps differ by device, so we name the edition or models each page covers.
Jump to your device
- iPhone and iPad: triple-click the side, top or Home button, or go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver.
- Android: hold both volume keys for a few seconds, or go to Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack.
- Windows: press the Windows logo key + Ctrl + Enter.
- Mac: press Command-F5.
- Apple TV: on Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD, press the Menu or Back button three times.
- Samsung TV: Settings > General > Accessibility > Voice Guide Settings > Voice Guide > Off.
How to turn off VoiceOver on iPhone and iPad
Apple's guides for iPhone (iOS 27) and iPad (iPadOS 27) list the same ways to turn VoiceOver on or off. Use whichever one you can reach.
Button shortcut. Triple-click the side button on an iPhone with Face ID or iPhone Duo, or the Home button on iPhone SE. On an iPad, triple-click the Home button if it has one, and the top button on other models. This works only if you set it up under Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut. Apple says "If you select only one feature, the feature is immediately turned on or off when you click the button shortcut." If more than one feature is set up, Apple says to tap the one you want to turn on or off.
If the triple-click is not registering, Apple's Accessibility Shortcut article says you can slow down the click speed under Settings > Accessibility > Side Button (or Top Button, or Home Button, depending on your device).
Settings. Go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver and turn VoiceOver off. With VoiceOver on, tap the switch once to select it, then double-tap to flip it.
Control Center and Siri. Apple also lists Control Center, if you added VoiceOver there. For Siri, its example is asking something like "Turn on VoiceOver."
How touch changes while VoiceOver is on
Apple puts it plainly: "When VoiceOver is on, you must use VoiceOver gestures to operate iPhone." The iPad page says the same for iPad. These are the ones you need:
| Action | VoiceOver gesture |
|---|---|
| Select and speak an item | Tap or touch it |
| Activate the selected item | Double tap |
| Next or previous item | Swipe right or left |
| Pause or continue speaking | Two-finger tap |
| Mute or unmute VoiceOver | Three-finger double tap (triple tap if Zoom is also on) |
| Screen curtain on or off | Three-finger triple tap |
Sources: Apple's VoiceOver gesture pages for iPhone and iPad.
The last row explains a common scare. Apple says that when the screen curtain is on, the screen contents are active even though the display is black and appears to be turned off. If your screen went dark but the device is not off, that gesture may be the reason.
How to turn off TalkBack on Android
TalkBack is the screen reader on Android. Google says the setup depends on the device manufacturer, the Android version and the TalkBack version, so you may need to try more than one option.
Hold both volume keys. Press and hold both volume keys for a few seconds and listen for confirmation that TalkBack is off. This works if the TalkBack shortcut is on. If a shortcut button or floating button is on the screen, Google says to touch it with one finger to focus it, then double-tap.
Ask Google Assistant. Google's page says to say "Hey Google, turn off TalkBack."
Use Settings. Go to Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack, switch off Use TalkBack, and confirm with Turn off. With TalkBack on, touch each item once with one finger to focus it, then double-tap to select it.
Use an external keyboard. On the latest version of Android 16, press Action + Alt + T to turn TalkBack on or off. Google says the Action key is the Windows key on a Windows keyboard and the Command key on a Mac keyboard.
If the phone is locked
Google's page walks through this step by step. In short: press the Power button, then swipe up from the bottom of the lock screen with two fingers to reach the password screen, and tap each PIN digit with one finger. To reach Settings, swipe down from the top with two fingers (twice, to expand), focus Settings and double-tap.
Keep it from turning on again
Google ends its page with one more step: after turning TalkBack off, go to Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack and turn off the TalkBack shortcut. In Google's words: "To make sure you don't accidentally turn on TalkBack in the future, turn off the accessibility shortcut after you turn off TalkBack."
How touch changes while TalkBack is on
Google's page lists three to remember:
- Select: touch the item with one finger, then double-tap anywhere on the screen with one finger.
- Move between items: swipe left or right with one finger.
- Scroll: use two fingers.
If your phone uses gesture navigation, Google says to use two fingers for home, back and recent apps.
How to turn off Narrator on Windows
Narrator is the screen reader built into Windows.
Keyboard shortcut. Press the Windows logo key + Ctrl + Enter. Microsoft's guide says "press these keys once more" to stop Narrator. Microsoft's command list says the Ctrl key only stops Narrator reading; it does not turn it off.
Narrator settings. Press the Windows logo key + Ctrl + N to open Narrator settings, then switch off the toggle next to Use Narrator. You can also open Settings > Accessibility > Narrator. Microsoft's touch chapter gives an older route: Start, then Settings, then Ease of Access, then Narrator.
The sign-in screen. When you are signing in or opening some menus, an icon appears in the bottom right corner of the screen (Microsoft calls it the Accessibility icon, or the ease of access icon in an older version of its guide). Choosing it opens a menu with a toggle switch for Narrator.
How touch changes while Narrator is on
Microsoft says to drag one finger to explore, and "double-tap the screen with one finger to activate it" when you hear what you want. Flick left or right with one finger to move to the next or previous item, and swipe with two fingers to scroll. Tapping three times with four fingers shows all Narrator commands.
How to turn off VoiceOver on a Mac
On a Mac, VoiceOver is controlled mostly from the keyboard. Apple's VoiceOver guide for macOS 27 lists these ways to turn it on or off:
- Press Command-F5.
- If your Mac or Magic Keyboard has Touch ID, hold the Command key and quickly press Touch ID three times.
- Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Accessibility (you may need to scroll down), click VoiceOver, then turn it off.
- Open the Accessibility Shortcuts panel with Option-Command-F5 (or Touch ID three times), press Tab until you reach the VoiceOver option, then press the Space bar.
- Ask Siri something like "Turn on VoiceOver."
The welcome dialog. When VoiceOver starts, a welcome message is spoken and a dialog appears. Apple says pressing the Escape key turns VoiceOver off and closes the dialog. Return keeps it on, Space keeps it on and starts the tutorial, and V keeps it on and stops the dialog from appearing next time.
Pause or mute without turning it off. Apple says to "press the Control key to pause VoiceOver speech without affecting the audio of other apps," then press it again to resume. In VoiceOver Utility, the Speech category has a Mute speech option for the voice itself.
How input changes while VoiceOver is on
VO stands for the VoiceOver modifier, which by default is Control and Option together, or just Caps Lock. If you use a trackpad, Apple says you can use many of the same VoiceOver gestures as on iPhone and iPad, and to "tap the trackpad to hear the item in the VoiceOver cursor."
How to turn off VoiceOver on Apple TV
Apple's page covers Apple TV 4K, Apple TV HD and Apple TV (3rd generation). For Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD, it lists three ways:
- Go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver and turn it off.
- Hold the Siri button on your Siri Remote and say "Turn VoiceOver off."
- Press the Menu button or the Back button on your remote three times.
For the 3rd generation, Apple's page gives a longer sequence of remote-button presses. It is written for turning VoiceOver on and does not print an off version, so read it on Apple's page rather than here.
Apple's page describes no touch gestures. If what you hear is a voice describing the action in a movie or show, that is a different feature. See our guide to audio description.
How to turn off Voice Guide on a Samsung TV
Searchers often call this VoiceOver or Narrator, but Samsung's support page calls it Voice Guide. It says Voice Guide "provides narration for everything that appears on the TV, projector, or Odyssey Ark gaming screen," such as menu options, the volume level and the channel.
To turn it off, Samsung gives this path: Home > Settings (All Settings) > General (General & Privacy) > Accessibility > Voice Guide Settings > Voice Guide > Off.
Samsung notes that the accessibility menu can be reached by holding the volume button on the remote, and that this is "typically how the feature gets turned on accidentally." If the steps do not match your screen, Samsung says to check the user manual for your TV or projector, and to contact Samsung if you can't disable it.
Voice Guide reads menus; it is not the audio description that narrates a show, which is covered in our audio description guide.
What screen readers are and who relies on them
A screen reader is software that tells a person what is on a screen, usually by speech and sometimes through a braille display, so they can use a device without seeing it. Apple describes VoiceOver as a gesture-based screen reader you can use even if you can't see the screen. Google says TalkBack helps people who are blind or have low vision interact with their Android devices using touch and spoken feedback. Microsoft says Narrator lets you use your PC without a mouse if you're blind or have low vision.
For those users the voice and the changed gestures are not a glitch; they are how the device works for them. If the device belongs to someone who uses a screen reader, ask before you turn it off.
For the full picture, see screen readers for the blind, phones for blind people, braille on iPhone, braille on Android and assistive technology for the visually impaired.
Where Braillito fits
Braillito, our app, teaches braille. It teaches the braille cells in lessons with exercises you play, with lives, levels and a daily streak: 59 lessons in 8 worlds in English. It also has a translator, a dictionary and a cell builder. The English lessons are uncontracted braille (grade 1); they don't teach contracted braille or transcription, and Braillito isn't a braille transcriber.
Braillito is not a screen reader, and it does not turn VoiceOver, TalkBack or Narrator on or off. If you use VoiceOver or TalkBack, our article on using Braillito with VoiceOver and TalkBack says what the app does and what we can't claim. Without paying, the braille translator works in any browser.
Braillito is a subscription with no free version; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription (is Braillito free?). Get Braillito.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my screen need a double-tap to open things?
A screen reader is probably on. With VoiceOver, TalkBack or Narrator running, one tap selects an item and the reader speaks it, and a double-tap activates it. Turn the screen reader off using the device sections above and your normal taps return.
How do I turn off VoiceOver on an iPhone if triple-clicking doesn't work?
Use Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver, Control Center if you added VoiceOver there, or Siri. Apple also says you can slow down the click speed in the side, top or Home button settings.
How do I stop TalkBack from turning on by accident?
After you turn TalkBack off, open Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack and turn off the TalkBack shortcut. Google gives this as the final step on its page.
What is the difference between pausing a screen reader and turning it off?
Pausing or muting stops the voice but leaves the screen reader on, so touch still works the screen reader way. On iPhone, a two-finger tap pauses speech and a three-finger double tap mutes VoiceOver. On a Mac, the Control key pauses it. On Windows, the Ctrl key stops Narrator reading. To go back to normal touch, turn the screen reader off.
Why is my Samsung TV reading everything out loud?
Voice Guide is probably on. Samsung says holding the volume button on the remote opens the accessibility menu, which is typically how the feature gets turned on accidentally. Turn it off under Home > Settings (All Settings) > General (General & Privacy) > Accessibility > Voice Guide Settings > Voice Guide.
What if none of these steps work?
On Android, Google says to contact the device manufacturer or read its accessibility help. For a Samsung TV, Samsung says to check your user manual and contact Samsung. On an Apple device, try another way Apple lists, such as Settings or Control Center.