NVDA 2026.1 Released

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NVDA Screen Reader Discussion

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May 5, 2026, 9:30:52 PMMay 5
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NV Access is pleased to announce that version 2026.1 of NVDA, the free screen reader for Microsoft Windows, is now available for download. We encourage all users to upgrade to this version.

Highlights

This release includes support for reading math content with MathCAT, which is now built-in to NVDA.

There have been several improvements to speech. Spelling and grammar errors can now be reported with a sound instead of speech when reading. You can now configure NVDA to automatically say all after successfully recognizing content, such as with Windows OCR. NVDA no longer reports the language being read as unsupported when the synthesizer supports the language but not the specific dialect. NVDA now supports 64-bit SAPI 5 voices.

Braille support has also been improved. It now continues to work when switching to a secure screen, like the sign-in screen or User Account Control dialog. NVDA messages from the local computer are now shown in braille when controlling a computer via Remote Access. Spelling and grammar errors, as well as the number of items in a list in browse mode, can now be shown in braille. Other braille bug fixes, including in Microsoft Outlook and LibreOffice Writer, have also been added.

In browse mode in web browsers, NVDA no longer treats controls with 0 width or height as invisible. This may make it possible to access previously inaccessible "screen reader only" content on some websites. Malformed links no longer prevent NVDA from reading content in Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers. The browse mode highlighter now appears on content recognition results, such as when using Windows OCR. In Microsoft Word, unassigned Quick Navigation commands to jump to references have been added. They are also now shown in the elements list.

It is now possible to view virus scan results for an add-on from the Add-on Store. For add-ons that include one, you can also view an add-on's changelog. The reliability of background add-on updates has been improved.

A new "Privacy and Security" category has been added to NVDA's settings dialog. The "Logging level" and "Allow NV Access to gather NVDA usage statistics" settings have been moved here from the "General" category. The settings for Screen Curtain have also been moved here from the "Vision" category. Additionally, Screen Curtain's settings are now configuration profile independent.

The NVDA interface is now translated to Cambodian. Liblouis, Unicode CLDR and eSpeak NG have been updated. Added tables for English Grade 3, Japanese (Rokuten Kanji), and Macedonian uncontracted braille. Improved the Biblical Hebrew, Unified English Braille, Greek International, Hungarian, Norwegian, Portuguese 8-dot and Slovakian braille tables. Emoji localizations for Luxembourgish have been added.

There have also been many other bug fixes and improvements.

Important Notes:

  • This release breaks compatibility with add-ons made for NVDA 2025.3.3 and earlier.
  • Windows 8.1 is no longer supported. Windows 10 is the minimum Windows version supported. We recommend updating to Windows 11, or when that's not possible, to the latest Windows 10 version (22H2).
  • 32-bit Windows is no longer supported. Windows 10 on ARM is also no longer supported.
  • Wiris MathPlayer is no longer supported.

Please note, after updating any software, it is a good idea to restart the computer. Restart by going to the Shutdown dialog, selecting "restart" and pressing ENTER. Updating software can change files which are in use. This can lead to instability and strange behaviour which is resolved by rebooting. This is the first thing to try if you do notice anything odd after updating.

Links

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Antonio Cezar Antunes Ribeiro

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May 7, 2026, 6:13:01 AMMay 7
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  Hello. I updated to NVDA version 2026.1, but I am having a very annoying problem: In previous versions of NVDA, when I placed the cursor over a button, checkbox, among others in Google Chrome, and then pressed the keyboard context menu key, I was able to navigate through the available buttons, such as back, translate, etc., including with the convenient use of the T shortcut for translate, because I use Google’s translation function a lot to read the messages here on the list in my native language, which is Brazilian Portuguese. However, now, I do not know whether because of some update in Chrome itself or because of the new NVDA update, all these buttons are inaccessible to me through the keyboard context menu, and I am forced to use the review cursor to reach the Translate button and click on it, which makes Chrome’s translation function much more complicated to use. Can you help me with this, please?... Thank you.  

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Quentin Christensen

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May 7, 2026, 7:21:52 AMMay 7
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Hi there,

You posted the same question in the add-ons group so I'm copying the same answer here, though I will add one other thing I forgot to suggest there - please make sure you have restarted the PC after updating as that is often the cause of unexpected things not working after an update.

Did you previously use an add-on for this?  If so, it may be that the add-on does not yet work with 2026.1.  Hovering the mouse over something and then pressing the context menu key has never worked that I know of.  It is not recommended to mix keyboard and mouse commands like that as it often does not behave predictably.

I know because one common use case I get asked about is if you select something in the browser with the mouse and then press control+c it copies the selected text with NVDA not running but does NOT work with NVDA running.  The reason why is slightly complicated and not directly related to your question, but the solution there is to either right click the mouse to bring up the context menu OR you could press numpad * to do the same function - and in my scenario select copy, and in yours select translate.

