How to use and configure cortana on windows 10
Eleanor Gray
Published Mar 29, 2026
Cortana is Microsoft’s digital assistant and if you want, she can always be at your fingertips, ready to help you find anything on your Windows 10 PC, give you the weather forecast, and make sure you don’t miss any important dates.
By default, Cortana is not enabled on your Windows 10 PC, but it doesn’t take long to get her up and running!
How to set up Cortana on Windows 10 PC
Cortana “lives” in the taskbar, but before you can get her into her home you have to launch her for the first time.
- Click on the Start Menu button. It’s the Windows icon in the bottom left corner of your screen.
Click All apps.
Click on the Cortana button. It’s the circle icon above the Windows icon.
Click Yes if you want speech, inking, and typing personalization turned on. This helps Cortana get to know you better and can help her complete various tasks. You can also choose No thanks if you don’t want this feature turned on.
Now Cortana is all set up and ready for you to use. Simply type something into the search bar, and watch her do her magic.
How to pin Cortana to your taskbar on Windows 10 PC
Although Cortana “lives” in your taskbar, she might not appear there by default. If you don’t feel like opening the Cortana app every time you need her, pinning her to your taskbar will save you a little extra time.
- Right-click on the taskbar
Click on Cortana.
Click on the option you want:
- Hidden: This will hide Cortana from your taskbar.
- Show Cortana icon: This will show Cortana’s circle icon in the taskbar.
Show Search box: This will enable Cortana’s search bar in your taskbar.
How to turn on Hey Cortana on Windows 10 PC
- Press the Windows key + S simultaneously to open Cortana.
- Click the Notebook button. It’s the little notebook icon underneath the house icon on the left side of your screen.
Click on Settings.
Click on the On/Off switch underneath the Hey Cortana heading.
Now anytime you want to search the web, know the weather forecast, or get the baseball scores from last night, all you have to do is say “Hey, Cortana,” and ask your question.
How to train Cortana to respond to your voice only on Windows 10
You can train Cortana to only respond to your voice, that way not just anyone passing by can shout out Hey Cortana in passing and accidentally her (or maliciously) on. To do this you need to train Cortana to listen to your voice. Make sure you are in a quiet place before you start these steps.
- Press the Windows key + S together to open Cortana.
- Click the Notebook button. It’s the little notebook icon underneath the house icon on the left side of your screen.
Click on Settings.
Click on Start.
From here, Cortana will instruct you say six sentences out loud, so make sure you say them loudly and clearly. Once you’re done, Cortana will know your voice and respond only to your commands.
Is Valve’s Steam Deck doomed to fail?
Valve has the money and talent to make incredible hardware. But is the market ready for its latest invention?
Song of Iron is officially releasing for Xbox and PC on August 31
Song of Iron is an incredible-looking indie game created by a solo developer, and it finally has a release date. Embark on an epic Norse-inspired adventure on Aug. 31, 2021, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Comparing Dell’s premium XPS 15 to the Inspiron 15 7000
The Dell XPS 15 (9510) is an extraordinary 15-inch Ultrabook, but its price might be too high for a lot of people. The budget Inspiron 15 7000 (7501) is a great alternative, but how does it compare?
These are the best PC sticks when you’re on the move
Instant computer — just add a screen. That’s the general idea behind the ultra-portable PC, but it can be hard to know which one you want. Relax, we have you covered!
Cortana is Microsoft’s digital assistant and if you want, she can always be at your fingertips, ready to help you find anything on your Windows 10 PC, give you the weather forecast, and make sure you don’t miss any important dates.
By default, Cortana is not enabled on your Windows 10 PC, but it doesn’t take long to get her up and running!
How to set up Cortana on Windows 10 PC
Cortana “lives” in the taskbar, but before you can get her into her home you have to launch her for the first time.
- Click on the Start Menu button. It’s the Windows icon in the bottom left corner of your screen.
Click All apps.
Click on the Cortana button. It’s the circle icon above the Windows icon.
Click Yes if you want speech, inking, and typing personalization turned on. This helps Cortana get to know you better and can help her complete various tasks. You can also choose No thanks if you don’t want this feature turned on.
Now Cortana is all set up and ready for you to use. Simply type something into the search bar, and watch her do her magic.
