NVDA 2026.1 Released

[NVDA Screen Reader Discussion]

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

While downloading NVDA, please consider becoming a monthly donor.  Contributions like yours help NV Access continue our important work.

We also have a range of training material in the NV Access Shop to help you increase your skills with NVDA. Start with the popular Basic Training for NVDA in electronic text, audio and braille. Save with the NVDA Productivity Bundle.  This includes Basic Training, all our Microsoft Office training, and telephone support.

• Download NVDA 2026.1
  • SHA256 sum: 8ddb7dabce62640b465ed2b7bfa63d9ac21f9901ec816bbc1a1f3678bf92be28
• What's new in NVDA 2026.1