Use Voice Commands with Cortana

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Search for items on your PC using your voice and Cortana.

Quick reference

Use Voice Commands with Cortana

Use voice commands in Cortana to control software, run searches or ask questions. 

When to use

We use voice commands in Cortana whenever we want a quick way of accessing information, opening applications, and completing tasks without touching the keyboard. 

Instructions

Cortana is Microsoft's voice-activated tool that takes the hard work out of opening applications, searching for information, and asking questions. We can issue voice commands to Cortana and she will do the rest! If you've ever used Siri on the iPhone, Cortana is her younger sister. 

In Windows 10, Cortana was activated by a button in the taskbar. In Windows 11, Cortana is not available by default on the taskbar. Instead, we need to search for the application and pin it to the taskbar if required. 

  • Click the Start button or press the Win key. 
  • Scroll down to 'C' or type Cortana in the search bar. 
  • Right-click on Cortana. 
  • Click More options and select Pin to taskbar. 
  • Click on Cortana to open. 

When opening Cortana for the first time, we might be prompted to sign in to our Microsoft account and grant permission to use our personal data. This is so Cortana can perform location-based searches on our behalf. 

Use Cortana to search the Web

We can use Cortana in a couple of ways to search the web. We can type a question or we can use our voice to ask the question. 

  • In the Ask Cortana box, type 'What is the weather in London?'. 
  • Press Enter. 

Cortana will reply with the answer. This time we will use our voice to ask a different question. To activate voice commands we need to toggle on Speak to Cortana. 

  • Click the microphone button in the bottom left-hand corner. 
  • Ask a question, 'What year was Titanic released?'. 

Cortana will speak the answer back to you as well as populate the Cortana window with additional information. 

Hey Cortana

Each time we want to issue a voice command to Cortana, we need to activate the voice commands by clicking on the microphone icon. This kind of defeats the point of Cortana as a simple, hands-free way of finding information. Instead, we can issue the voice command 'Hey Cortana' to let Cortana know we want to ask a question using our voice. We need to turn this on in Settings. 

  • In the Cortana window, click the three dots. 
  • Click Settings. 
  • Choose Voice activation. 
  • Open Voice activation privacy settings. 
  • Toggle on Let Cortana respond to "Hey Cortana" keyword. 

Use Cortana to Open Applications

We can use Cortana to open any application we have on our PC. 

  • Open Cortana. 
  • Say 'Hey Cortana'. 
  • Issue the command 'Open Microsoft Excel'. 

Excel will repeat the command back to you and execute the task. Practice opening different applications using Cortana. 

Schedule Meetings with Cortana

We can use Cortana to add appointments and meetings to our calendar. 

  • Open Cortana. 
  • Say 'Hey Cortana'. 
  • Issue the command 'Schedule a meeting'. 

Cortana will ask you when to schedule the meeting. 

  • Say 'Tomorrow'. 

Cortana will ask you what time. 

  • Say '2pm'. 

Cortana will read back to us the meeting details and ask us to confirm we want to add this meeting to our calendar. 

  • Say 'Yes'. 

The meeting will now be scheduled in our calendar. We can go back to it later on in Outlook at add details if required. 