How to pin Cortana to your taskbar on Windows 10 PC
Although Cortana “lives” in your taskbar, she might not appear there by default. If you don’t feel like opening the Cortana app every time you need her, pinning her to your taskbar will save you a little extra time.
- Right-click on the taskbar
Click on Cortana.
Click on the option you want:
- Hidden: This will hide Cortana from your taskbar.
- Show Cortana icon: This will show Cortana’s circle icon in the taskbar.
Show Search box: This will enable Cortana’s search bar in your taskbar.
How to turn on Hey Cortana on Windows 10 PC
- Press the Windows key + S simultaneously to open Cortana.
- Click the Notebook button. It’s the little notebook icon underneath the house icon on the left side of your screen.
Click on Settings.
Click on the On/Off switch underneath the Hey Cortana heading.
Now anytime you want to search the web, know the weather forecast, or get the baseball scores from last night, all you have to do is say “Hey, Cortana,” and ask your question.
How to train Cortana to respond to your voice only on Windows 10
You can train Cortana to only respond to your voice, that way not just anyone passing by can shout out Hey Cortana in passing and accidentally her (or maliciously) on. To do this you need to train Cortana to listen to your voice. Make sure you are in a quiet place before you start these steps.
- Press the Windows key + S together to open Cortana.
- Click the Notebook button. It’s the little notebook icon underneath the house icon on the left side of your screen.
Click on Settings.
Click on Start.
From here, Cortana will instruct you say six sentences out loud, so make sure you say them loudly and clearly. Once you’re done, Cortana will know your voice and respond only to your commands.
Is Valve’s Steam Deck doomed to fail?
Valve has the money and talent to make incredible hardware. But is the market ready for its latest invention?
Song of Iron is officially releasing for Xbox and PC on August 31
Song of Iron is an incredible-looking indie game created by a solo developer, and it finally has a release date. Embark on an epic Norse-inspired adventure on Aug. 31, 2021, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Comparing Dell’s premium XPS 15 to the Inspiron 15 7000
The Dell XPS 15 (9510) is an extraordinary 15-inch Ultrabook, but its price might be too high for a lot of people. The budget Inspiron 15 7000 (7501) is a great alternative, but how does it compare?
These are the best PC sticks when you’re on the move
Instant computer — just add a screen. That’s the general idea behind the ultra-portable PC, but it can be hard to know which one you want. Relax, we have you covered!
Cortana is a clever little personal assistant that helps you to find things, complete tasks and organise your calendar
Read on to learn how to:
- set up and personalise Cortana
- use Cortana to set up a reminder
- use Cortana to search your computer
How to set up Cortana
- To set up Cortana, click on the Cortana icon in Start or click on Start > All apps > Cortana. This will open up the Cortana window.
- Type in the name you would like Cortana to call you by. You can also fill in details about your preferences, but you can do this later if you prefer.
- If you would like to use voice commands with Cortana, you will need to calibrate the microphone. Click on the microphone icon to the right of Cortana’s search bar and read through the sentences to set up your microphone.
- Cortana will now automatically open whenever you log on.
Watch the below to see how it works:
How to personalise Cortana using the Notebook
- Click on the Cortana search bar at the bottom of your screen. This will bring up Cortana’s window. Then click on the Cortana icon to bring up your Notebook.
- The more information you provide Cortana with, the more personalised your experience will be. Click on ‘About Me’ to change the name Cortana calls you and to fill in your favourite places, such as home and work.
- Work your way down the list of categories, such as events, finance, and news, and update your information for each one. If you don’t want to receive updates about a subject, you can turn them off by clicking on the top button in each topic and you can turn them back on at any time. For example, you might choose to switch on travel updates if you’ve got a trip planned and want to make sure your flight is on time or there aren’t any traffic delays. Once you’re happy with your changes, click ‘save’ before moving on to the next category.
- If you would like to link Cortana to your LinkedIn, Xbox Live, Office 365 or Dynamics CRM, click on ‘Connected Accounts’ and then ‘Connect.’ This will synchronise your accounts across different devices.
- If you decide you want to turn off Cortana, click on the Cortana icon and then go to ‘Settings’. Click on the top button to switch it to ‘off’. Disabling Cortana will not erase the information Cortana has about you, so you can turn it back on again at any time without losing anything.
