- Understanding Cortana
- Using Cortana to Gather Information
- Determining What Cortana Does
- Letting Cortana Manage Your Activities
- Controlling Cortana with Voice Commands
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Like this article? We recommend
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Controlling Cortana with Voice Commands
If you have a microphone connected to your computer (most notebooks have a mic built-in), you can control Cortana with voice commands. Just speak "Hey, Cortana" into the mic, and then tell it what you want it to do. Say "Hey, Cortana, when is my sister's birthday?" or "Hey, Cortana, where's the nearest pizza joint?" or "Hey, Cortana, how old is George Clooney?" She'll speak the results -- and put them onscreen, too.
To activate Cortana's voice command feature, click within the search box to open the Cortana pane, then click the Options button and select Settings. Click "on" the option Let Cortana Respond When You Say "Hey, Cortana," and get ready to start talking.
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Figure 7 Cortana listening for a voice command.
It may feel a little odd to talk to your computer, but it's how actors have been doing it in the movies ever since Dave Bowman talked to the HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. In fact, talking to Cortana is a lot like talking to HAL; let's just hope she doesn't get quite as unhinged as HAL did on that trip to Jupiter!
Michael Miller is a prolific and popular writer. He has written more than 150 non-fiction books over the past twenty-five years, along with numerous articles, blog posts, and instructional videos. His best-selling books include Computer Basics: Absolute Beginner's Guide, My Windows 10 Computer for Seniors, and Easy Computer Basics.