Windows 11’s Narrator Is Getting Better Voices

Microsoft is has been busy with Windows 11. It seems like every other day, the company has a new build with some interesting features. The latest Dev channel build adds more natural-sounding voices to the Narrator.

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22543 to the Dev Channel is available now, and the most significant change is the improvements to Narrator. If you rely on it to help you navigate around the operating system, the more natural voices will be helpful.

“Natural Narrator voices use modern, on-device text to speech and once downloaded are supported without an internet connection,” said Microsoft in a blog post.

The first two voices are called “Jenny” and “Aria,” and they’re available for the launch of the feature. When prompted, you’ll need to install the new voices, and the process is quick and painless.

Further improving Narrator are new keyboard commands. It’ll be easier to switch between voices to better support everyday tasks.

Also in this update are some visual tweaks, including an update to the media controls which appear on the Lock screen when playing music in a supported app. It also changes how resizing app windows in snap layouts works by overlaying the relevant app icon on top of the acrylic background.

The other changes with this build are small, but if you’re a Windows 11 user, you’ll definitely appreciate them when they come to the final Windows 11 release.