Watch the below to see how it works:
How to use Cortana to set up a reminder
- Open Cortana and click on the lightbulb icon at the top left.
- Click on the plus sign at the bottom of the window to set up a new reminder.
- Type in what you want to be reminded about in the “Remember to…” box. You can also add a person from your contacts list by clicking on the ‘Person’ box, add a place by clicking on ‘Place’ and set a time by clicking on ‘Time’ and selecting the hour and minute.
- You can also set up a new reminder by typing in the Cortana search bar or talk into the microphone, starting with “Remind me to.”
- If you are signed into your Microsoft account on your phone, any reminders you set on your phone will automatically be synchronized across all the devices your Microsoft account is connected to.
Watch the below to see how it works:
Using Cortana to search your computer
- Click on the Cortana search bar at the bottom left of your screen or click on the microphone icon.
- Type or say the name of what you’re looking for. You can include details such as date or location, for example ‘photos from June’ or ‘photos from London.’
- Click on ‘My stuff’ to see the results for files, apps, photos, videos and music across your PC.
Watch the below to see how it works:
Now we know how to set up and personalise Cortana, as well as use Cortana to set a reminder and search a computer for files.
From here, you might like to learn more about using Cortana to get more out of the internet with Microsoft Edge.
Matt Klein has nearly two decades of technical writing experience. He’s covered Windows, Android, macOS, Microsoft Office, and everything in between. He’s even written a book, The How-To Geek Guide to Windows 8. Read more.
Cortana is billed as more than a simple search feature. It’s supposed to be a full-fledged personal assistant much like Siri is on Apple iOS devices. Here are the basics of setting up Cortana and using it on your new Windows 10 computer.
To use Cortana properly, you’re going to have to enable some privacy settings that we’ve previously discussed, most notably you have to enable the Privacy setting in “Speech, Inking, & Typing”.
Additionally, Cortana require access to your location, which you might have turned off if you read our earlier article.
Once Windows is “getting to know you” and location is enabled, you can start using Cortana though keep in mind, from this point you’re sending Microsoft a great deal of personal data, which is then stored in the cloud. If you’re leery of sharing personal information such as calendar events and contacts, speech patterns, and typing history, then Cortana may not be right for you.
What Cortana Can Do
Cortana is your do-it-all helper, which can deliver sport scores, weather, news, as well as help out with navigation, setting reminders, and more.
Cortana can be accessed by clicking the search feature on the taskbar.
You can adjust the search bar by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting the style you prefer.
In all our examples, we’ll be using the search box. It’s important to keep in mind that if you have Cortana enabled and you hide it, it will still be active and you can still use it.
When we click on the search box, Cortana will pop open. It will display pertinent information based on your interests and hobbies.
You can also ask it facts and have it perform tasks.
If you click on the “Notebook” icon along the left edge, you’ll be able to further configure Cortana, specifically the information it provides to you.
You can change the name Cortana uses to address you or how it pronounces it, and you can edit your favorite places, which are your “home, work, and other saved favorite locations.”
Cortana may remind you a bit of Google Now because the information it shows are broken down into cards. Cards are divided into twelve categories.
For each category, you can turn cards off or on, which means that if you don’t want to see Cortana tips, you simply turn the tip cards off.
Some tip cards can be configured beyond simply turning them off or on. For example, the “Eat & Drink” card allows you to receive recommendations from Foursquare, add an atmosphere, and so on.
Cortana will also let you add reminders, which can be managed and sorted by time, place, and person.
Finally, if you wish to provide feedback you can submit your ideas, likes, or dislikes to Microsoft as well as include a screenshot if you prefer.
Take some time, go through all these items, particularly the Notebook cards. As you can see, Cortana is highly configurable, but there’s obviously quite a few things you may not use or need to see. For example, you may not have any use for finance info, or maybe you don’t do a lot of traveling.
Beyond that, however, there are other vital settings you can configure, which we’ll talk about in the next section.
Cortana’s Settings
Cortana’s general settings can be configured from the Notebook tab. The first item you can attend to is simply turning it on or off. This won’t affect the privacy settings you’ve already enabled, so, if you don’t want to use Cortana any longer, you can also turn off Speech, Inking, & Typing as well as Location, if you prefer.
