Cortana is undoubtedly one of the most important and best additions to Windows 10, a virtual assistant that receives voice commands and responds by speaking like a real person. Perhaps on home desktop PCs it will not be the most useful function, but on laptops it really becomes an added value that transforms the PC into a tablet or smartphone, where the voice assistants have worked well for a long time.
In another introductory article we saw how to activate Cortana in Windows 10 to speak to the PC, now we see instead the ways to use the voice assistant on PC, the things to say aloud, even every day, to learn to get used to talking with computer without feeling crazy.
1) Search the internet
This is the basic functionality of Cortana.
Anything you say into the microphone after saying " Hey Cortana " is searched on the internet, using the BING search engine.
If you want to replace Bing with Google as Cortana's search engine you must install an extension on Google Chrome browser called Chrometana and make sure that Chrome's apps remain running in the background (activating the option, in the settings, to keep Chrome active in the background).
2) Open Applications and programs
In Windows 10 you can launch an app by talking on the computer.
Just click on the microphone or say " Hey Cortana " and then say, to open Firefox, " open Firefox ".
This is useful both for opening programs quickly, especially if it is one of the most rarely used ones and you do not want to look for it in the Start menu or elsewhere.
3) Do research on the computer
If you want to search for the photos of August or the documents saved on the PC, simply say " find the photos of August " or " find the invoice documents " naturally.
4) Set reminders based on day, places or people
Cortana has a powerful integrated reminder function so you can remember important appointments or things at a specific time or when you arrive in a place or when you talk to a person.
For example, you can say "Remind me to pay the gas bill" and then answer Cortana's questions about the time, day and final confirmation.
5) Hear music
The apps built into Windows 10 are also those that integrate with Cortana and receive specific voice commands.
For example, you can tell Cortana "play David Guetta's music" to open the Groove Music app and listen to a David Guetta song that you have saved on your PC, without having to click.
Other apps have built-in features, for example Outlook to send an email by saying it verbally.
6) Recognize songs
As happens on iPhone with Siri and on Android with Google Now, Cortana can be made to listen to a song using the PC microphone to know the title and the author.
The command to give is " Recognize this song ".
7) Do mathematical operations
You can ask Cortana: " what does 6 times 7"> The calculator also works to convert currency or other units of measure and say, for example, "convert 5 Euros to dollars".
8) Put an alarm or an alarm
Just say: "set an alarm" and then answer Cortana to define the alarm time that will sound from the computer.
The alarm is saved in the Alarms and Clock application .
9) Traffic and driving directions
You can ask the computer for "drive to via xyz" to open the Maps app and view directions from your current location.
You can also ask "what is the traffic like to get to Rome" and know how long it takes, now, to go to Rome from your current location.
10) Help
These and other voice commands that work with Cortana on Windows 10 can be viewed by saying the word "Help" to the voice assistant.
It will be seen, for example, that Cortana is also a dictionary to ask for definitions, an assistant for travel by air and to know the value of the shares on the stock exchange.
There are also funny phrases to say to Cortana for example to see how she answers swearing or personal questions that would be asked of a friend.
Here are some examples of questions to ask in Cortana to have a laugh:
Make me a coffee
Flip a coin
How does the cat try also with dog, duck, cow etc.
You like Siri
Get out
Cortana you are fantastic
Where can I hide a corpse?
What do you think of Microsoft?
What do you think of Google?
What do you think of Steve Jobs?
Make an imitation
Make me laugh
Will you marry me?
Who I am?
Make me a riddle
Where are you from?
What do you think about me?
Balla
Exist?
Who is your father?
tell me a story
sing me a song
When are you born?
I'm sad
Do I have to take an umbrella?
What is your favorite sport?
I feel sick
Are you hungry?
What are you eating?
why is your name cortana?
