Microsoft’s Cortana is a powerful virtual assistant for Windows 10 PCs and devices that helps you manage things and stuff on your PC with your voices. If you are new to using Microsoft Virtual Assistant, here I have raised some more useful Cortana voice commands. According to the comparison of Cortana vs Google Assistant by many tech websites and YouTube channels, the results Google’s Virtual Assistant is more efficient. But as you know we can not install Google Assistant on a PC, so shut up and use the Cortana.

New build version of Windows 10 such as Anniversary Update, comes with Cortana enabled by default, even you do not need to sign in with a Microsoft account to use Cortana on the latest updates. If the virtual assistant is not enabled on your PC, then just search for ‘Cortana’ in the search, select ‘Cortana and Search Settings’ and enable it.

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To launch the Cortana, press the mic button in addition to the search bar, or say ‘Hey Cortana’. Hey Cortana feature is not enabled by default.

The following are the most useful Cortana commands for Windows 10 PC:

  1. What song is playing? To identify a song.
  2. Send an email to [contacts] saying [message] such as ‘send an email to John saying please share your documents’, ‘send an email to Amy saying can we video chat on Skype’, ‘send an email to John and Amy saying please share your documents’ etc. (The default universal mail app must be configured to use this command)
  3. Open the [app name] app such as ‘open the Settings app’, ‘launch Google Chrome app’, ‘open the Paint app’ etc.
  4. Go to [website address] such as ‘go to facebook.com’, ‘open google.com’, ‘go to apple.com’ etc.
  5. Wake me up in [time] such as ‘wake me up in 10 minutes’, ‘wake me up in 15 minutes’, ‘wake me up every Monday at 9 AM’ etc. (This will set an alarm)
  6. Take a note such as ‘take a note’, ‘write a note’, ‘take a note, i want to write an article’ etc. (OneNote is the default note-taking app)
  7. Turn Wi-Fi [on or off] such as ‘Turn Wi-Fi off’ or ‘Turn Wi-Fi on’. (Cortana will not work without internet connection)
  8. Remind me to [reminder] in [time] such as ‘remind me to check oven in 30 minutes’, ‘remind me to call john in an hour’, ‘remind me to take medicine every day at 12 AM’ etc.
  9. Set an alarm for every [day] at [time] such as ‘set an alarm for every Monday at 7 AM’, ‘set an alarm for every Friday at 8 AM’, ‘set an alarm for every day at 9 AM’ etc.
  10. Play [artist name or song name or album or genre] such as ‘play music’, ‘play justin beiber’, ‘play wiz khalifa see you again’ etc. (By default this will play music from the Groove Music app)
  11. Play [next / prev] track such as ‘play next track’, ‘play prev track’ etc.
  12. Set a timer for [time] such as ‘set a timer for 5 minutes’, ‘set a timer for 1 hour’, ‘set a timer for 1 hour and 30 minutes’ etc.
  13. Show my photos from [date / time] such as ‘show my photos from May 2017’, ‘show my photos from yesterday ‘, ‘show my photos from 2016’ etc.
  14. Find documents I created [date / time] such as ‘find documents I created today’, ‘find documents I created yesterday’, ‘find documents from yesterday’.
  15. Create a [name] list such as ‘create a shopping list’, ‘create a grocery list’, ‘create a medicine list’ etc. (You can access lists manually from Cortana Notebook)
  16. Add [item] to my [list name] such as ‘add  ketchup to my shopping list’, ‘add sour cream to my grocery list’ etc.
  17. Calculate [percentage] of [numbers] such as ‘calculate 18% of 550’, ‘calculate 4% of 1100’, ‘calculate 9.9% of 2200’ etc.
  18. When does the sun set in [location] such as ‘when does the sun set in san francisco’, ‘when does the sun set in london’, ‘when does the sun set’ etc.
  19. Show me latest news to get the top news for today within Cortana.
  20. Heads or tails to flip a coin.
  21. Sing me a song to let’s Cortana sing a song for you
  22. Tell me a story to let’s Cortana tell a short story.
  23. Surprise me to get useful random facts.
  24. Create a [event] at [time / date] such as ‘create a meeting at 12 PM tomorrow’, ‘create a appointment with doctor at 10 AM today’, ‘change my 12 PM meeting to 3 PM’ etc.
  25. What does the [animal] say such as ‘what does the cat say’, ‘what does the dog say’, ‘what does the horse say’ etc.

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