Note also, there’s a link to manage cloud data, which you should probably clear out if you decide to forgo the whole Cortana experience.
Cortana can also be activated using your voice. When you say “Hey Cortana” it will react awaiting your next command. You can further configure this to respond best to anyone or just you, but in order to do that, Cortana will first need to learn your voice.
We mentioned earlier that Cortana acts and functions a lot like Google Now. To that end, it can be configured to detect tracking info such as for flights or presumably packages. You can also let it “pipe up” occasionally to give you thoughts and greetings in the search box. These won’t be obtrusive but you may just want it to leave you alone.
Finally, at the very bottom of the settings are further options to manage your Bing SafeSearch settings and other privacy settings.
Take your privacy seriously because Microsoft is asking you to surrender a lot of personal information so that Cortana can work as intended. If you’re not planning on using Cortana then we heartily believe you should not only disable it, but turn off the aforementioned privacy settings.
Cortana is likely to be a something of a paradigm change for the Windows operating system. It gives Microsoft a way to compete with the likes of Siri and Ok Google, and is likely to change the way many users interact with their computers.
Still, it’s going to take some time for Windows users to adapt and Cortana isn’t likely to be the go-to way of interfacing with their computers, at least not immediately. Time will only tell if Cortana actually does fill that usability gap between touch and mouse, but from what we’re seeing, it’s well on its way.
If you have any questions or comments you would like to add, please leave your feedback in our discussion forum.
Cortana is Microsoft’s digital assistant and if you want, she can always be at your fingertips, ready to help you find anything on your Windows 10 PC, give you the weather forecast, and make sure you don’t miss any important dates.
By default, Cortana is not enabled on your Windows 10 PC, but it doesn’t take long to get her up and running!
How to set up Cortana on Windows 10 PC
Cortana “lives” in the taskbar, but before you can get her into her home you have to launch her for the first time.
- Click on the Start Menu button. It’s the Windows icon in the bottom left corner of your screen.
Click All apps.
Click on the Cortana button. It’s the circle icon above the Windows icon.
Click Yes if you want speech, inking, and typing personalization turned on. This helps Cortana get to know you better and can help her complete various tasks. You can also choose No thanks if you don’t want this feature turned on.
Now Cortana is all set up and ready for you to use. Simply type something into the search bar, and watch her do her magic.
How to pin Cortana to your taskbar on Windows 10 PC
Although Cortana “lives” in your taskbar, she might not appear there by default. If you don’t feel like opening the Cortana app every time you need her, pinning her to your taskbar will save you a little extra time.
- Right-click on the taskbar
Click on Cortana.
Click on the option you want:
- Hidden: This will hide Cortana from your taskbar.
- Show Cortana icon: This will show Cortana’s circle icon in the taskbar.
Show Search box: This will enable Cortana’s search bar in your taskbar.
How to turn on Hey Cortana on Windows 10 PC
- Press the Windows key + S simultaneously to open Cortana.
- Click the Notebook button. It’s the little notebook icon underneath the house icon on the left side of your screen.
Click on Settings.
Click on the On/Off switch underneath the Hey Cortana heading.
Now anytime you want to search the web, know the weather forecast, or get the baseball scores from last night, all you have to do is say “Hey, Cortana,” and ask your question.
How to train Cortana to respond to your voice only on Windows 10
You can train Cortana to only respond to your voice, that way not just anyone passing by can shout out Hey Cortana in passing and accidentally her (or maliciously) on. To do this you need to train Cortana to listen to your voice. Make sure you are in a quiet place before you start these steps.
- Press the Windows key + S together to open Cortana.
- Click the Notebook button. It’s the little notebook icon underneath the house icon on the left side of your screen.
Click on Settings.
Click on Start.
From here, Cortana will instruct you say six sentences out loud, so make sure you say them loudly and clearly. Once you’re done, Cortana will know your voice and respond only to your commands.
Is Valve’s Steam Deck doomed to fail?
Valve has the money and talent to make incredible hardware. But is the market ready for its latest invention?
