How to remove MacOS Sonoma feature of numbering every item (or Menu choice) on Desktop?

System Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control. Disable "Voice Control" or set "Overlay" to "None".

I agree they are AWFUL!! Happily the solution is simple. That update turned on Voice Control in Accessibility. To remove the numbers, simply go to your Mac's settings, click in Accessibility and turn VoiceControl OFF.

Voila ! Numbers gone.

Just turn off Voice Control in System Settings (a feature I have no use for). That did it instantly for me.

And you're right, what an ugly, annoying, totally non-Apple looking feature.

Hi team

No need to downgrade to Ventura, I have speech to text (ie dictation) and no numbers on my menus.

So the settings I have invoked are as follows:

Voice control - turn it off.

Keyboard - make sure that dictation is switched on...

I get to dictate the text without all of the numbers showing. I hope that helps you all get to the bottom of it.

Best wishes

Alex

The Voice Control accessibility setting worked for me. I'm sure it's useful to some but I agree that it's a HORRIBLE feature to have enabled by default! Apple, you can do better...

Add a computer restart and it worked great for me.

As a non-typist the speech to text feature is essential, but would be un worth it if I had to look at all of those number labels constantly.

Sidenote –the labels didn't show up for me for several hours and then just out of the blue so very annoying and unexplained appearance of unnecessary labeling for me.

wintergardensbassplayer wrote:

This should work but the numbers still appear for me : - (

Try booting into Safe Mode then restart normally. Sometimes that will fix anomalies.

Use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

If that doesn't work, create a new user account, log into it and see if you have the same problem.

FWIW, it's not normally enabled by default.

Strange? I had to turn my Voice Control ON!!!

This did disable the annoying numbered arrows.

KennyDaGreat wrote:

Wow, thanks for the help! Thinking of downgrading to previous MacOS because this awful function, I hate it sooooo soooo much!! Glad this solution works!

The previous macOS had the feature, too. You'd have to go further back than the previous. I think it may have been further back than that, but that was so many beers ago.

And they're back. After a brief break I'm again forced to live without speech to text. (unless I can put up with these numeric labels blocking my view of menu items)

Used to be that Apple Employees would cruise through here looking for things to fix.

This should work but the numbers still appear for me : - (

You can tell Apple here: Product Feedback - Apple

thank you!

it works

That did the trick - this was SO ANNOYING, but gone now.