Microsoft Cortana voice commands to control Windows 11/10 PC

Microsoft’s digital assistant, Cortana, is one of the best features of Windows 11/10. Cortana is very similar to Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, it can perform a variety of functions like opening an application, searching for files, checking the weather, or translating words to different languages – and all of it is just a “Hey Cortana” away.

Get started with Microsoft Cortana

If you haven’t activated Cortana yet, you will first need to turn it on. The steps to activate Cortana in Windows 11 and Windows 10 are covered separately.

Windows 11

Open the Cortana app using the Search box or Start menu
Press the Sign in button and then log in with your Microsoft account (work or school account)
Now you can start typing your query or press the Speak to Cortana icon available on the interface of the Cortana app. But to speak to Cortana, you need to provide Microphone permissions and enable the Voice activation
To provide Microphone permissions, open the Windows 11 Settings app > Privacy & security > go to the Microphone section, turn on the Microphone access button (if turned off), enable the Let apps access your microphone option, and finally use the toggle available for Cortana
To enable the Voice activation for Cortana to invoke Cortana when you say “Cortana”, access the Privacy & security section in the Settings app > then Voice activation > turn on the button for Cortana so that Cortana can respond to the “Cortana” keyword
Now use the Speak to Cortana icon on its interface and you can start giving voice commands or ask a query.

Windows 10

Go to Settings.
Click the Cortana icon.
Turn on Hey Cortana to let Cortana respond to your commands.

How to use Cortana with voice commands

Before diving into voice commands, it is first important to know the different ways in which Cortana can be invoked on your Windows 11/10 PC:

If you are using Windows 11, you need to say Cortana or you can directly open the app. Like Windows 10, the Cortana app is not pinned to the taskbar in Windows 11. So, you need to do it manually if you want the app icon on the taskbar.

In Windows 10, click on the microphone icon appearing on the taskbar right next to the Start menu option.

Use the shortcut Win Key + C to open Cortana in listening mode.

To use this keyboard shortcut, you need to ensure this feature is enabled in the Cortana settings.

Simply, use the command Hey Cortana to invoke the assistant followed by the command. For example, Hey Cortana: Will it rain today in Bangalore?

Read: List of Apps that work with Cortana Voice Commands.

Cortana voice commands for Windows 11/10 PC

Here are some extremely useful Microsoft Cortana voice commands that you should be using when working with Windows 11/10.

Find documents, videos, photos
Search the web
Control your PC settings
Set reminders for the future
Calendar voice commands
Cortana technical support voice commands
Track deliveries and flights
Look up words or phrases
Get quick math calculations or currency conversions
Check directions and traffic status
Hands-free control to entertainment.

Let’s look at what these Cortana voice commands do when you use them:

1] Find documents, videos, photos:

Cortana can find files, documents, photos, or videos stored on your Windows 11/10 PC. Here are a few examples that you can try to look for your valuable documents:

“Find photos from last month” or “Find videos from (mention date)”. Example: “Hey Cortana find videos from June 2014.”
“Find document (mention document name)” or “Find a file (mention name)”. Example: “Hey Cortana, find a document called test123.”

2] Search the web:

You can give Cortana voice commands to search directly from the web, it could be for finding some facts, discovering good food places, or simply looking for the meaning for a word or synonyms for the same.

Finding Facts:

“Hey Cortana, how tall is (popular celebrity/landmark)? Example: Hey Cortana, how tall is Mount Everest?
“Hey Cortana, who is (name of a known person)?”. Example: Hey Cortana, who is Albert Einstein?
“Hey Cortana, who is (company) CEO?”. Example: Hey Cortana, who is Facebook’s CEO?
“Hey Cortana, when is (festival name)?”. Example: Hey Cortana, when is Christmas?

Searching for a specific term

“Hey Cortana, search the web for (term)” Example: Hey Cortana, search the web for Microsoft.

Discovering places to eat

” Hey Cortana, find good restaurants near me.”
” Hey Cortana, find food places near me.”
” Hey Cortana, find bars near me.”

3] Control your PC settings:

Using Cortana to open settings apps is much faster than manually navigating through the ‘Start Menu’, here are a few examples:

“Hey Cortana, open Settings.”
“Hey Cortana, open Action Center.”
“Hey Cortana, Disable/Enable Bluetooth” or “turn on/off Bluetooth.”
“Hey Cortana, turn on/off Wi-Fi.”

4] Set reminders for the future:

Cortana can be used to set reminders for a future time. For example:

“Hey Cortana, remind me to (action).” Few examples: “Hey Cortana, remind me to call Joe at 3 PM” or “Hey Cortana, remind me to watch the cricket game at 7 PM.”
“Hey Cortana, show me my reminders.”