Song of Iron is officially releasing for Xbox and PC on August 31
Song of Iron is an incredible-looking indie game created by a solo developer, and it finally has a release date. Embark on an epic Norse-inspired adventure on Aug. 31, 2021, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Comparing Dell’s premium XPS 15 to the Inspiron 15 7000
The Dell XPS 15 (9510) is an extraordinary 15-inch Ultrabook, but its price might be too high for a lot of people. The budget Inspiron 15 7000 (7501) is a great alternative, but how does it compare?
These are the best PC sticks when you’re on the move
Instant computer — just add a screen. That’s the general idea behind the ultra-portable PC, but it can be hard to know which one you want. Relax, we have you covered!
Microsoft has introduced Cortana as a personal digital assistant to the users in Windows 10. Cortana can do several things for you just like a personal assistant. Cortana can set alarms for you, reminders for meetings, search the web and many other things. For using this feature, you need to setup Cortana first. You need to have a Microsoft account in order to setup and use Cortana on your Windows 10 PC.
The setup process of Cortana has changed with the updates to Windows 10. In the recent builds, Cortana launches in new window. You can drag Cortana window on desktop to a suitable place.
Setup and Use Cortana on Windows 10 Computer
Step 1: Launch Cortana Setup from Start
Go to Start menu, and you will find Cortana in Start Menu programs list. You can also search for Cortana on Start menu. And launch it from search results.
Search and open Cortana from Start menu
Cortana will launch in new window. Click on Sign in button to start Cortana setup using Microsoft account in Windows 10.
Click on Sign in button to get started
Step 2: Use Microsoft Account to Setup Cortana
After you click on Sign in button, you will see options to sign in Cortana using Microsoft account or Work/School account. Select account type and click Continue.
Select your account type and click Continue
Next enter your Microsoft account’s credentials to sign in to Cortana. You may get a prompt asking you to sign in using same Microsoft account to Windows 10. If you wish to use this account in Cortana only, click on Microsoft apps only. After successful sign in, Cortana setup is almost complete.
Sign in to Cortana using your Microsoft Account
Step 3: Provide Necessary Permissions and Agree to Terms
After successful sign-in, Windows will ask you to provide necessary permissions to Cortana. Click on Yes to continue.
Click Yes to provide necessary permissions to Cortana
Next, you will see a license agreement. Click on I Agree button to agree to the terms and conditions. After that Cortana will launch. You can now use Cortana on your Windows 10.
Step 4: Launch and Use Cortana in Windows 10
Finally, Cortana setup is complete and you can now use Cortana on Windows 10. You might see some pop-up messages on Cortana about beta program, simply close them. Now, you can continue to use Cortana by typing your questions in the text box. Alternatively, you can also use your mic to talk to Cortana using your voice.
Use Keyboard or Mic to talk to Cortana on Windows 10
You can always launch Cortana from Taskbar in Windows 10. Cortana icon is placed next to search box in Windows 10 taskbar.
Launch Cortana from Taskbar
Talk to Cortana on Windows 10
You have successfully setup Cortana in Windows 10. You can now continue to use it using your keyboard or mic. Just type your question or dictate it to Cortana using your voice. Please note that for using voice controls, you need to have mic installed in your PC.
Hope you liked this tutorial. Should you face any problems during the Cortana setup process, leave a comment down below. You may also subscribe to our newsletter and get latest tutorials directly into your inbox via email.
Cortana is your cloud-based personal assistant that works across your devices and other Microsoft services. Depending on the capabilities of your device and the version of Cortana you’re using, Cortana can provide a range of features, some of which are personalized. Cortana on Windows is available in certain regions and languages., she can always be at your fingertips, ready to help you find anything on your Windows 10 PC, give you the weather forecast, and make sure you don’t miss any important dates. By default, Cortana is not enabled on your Windows 10 PC, This article will guide you to setup and use Cortana on windows 10.
Setup and use Cortana on Windows 10 PC:
Cortana “lives” in the taskbar, but before you can get her into her home you have to launch her for the first time.
- Click on the Start Menu button. It’s the Windows icon in the bottom left corner of your screen.
- Click All apps.
- Click Cortana.
- Click on the Cortana button. It’s the circle icon above the Windows icon.
- Click Use Cortana.
- Click yes if you want speech, inking, and typing personalization turned on. This helps Cortana get to know you better and can help her complete various tasks. You can also choose No thanks if you don’t want this feature turned on.