That is not specifically an NVDA "bug", but more just how the keyboard and mouse can work together, but aren't intricately linked - if you right click the mouse somewhere it is not always the same as pressing the keyboard context menu key, as the keyboard context menu will bring up a menu related to where the FOCUS is, but the mouse context menu key brings up a menu related to where the MOUSE is.

I did just try the way you've described in both NVDA 2026.1 and the earlier NVDA 2025.3.3 and the both work the same, the way I expected - pressing the right mouse button OR the numpad asterisk brings up the context menu for the mouse location, but pressing the keyboard applications key brings up a menu related to where the keyboard focus is which may not be the same place.

But as that worked the same in both cases for me, I wonder if either you were using an add-on OR it could have been a Chrome update which has changed something?

Kind regards

Quentin

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Quentin Christensen
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NV Access

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Laurie Mehta

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May 7, 2026, 2:23:43 PMMay 7
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Hi,

Under Win25H2, I just installed the NVDA update that NVDA told me was available (26.1) and then I restarted my pc.

Unfortunately, when I restarted, the voice prompt to enter my pin (usual prompt that has always come) did not come. In other words, I had no way of knowing that the pc was restarted and awaiting my fingerprint or pin.

This is a HUGE problem.

In addition, NVDA is no longer showing in my system tray and the task list gave a message saying that the shortcut for NVDA is no longer available.

NVDA did start after I entered my pin (I had to ask a sighted person to look at the screen and tell me that the prompt for the pin was there, though.)

How can I get things back to the way they were before this 26.1 update, please? Namely, and most importantly, I need the pc to speak to tell me that the sign in stuff, so that I can sign in (know the pc is ready to sign into) instead of silence.

Thanks for any help on this.

LM

 

Richard Turner

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May 7, 2026, 2:34:16 PMMay 7
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It sounds like the settings to use NVDA at sign in and start NVDA after sign in got turned off.

Check in settings, General.

 

HTH,

 

 

Richard, USA,

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."

-- Alan Watts (1915-1973)

 

My web site: https://www.turner42.com

 

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Snehashish Mahato.

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May 7, 2026, 2:53:26 PMMay 7
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Richard Turner wrote:

It sounds like the settings to use NVDA at sign in and start NVDA after sign in got turned off.

The option hasn’t exactly been turned off. Starting from Version 2026, NVDA will no longer launch on the ‘sign-in screen’ by default, it must be configured manually.

HTH,

Snehashish.

Laurie Mehta

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May 7, 2026, 3:05:07 PMMay 7
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Well, thanks very much for this information. I appreciate it.

Fwiw I don’t like the change. 😊

Does this mean that each future update will require a settings adjustment, or will this choice persist now that I have chosen it?

Thanks,

LM

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jamie...@gmail.com

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May 7, 2026, 3:20:48 PMMay 7
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Hi, Laurie. Any time your screen reader doesn’t speak at the logon prompt, something that occasionally happens with NVDA and JAWS for me, you can always launch Windows Narrator with Control+Windows+”Enter” and after you have successfully logged on to your computer, you can turn Narrator off with the same command, although Narrator may already have unloaded once you are logged on. Hope this helps

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Richard Turner

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May 7, 2026, 3:30:44 PMMay 7
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I don't know, but would not be surprised.

Perhaps someone with NVDA can comment.

 

 

 

Richard, USA,

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."

-- Alan Watts (1915-1973)

 

My web site: https://www.turner42.com

 

 

Laurie Mehta

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May 7, 2026, 4:08:08 PMMay 7
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Thanks for this information. 😊

LM

 


Sent: Thursday, May 7, 2026 12:21 PM
To: nvda-...@nvaccess.org

Gene Asner

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May 7, 2026, 7:23:26 PMMay 7
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But it still should keep the setting if previous versions were set to do
so. If it doesn't, that should be corrected.

Gene

On 5/7/2026 1:52 PM, Snehashish Mahato. wrote:
> Richard Turner wrote:
>
> It sounds like the settings to use NVDA at sign in and start NVDA
> after sign in got turned off.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The option hasn’t exactly been turned off. Starting from Version 2026,
> NVDA will no longer launch on the ‘sign-in screen’ by default, it must
> be configured manually.
>
> HTH,
>
> Snehashish.
>
> --
> ***
> Please note: the NVDA project has a Citizen and Contributor Code of Conduct.
> NV Access expects that all community members will read and abide by the
> rules set out in this document while participating in this group.
> https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
> <https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md>
>
> You can contact the group owners and moderators via
> nvda-user...@nvaccess.org.
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "NVDA Screen Reader Discussion" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to nvda-users+...@nvaccess.org
> <mailto:nvda-users+...@nvaccess.org>.
> To view this discussion visit
> https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/CALm5Gv%3DEt9jFKtxtqiTCRUX1hYxPbZUfDS0s63bOXDwnN4BT2g%40mail.gmail.com
> <https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/CALm5Gv%3DEt9jFKtxtqiTCRUX1hYxPbZUfDS0s63bOXDwnN4BT2g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

Gene Asner

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May 7, 2026, 7:41:26 PMMay 7
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Also, NVDA never started at boot up on the log in screen without the
user setting it to do so. As I said, if the setting is being changed
during an update now from what the user previously set, the behavior
should be corrected.