Note, reminders can also be manually created by opening Cortana, and clicking on the ‘Notebook’ icon on the left menu and then tapping ‘Reminders’.

5] Calendar voice commands:

Managing your schedule on Windows 10 can’t get easier than this. You can control your calendar events by adding, moving, and viewing all of it with Cortana. Here are a few examples:

“Hey Cortana, how is my schedule looking today.”
“Hey Cortana, show me my schedule for (today/this week/next week)”
“Hey Cortana, add (mention event/appointment) for (mention time and date)”
“Hey Cortana, move (mention appointment/event) to (mention date and time)”

6] Cortana technical support voice commands:

When it comes to technical support on Windows 10, the first option is to look for it on the Internet. But, why look beyond when Cortana can do it for you within a matter of seconds? Here are some general technical support voice commands:

“Hey Cortana, how do I install a printer?”
“Hey Cortana, how do I change my background image?”
“Hey Cortana, how do I project my screen?”
“Hey Cortana, how do I take a backup?”
“Hey Cortana, how do I update Windows?”
“Hey Cortana, how do I change Privacy settings?”
“Hey Cortana, how do I connect a wireless device?”

7] Track deliveries and flights:

If you wish to track your flight status or a package that is due for delivery. Just copy and paste the PNR for your flight or the tracking number into Cortona’s search field. Cortana will keep you posted on any potential flight delays or package location changes.

8] Look up words or phrases:

If you love using the Microsoft Edge internet browser, you will love this feature. Cortana can be used from directly within the Edge browse so you can quickly look up for words or phrases without having to open a new tab or browser. To do this, just highlight the word or phrase on the webpage, ‘right-click’ on it with the mouse, and hit the ‘Ask Cortana about’ prompt. Cortana performs a Bing search and displays the result in a small window within the Edge browser.

9] Get quick math calculations or currency conversions:

Microsoft Cortana supports conversions for almost every major currency; in addition, it also includes a variety of common cryptocurrencies like Litecoin and Bitcoin. So, if you ever need to do any quick currency conversions just say ask Cortana, example “Hey Cortana, how much is 100 euros in American dollars?” Also, Cortana can perform calculations related to math, weight, temperature, and finance within a few seconds, so you don’t have to open the calculator.

10] Check directions and traffic status:

Asking Cortana for directions and traffic status can be an extremely useful thing when traveling. Whenever you need check directions to a specific place, you can use the following commands:

“Hey Cortana, how can I get to (mention place name)”
“Hey Cortana, where is (mention place name)?”

For checking traffic status:

“Hey Cortana, what’s the traffic like on the way home?”
“Hey Cortana, how long would it take to drive to (mention location)?
“Hey Cortana, how do I get home.”

11] Hands-free control to entertainment:

When you are busy doing some important work or maybe cooking, getting hands-free control to some entertainment can be both convenient and stress relieving.

Voice commands to play music

“Hey Cortana, play (mention artist).”
“Hey Cortana, play (mention genre)”
“Hey Cortana, play (mention album name) by (mention artist).
“Hey Cortana, stop/pause music/song.”
“Hey Cortana, play next track.”
“Hey Cortana, skip this track.”

Detect what’s playing

“Hey Cortana, what is this song?”
“Hey Cortana, what’s playing?”

Find movie details:

“Hey Cortana, what movies are playing near me?”
“Hey Cortana, what are the showtimes for (mention movie name)?”
“Hey Cortana, how long is (mention movie name)?”
“Hey Cortana, who was the director for (mention movie name)?”

Some more basic Cortana voice commands

There are so many things this voice assistant can do for you. After the complex commands, not its time to list down the most basic ones.

Get time for any location – “Hey Cortana, what time is it?” or “Hey Cortana, what time is in (mention location)?”
Get weather info for any location – “Hey Cortana, what is the weather like?” or “Hey Cortana, how’s the weather in Hillsboro?”
Open apps and websites – “Hey Cortana, open/go to (mention app name)
Get top news info – “Hey Cortana, get me the top headlines?” or “Hey Cortana, show me the latest news.”

Final Thoughts

You can now go about using your computer as you normally do, but whenever you need Cortana to perform a task, start by saying, “Hey, Cortana.”

How do I control Windows 11 with voice?

To control Windows 11 with voice commands, you can enable the Voice access feature. Open the Settings app > Accessibility > Speech > and turn on the Voice access button to interact with your Windows 11 computer. In addition to this, you can also use the Cortana app to give commands say open the System Information window, find DOCX files, etc.

What is the command for Cortana in Windows 11?

If you want to activate the Cortana app in listening mode only, then all you need to say is “Cortana” and start giving commands or asking your query. But, for using this feature, you must enable Voice activation for Cortana, and provide Microphone access to it. You can also open the Cortana interface directly and type a command or speak to it.

I hope this list was helpful.