I can't seem to find a way to do this. I don't want Narrator to read
everything on my screen like dialog boxes! I just want it to read my
texts in Notepad, Word, web browsers' web pages, etc. I can do this
easily in macOS and iOS.

Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)
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"From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." --John 6:66 :O. Tired, itchy, old bodies with itchy bug bites. :(
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Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

I can't seem to find a way to do this. I don't want Narrator to read everything on my screen like dialog boxes! I just want it to read my
texts in Notepad, Word, web browsers' web pages, etc. I can do this
easily in macOS and iOS.

Can you select the text in Notepad that you want Narrator to verbalize? However, my assumption is you use Narrator because you're blind, so
selecting text would be a chore or impossible. But then maybe you want
to listen to Narrator while watching muted TV.

https://www.boia.org/blog/why-do-screen-reader-users-avoid-microsoft-narrator

Some Narrator basics mentioned at: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/complete-guide-to-narrator-e4397a0d-ef4f-b386-d8ae-c172f109bdb1

Pretty much the non-OS extras that Microsoft gives you for free (well,
included with their OS) have much better alternatives, like editors and
word processors that far exceed what Notepad or Wordpad can do, or photo editors that far exceed what MS-Paint can do. Likewise, Nuance's Dragon Naturally Speaking might do what you want, and a lot more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_NaturallySpeaking

There's a feature comparison matrix at:

https://www.nuance.com/content/dam/nuance/en_us/collateral/dragon/feature-matrix/fm-dragon-naturally-speaking-en-us.pdf

I don't think it's free, and as payware it isn't cheap, like $200 for
their Home edition. Alas, looks like they discontinued their Home
edition, so now you have to pay $700 for their Pro edition.

https://www.nuance.com/dragon/dragon-for-pc/home-edition.html
"Dragon Home has been discontinued."

There is, I believe, a 30-day money-back guarantee, but it could you
that long, or longer, to figure out how to install and test if it meets
your criteria.

If Narrator is too limp for your needs, and Dragon is too expensive, you
could hunt on alterative screen readers.

https://www.google.com/search?q=windows+narrator+alternatives

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VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:

Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

I can't seem to find a way to do this. I don't want Narrator to read everything on my screen like dialog boxes! I just want it to read my
texts in Notepad, Word, web browsers' web pages, etc. I can do this
easily in macOS and iOS.

Can you select the text in Notepad that you want Narrator to verbalize? However, my assumption is you use Narrator because you're blind, so
selecting text would be a chore or impossible. But then maybe you want
to listen to Narrator while watching muted TV.

https://www.boia.org/blog/why-do-screen-reader-users-avoid-microsoft-narrator

I can see why it sucks. :(

Some Narrator basics mentioned at: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/complete-guide-to-narrator-e4397a0d-ef4f-b386-d8ae-c172f109bdb1

Yeah, it is SO complex. I just wanted to highlight texts, in Notepad as an example,
just to read outloud from Narrator. I can do this easily with Apple's macOS and iOS.

Pretty much the non-OS extras that Microsoft gives you for free (well, included with their OS) have much better alternatives, like editors and
word processors that far exceed what Notepad or Wordpad can do, or photo editors that far exceed what MS-Paint can do. Likewise, Nuance's Dragon Naturally Speaking might do what you want, and a lot more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_NaturallySpeaking

There's a feature comparison matrix at:

https://www.nuance.com/content/dam/nuance/en_us/collateral/dragon/feature-matrix/fm-dragon-naturally-speaking-en-us.pdf

I don't think it's free, and as payware it isn't cheap, like $200 for
their Home edition. Alas, looks like they discontinued their Home
edition, so now you have to pay $700 for their Pro edition.

https://www.nuance.com/dragon/dragon-for-pc/home-edition.html
"Dragon Home has been discontinued."

There is, I believe, a 30-day money-back guarantee, but it could you
that long, or longer, to figure out how to install and test if it meets
your criteria.

If Narrator is too limp for your needs, and Dragon is too expensive, you could hunt on alterative screen readers.

https://www.google.com/search?q=windows+narrator+alternatives

Someone told me to try NVDA, from https://www.nvaccess.org, but it also has the same
problem with Narrator. I just want to highlight texts to read outloud. That's it. :(

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--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:

Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

I can't seem to find a way to do this. I don't want Narrator to read
everything on my screen like dialog boxes! I just want it to read
my texts in Notepad, Word, web browsers' web pages, etc. I can do
this easily in macOS and iOS.

Can you select the text in Notepad that you want Narrator to
verbalize? However, my assumption is you use Narrator because you're
blind, so selecting text would be a chore or impossible. But then
maybe you want to listen to Narrator while watching muted TV.

https://www.boia.org/blog/why-do-screen-reader-users-avoid-microsoft-narrator

I can see why it sucks. :(

I've never used Narrator. Have you looked in its settings? I just
looked in its settings to see:

Narrator
Change what you hear when reading and interacting
Default = 3 - All controls

Have you tried changing to "1 - Text only"?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:

Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:

Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

I can't seem to find a way to do this. I don't want Narrator to read
everything on my screen like dialog boxes! I just want it to read
my texts in Notepad, Word, web browsers' web pages, etc. I can do
this easily in macOS and iOS.

Can you select the text in Notepad that you want Narrator to
verbalize? However, my assumption is you use Narrator because you're
blind, so selecting text would be a chore or impossible. But then
maybe you want to listen to Narrator while watching muted TV.

https://www.boia.org/blog/why-do-screen-reader-users-avoid-microsoft-narrator

I can see why it sucks. :(

I've never used Narrator. Have you looked in its settings? I just
looked in its settings to see:

Narrator
Change what you hear when reading and interacting
Default = 3 - All controls

Have you tried changing to "1 - Text only"?

Yes. I only want Narrator to read my highlighted texts only like in
Notepad. That's all. macOS and iOS does this easily. :(

--
"Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters." --Proverbs 25:13. RIP, Bob Barker who didn't hit 100. Dang old tired bodies with issues. :(
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
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--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:

Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:

Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:

I can't seem to find a way to do this. I don't want Narrator to read >>>>> everything on my screen like dialog boxes! I just want it to read
my texts in Notepad, Word, web browsers' web pages, etc. I can do
this easily in macOS and iOS.

Can you select the text in Notepad that you want Narrator to
verbalize? However, my assumption is you use Narrator because you're
blind, so selecting text would be a chore or impossible. But then
maybe you want to listen to Narrator while watching muted TV.

https://www.boia.org/blog/why-do-screen-reader-users-avoid-microsoft-narrator

I can see why it sucks. :(

I've never used Narrator. Have you looked in its settings? I just
looked in its settings to see:

Narrator
Change what you hear when reading and interacting
Default = 3 - All controls

Have you tried changing to "1 - Text only"?

Yes. I only want Narrator to read my highlighted texts only like in
Notepad.

Guess you'll have to look at 3rd-party solutions.

That's all. macOS and iOS does this easily. :(

Yeah, you've said repeatedly. Different products, different features.
Perhaps you'll have to read aloud the text using those products instead
of trying to flail a dead horse on Windows.

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