Gene

Quentin Christensen

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May 7, 2026, 11:44:25 PMMay 7
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Hi everyone,

Firstly, if you had NVDA set to run on the login screen, it SHOULD still have stayed with that setting.  We have seen at times where this has been lost during an update for a small number of users, however we have never gotten the bottom of why.

In NVDA 2026.1, we have made the change to not run on the login screen BY DEFAULT - but that is only for new installs.  If you already had NVDA 2025.3.3 or earlier installed, and update, it should keep your settings.

If you were using a third party synthesizer through an add-on which was compatible with NVDA 2025.x but not 2026.1, that add-on is not updated on the secure screen automatically.  In that case, what SHOULD happen, is loading the synthesizer would fail, and NVDA would roll back to using OneCore.  If anyone finds that this specifically is not working (NVDA is still running, but goes silent because the synthesizer does not work), it would be interesting to find that out, although as it is a third party synthesizer there may not be anything we can do.  The fix for any of those issues , is once you have logged in (whether with Windows OneCore, without speech, with Narrator or with sighted assistance), if you update your add-ons as required, then go into NVDA's general settings (NVDA+control+g) and then select the "Use currently saved settings during sign-in and on secure screens" button.  Another update in NVDA 2026.1 is that you can select which add-ons are copied to use on secure screens (we recommend using the minimum needed).

Kind regards

Quentin

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Laurie Mehta

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May 8, 2026, 12:34:05 AMMay 8
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Hi Quentin,

I simply updated from NVDA 2025.3.3 and I have no add ons and no third party synthesizer. The update to NVDA 26.1 changed my setting as I described. Fwiw NVDA is no longer in my system tray post-update either. It appears on my desktop.

Yes, this is odd, and it is the first time it has happened to me as an NVDA user since 2011 or something like that.

Again, I appreciate list members who pointed me in the right direction to fix my set up since no sound when signing on is a no go for sure. 😊

Regards,

LM

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Quentin Christensen

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May 8, 2026, 1:12:35 AMMay 8
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I'm glad you did get it working again - as mentioned, we have had reports of that happening from time to time though never been able to pin down why.  I thought I'd put in the other options as well not just for you, but for anyone else who might read this and think "Mine didn't work properly because......" that will hopefully help answer why.

With the notification area / system tray.  We haven't changed how NVDA works, so it will still be there, but Windows has a tendency to hide most icons these days.  Particularly in Windows 11 I don't think there is a way to force it to show all icons.  You may need to go into the "Show hidden icons" overflow area to find the NVDA item.  If it is speaking, it is running and will be there somewhere.

Kind regards

Quentin



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Quentin Christensen
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NV Access

Celebrating 20 years of NVDA
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Ed Marquette

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May 8, 2026, 3:49:18 AMMay 8
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Quentin:
I am one who had NVDA running prior to logging in. After the most recent update and after a restart, I heard the Windows 11 chords, but nothing after that. I thought something had malfunctioned with my Trusty Lenovo Yoga.
 I checked the profile and found that NVDA was set to start running after login.
All is well now, but it was a bit surprising.



From: Quentin Christensen <que...@nvaccess.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 7, 2026 22:44
To: nvda-...@nvaccess.org <nvda-...@nvaccess.org>
Subject: Re: [NVDA] Big problem after update to 26.1

NVDA Screen Reader Discussion

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May 13, 2026, 9:46:21 PM (13 days ago) May 13
to NVDA Screen Reader Discussion, Laurie Mehta
Hi Laurie,
You said:

Fwiw NVDA is no longer in my system tray post-update either. It appears on my desktop.

Could you please clarify if you mean that you had previously pinned NVDA to the taskbar (I.E. it was always among the apps accessible by pressing Windows+t)? Or do you mean that it previously showed directly in the system tray (Windows+b)?

- Sascha, NV Access


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Celebrating 20 years of NVDA

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Laurie Mehta

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May 13, 2026, 10:37:19 PM (13 days ago) May 13
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Hi Sascha,

I had previously pinned NVDA to the taskbar (I.E. it was always among the apps accessible by pressing Windows+t) and it previously showed directly in the system tray (Windows+b)

Now it is on the desktop and it is in the hidden items in the system tray.

This is not a big deal, but I thought it was strange 😊

Thanks,

LM


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Celebrating 20 years of NVDA

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