To turn off the voice on a Roku, press the Star (✱) button on the remote four times quickly. That turns off the screen reader, the feature that reads menus out loud. You can also go to Settings › Accessibility › Screen reader and turn it off there.
This guide covers both ways to turn off the screen reader, how to stop it from turning on by accident, and the other voices people mistake for it: audio description in shows, secondary audio on cable channels, and menu sounds. It applies to Roku TVs, streaming sticks, players and Roku soundbars.
Turn off the Roku screen reader
Both methods come from Roku’s screen reader support article. Roku notes the screen reader was previously called Audio Guide, so older guides and some older software may use that name.
Method 1: Use the remote shortcut
- Find the Star button. Roku says it’s below and to the right of the plus-shaped arrow pad.
- Press it four times quickly.
Result: the voice stops. Press Star four times again if you want it back. If nothing happens, the shortcut may be turned off, so use Method 2.
Method 2: Use Settings
- Press Home on the remote.
- Go to Settings › Accessibility.
- Select Screen reader and turn it off.
Result: the menus go quiet. Roku says this switch does the same thing as pressing Star four times.
Stop it from turning on by accident
If the voice keeps coming back, someone may be pressing Star too many times, or the remote may be getting pressed in a couch cushion.
- Go to Settings › Accessibility › Screen reader.
- Select Shortcut and turn it off.
Result: Roku says that when the shortcut is off, pressing Star four times no longer turns the screen reader on. You can still turn it on from Settings if you ever need it.
Keep it on, but make it less intrusive
If someone in your home uses the screen reader, you don’t have to turn it off. In the same Screen reader menu, Roku lets you change the Speech rate (Slow, Normal, Fast or Very Fast) and the screen reader’s Volume relative to the TV.
Which voice are you hearing?
Not every voice on a Roku is the screen reader. Match what you hear to the fix:
A narrator describing what’s happening in a show
That’s audio description (also called Descriptive Audio), not the Roku screen reader. It’s part of the video’s audio track, so you turn it off in the streaming app you’re watching. During playback, open the app’s audio or language menu (in many apps you press the up or down arrow, or Star) and pick the regular audio track instead of the one marked “Audio Description” or “AD.” In the Apple TV app, go to Settings › Accessibility › Audio Descriptions.
Result: the show plays with normal audio. The setting may need to be changed again in another app, since each app keeps its own choice.
A narrator on a cable or antenna channel
On live TV, scene narration usually comes from the channel’s secondary audio program (SAP). Turn off SAP or set the audio language back to your main language in your cable box, cable app or the TV input’s audio settings.
Clicks when you move through menus
That’s the menu sound, not a voice. Look under Settings › Audio on your Roku for the menu volume.
If the screen reader option is missing
Roku says the screen reader is only supported in the United States, on Roku TVs, Roku soundbars and current Roku players and sticks (including Express, Streaming Stick, Premiere and Ultra models). If you have a supported model but don’t see the option, Roku recommends running a manual software update from Settings › System › System update.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my Roku start talking out of nowhere?
Usually the Star button was pressed four times by accident. Press it four more times, then turn off the Shortcut so it doesn’t happen again.
Is Audio Guide the same as the screen reader?
Yes. Roku renamed Audio Guide to screen reader.
Can I turn the voice off during setup?
Yes. Roku says the screen reader works on the first Language screen of setup, and pressing Star four times toggles it there too.
Does turning off the screen reader turn off captions?
No. Captions are a separate setting under Settings › Accessibility › Captions mode.
Related Roku guides
Setting up a new Roku? See how to set up a Roku. On a Roku TV, you can also change the brightness, and if your Roku is acting up, restart it. To change how the menus look and sound, see how to change the theme on a Roku.
Shopping for a new Roku? See which Roku streaming stick to get.
Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read hundreds of millions of times.
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.
His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.