- [Instructor] Cortana is a tool that lets you
control software, do searches,
or ask questions using voice commands.
If you used Windows 10, then you may be used to seeing
a button for Cortana in the taskbar.
But don't worry, if you want to use Cortana,
it is still available.
You just need to go to the Start menu
to the list of all applications and find Cortana there.
So you could launch it here,
or you might want to right-click on it, go to More,
and choose Pin to Taskbar.
And you can move it on the taskbar.
You can drag it left and right
and position it where you want it.
So now that I've got it there,
I can just click on that to open Cortana.
Now, if this is the first time you're using it,
you may be prompted to sign into
your Microsoft Online account.
I'll do that, and it's just confirming the account
that's already linked to my Windows sign-in,
so I'll select that and continue.
And Cortana also requires permission to use
some of your personal data
because it can give you suggestions based on your activity
and make appointments in your calendar,
and lots of other things.
If you're not sure you want to give it that permission,
you can click this link for more information
or you could just click Decline and Sign Out
and just not use Cortana.
But I do want to use it, so I'll click Accept and Continue.
And from here, you can either type in a command
in this field right here, or if you have a microphone,
you can click this microphone button
and you can speak your command.
So let's try that out.
How is the weather in San Francisco?
- [Cortana] Right now, it's mostly sunny and 60
in San Francisco, California.
- [Instructor] Or I might try this.
Launch Edge.
- [Cortana] Okay, I'll open Microsoft Edge.
- [Instructor] Or, here's something else you could try.
I'll click the microphone.
Schedule a dentist appointment for tomorrow.
- [Cortana] What time does it start?
- [Instructor] Cancel.
- [Cortana] Canceled.
- [Instructor] So some commands or questions are simple.
Cortana can find things on your computer
and find information on the web.
And you can see that it can interact with applications
to do more complex actions,
like that option to make a calendar appointment.
It will ask several follow-up questions
until your appointment details are set.
And if it had finished that,
it would've put that appointment in my calendar.
You can give it a try and you can always say "cancel"
to cancel the whole request.
It's also interesting that all of your
questions and commands stay here in this panel.
You can even close this panel
and then later, when you go back to Cortana,
your search history is still here in that panel.
Next, let's take a look at some settings.
So near the top left corner in the Cortana panel,
you can click this button with three dots to open this menu.
And I want to go to Settings.
Now, you do need to be signed into
a Microsoft Online account for Cortana to work.
But if you want, you can sign out of your account
right here.
I don't want to do that, so I'll leave that alone
and I'll go over to the Privacy section.
And there's more information about
how Cortana can use your data.
But I'll click the Back button here in the top left.
And I want to enable voice activation.
So I'll go to the menu, I'll go to Settings,
and I'll go to Voice Activation.
But before that's going to work,
I need to set something in Settings.
So I'll go to the Start menu and open up Settings.
On the left, we'll go to Privacy and Security,
scroll down and find Voice Activation.
And you need to give Cortana permission to use this,
so you just need to turn this switch on here.
Now that that's set, when I close this,
I can see that voice activation is ready to go in Cortana.
So now, instead of opening Cortana
and clicking the microphone button,
you can actually just say the word "Cortana"
then speak your command.
So let's see that.
I'll close this to reset and I'll say
Cortana, how's the weather in London?
- [Cortana] Right now, it's cloudy and 61
in London, England.
- [Instructor] So, that's just a much easier way to
interact with Cortana.
But, if it causes problems for you,
you can always turn that option off.
And for now, I'm just going to close this panel.
So that's how Cortana works in general,
but you may not be sure what voice commands
it will respond to.
You can just try some things and see what works
or you can try this.
Cortana,
what can you do?
- [Cortana] I can help with your schedule,
give you reminders, find info, and more.
Try "remind me to send a status report
"on Friday at 9:00 AM."
- [Instructor] So with that, you might want to get
Cortana set up and start experimenting
with some voice commands.