Microsoft just made your Windows laptop talk back better - and panic less when it can't boot

Microsoft has just announced some cool new features for Windows to be rolling out to the Beta Channel, including valuable improvements to its Narrator tool and a new Quick machine recovery option to save you headaches with boot failures.

The company has been making quite a few changes recently, including adding a password-less sign-in or eliminating a popular way to skip having a Microsoft Account during setup. Meanwhile, it's also redesigning the infamous Blue Screen of Death. Now, the tech giant is bringing some nice additions to Narrator, and a new recovery function.

Narrator speech recap

Narrator is Microsoft's tool that reads your screen for you. Now, Microsoft is introducing speech recap to the tool. The new feature is designed to help you keep track of what Narrator has spoken and get a quick reference from it. You can also copy what Narrator last said with some simple keyboard shortcuts.

To open the speech recap, you need the Narrator key + Alt + X, and then you can find the last 500 strings Narrator had spoken. You can then use standard reading commands and arrow keys to read the content in the speech recap window, or even copy the text.

To copy the last thing Narrator just said, you can use the Narrator key + Control + X. This can be especially useful to copy an error code, for example.

You also get Live transcription of Narrator speech that can be useful for Assistive Technology trainers and teachers of students with visual impairments.  

Keyboard shortcuts for Narrator features:

• Control + Windows key + Enter: Turn Narrator on/Off
• Narrator key + X: Re-hear what Narrator said last
• Narrator key + control + X: Copy what Narrator said last
• Narrator key + Alt + X: Open Speech recap window for history and live transcriptions

Quick machine recovery

Meanwhile, Microsoft is also introducing Quick machine recovery, a feature that is now available in the latest Windows Insider Preview build. If enabled, it would be able to address widespread boot issues on Windows 11 by detecting and applying fixes automatically with minimal manual intervention.

If you encounter a boot failure, the device would connect to the network and send diagnostic data to Microsoft, which can then deploy a targeted fix via Windows Update. Microsoft encourages system admins to enable and test the feature, which is enabled by default for home users.

Windows Insiders can start testing the feature right away. Microsoft also says it will deploy a test remediation package in the next few days, which would allow you to experience the quick machine recovery feature in action.