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  • 00:03 Cortana is Microsoft's voice-activated tool that takes all of the hard
  • 00:08 work out of launching applications, searching the web, and asking questions.
  • 00:14 We can issue voice commands to Cortana, and she does the rest of the work.
  • 00:19 So if you've ever used Siri on the iPhone, or
  • 00:22 maybe something like Amazon Alexa, then Cortana works in a similar way,
  • 00:28 except Cortana can do specific tasks on your PC.
  • 00:31 Now it's worth noting that with Cortana,
  • 00:34 not all of the functionality works outside of the US.
  • 00:38 So just be aware of that before we get into the lesson.
  • 00:41 So the first thing we need to do here is bring up Cortana.
  • 00:44 So once again, I'm going to search for it and
  • 00:46 I'm going to press the Window's logo key.
  • 00:48 So up in the search bar, let's type in Cortana.
  • 00:51 And you can see in the search results below, there is the application.
  • 00:54 Now Cortana works in a couple of different ways.
  • 00:57 We can use it very much like a web browser effectively,
  • 01:00 we can type in what we're looking for into the Cortana window, and
  • 01:04 Cortana will go away and try and search for that information for you.
  • 01:08 So let's just look at that first of all.
  • 01:10 Now I'm going on holiday to Turkey in a couple of weeks time,
  • 01:14 so I'd really like to keep track of the weather.
  • 01:16 So I'm going to click in the Ask Cortana field and type in weather in Istanbul.
  • 01:23 When I press Enter to send that through, Cortana is going to return the answer.
  • 01:27 So I can see that the weather is fabulous.
  • 01:29 So I'm probably going to have a great holiday.
  • 01:31 So that's one way that we can interact with Cortana.
  • 01:34 We can simply type in questions and get her to find the information.
  • 01:39 But that's not the main selling point of Cortana.
  • 01:41 Cortana is designed to be a voice-activated application.
  • 01:46 So if we're running around the house or working in the kitchen and
  • 01:50 we want to find out what the weather is like,
  • 01:52 we want to be able to ask Cortana to do a search, and have her produce the result.
  • 01:57 So we kind of want to work in a hands-free way.
  • 01:59 Now the way that we can do that is simply by clicking on the little microphone icon
  • 02:03 in the bottom right hand corner.
  • 02:05 This is going to activate Cortana and I can then issue a voice command.
  • 02:10 So let's click on this microphone and see if she can search for us.
  • 02:15 What year was Titanic released?
  • 02:19 >> Titanic was released on December 19th, 1997.
  • 02:22 >> And there we go, she's provided the information.
  • 02:25 So it's very simple to issue voice commands.
  • 02:29 That's all well and good, but Cortana can help us in more productive ways.
  • 02:34 For example, we can get her to launch applications on our PC,
  • 02:38 send emails on our behalf, or even schedule items in our calendar.
  • 02:43 Now it's this type of thing that you might find is only available in the US.
  • 02:48 Now I have all of my settings set to US.
  • 02:51 I'm not entirely sure if that makes a difference but
  • 02:54 I seem to be able to do these things when I'm logged in underneath this username.
  • 02:58 I know if I switch to my other account,
  • 03:00 then pretty much what I've done here is all I can do with Cortana.
  • 03:04 So this is something you're going to need to check on your own system to see if you
  • 03:08 have any limitations.
  • 03:09 Now because I can do this, let's take a look at how it works.
  • 03:12 Now in the last example, in order to issue that voice command,
  • 03:16 I had to click on the microphone in the bottom right hand corner.
  • 03:19 I would prefer to be able to say Cortana or
  • 03:23 Hey Cortana to automatically activate that microphone.
  • 03:28 So, we need to turn this on in Settings.
  • 03:30 Let's click on the three dots and go down to our Cortana settings.
  • 03:37 We want to select Voice activation and
  • 03:39 we want to select Voice activation privacy settings.
  • 03:42 So, this is going to jump us into our settings for Cortana, and it's this little
  • 03:47 option just here that we want, Let Cortana respond to the Hey Cortana keyword.
  • 03:52 So, let's toggle that on.
  • 03:55 So now if we go back to Cortana, I should find that I can get her to do some other
  • 03:59 things without clicking on that microphone.
  • 04:02 Hey, Cortana, open Microsoft Excel.
  • 04:06 >> Okay, I'll open Excel.
  • 04:11 >> And would you take a look at that?
  • 04:13 I've issued the voice command and it's launched the application.
  • 04:16 What about something like adding an appointment into my calendar?
  • 04:20 Let's try that.
  • 04:20 Cortana, create a meeting.
  • 04:24 >> Okay, when's your event?
  • 04:27 >> Create an appointment tomorrow.
  • 04:30 >> Sorry, what time is your event?
  • 04:33 >> At 6 PM.
  • 04:36 >> All right, here's what I have.
  • 04:37 >> So that's how simple it is to use Cortana to issue voice commands and
  • 04:43 get her to do things for you on your PC.

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