Now Cortana is all set up and ready for you to use. Simply type something into the search bar, and watch her do her magic.
Pin Cortana to your taskbar on Windows 10 PC:
Although Cortana “lives” in your taskbar, she might not appear there by default. If you don’t feel like opening the Cortana app every time you need her, pinning her to your taskbar will save you a little extra time.
- Right-click on the taskbar
- Click on Cortana.
- Click on the option you want:
- Hidden: This will hide Cortana from your taskbar.
- Show Cortana icon: This will show Cortana’s circle icon in the taskbar.
- Show Search box: This will enable Cortana’s search bar in your taskbar.
Turn on Hey Cortana on Windows 10 PC:
- Press the Windows key + S simultaneously to open Cortana.
- Click the Notebook button. It’s the little notebook icon underneath the house icon on the left side of your screen.
- Click on Settings.
- Click on the On/Off switch under the Hey Cortana
Train Cortana to respond to your voice only on Windows 10:
- Press the Windows key + S together to open Cortana.
- Click the Notebook button. It’s the little notebook icon underneath the house icon on the left side of your screen.
- Click on Settings.
- Click on Learn my voice.
- Click on Start.
Leave a Comment Cancel Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
by Vlad Tiganasu 5 years ago
How to configure Cortana in Windows 10
If you are familiar with Windows Phone mobile devices, then you might have already met Cortana, the digital voice assistant. You might also know her from the popular video game series, Halo, where she is portrayed as an AI entityand one of the main non-playable characters in the game series. After the launch of Windows 10, Cortana became much more than a simple search feature that can help you find content, as she (yes, I am referring to Cortana as “she” instead of “it”, due to her “personality”) is capable of learning your interests and hobbies, help you set reminders and much more.
Even if configuring Cortana can prove to be quite a hassle for some users, I will show you how easy it is to do that in the guide below.
Initial settings
Fist of all, to access Cortana, all you have to do is click on the search bar, next use the Start button on the taskbar (the one where it displays “Ask me anything”). You can even choose to hide the search-box with a simple right click and only opt display a search icon instead (as you can see in the image below).
When accessing Cortana for the first time, you will be asked to provide some information and choose some of the settings that will help with personalizing your search results. First, Cortana will ask you for your name, which she will use when answering to your search queries or prompting notifications.
Name Request
Once the name has been provided, Cortana will ask you if you want to let her use the localization data. This is where some users get are a bit concerned regarding their privacy. Luckily, you can choose to disable this feature for privacy-related reasons, but if you want to receive personalized results (like searching for the closest pubs and restaurants), you will have to enable it.
Accessing Cortana’s settings menu
Now that you have provided Cortana with your basic information, it’s time to access the “advanced” settings menu. To do that, you can either write type “Cortana settings” in the search bar or access the Notebook (after launching Cortana, click on the second icon on the left).
Notebook
As you can see from the image above, the Notebook is divided into two sections: one that will let you change your personal information and another one that determines what information Cortana can access, display and offer to you.
For now, let’s talk a bit about the first section.
- About Me – From here, you will be able to change the name by which you want Cortana to call you and also add, edit and remove favorite locations (such as home, work, park and so on). These are pretty intuitive, and there is no point in insisting on them.
- Connected Accounts – This section will let you manage the accounts to which Cortana can connect, like your Microsoft Live or Office accounts.
- Settings– This area provides you with various options that you can change in order to modify how Cortana works. Here, you can access the information Cortana has learned about you and customize the way she will provide you with information to your questions and queries. Most importantly, in this section you will be able to enable or disable Cortana’s voice activation. You can either make her respond to anyone saying the phrase “Hey Cortana”, or you can choose to make her respond only to your voice (you will have to say 6 phrases in order to calibrate her to your voice).
Once you have finished modifying these settings, you can go on and customize the way you will get results for your questions and queries, based on various topics of interest. All you have to do is click on the desired category (also known as cards) and decide from where you want Cortana to get the information, and what you want to be displayed. For example, you can click on the “Eat & drink” card and have Cortana search for restaurants with a specific atmosphere or make her track the results and news about your favorite sports team by accessing the “Sports” sub-setting.
Sports Section
Other features
Reminders
Another great feature that Cortana comes with is the way she can help you set up reminders. Not only can you set up reminders for any desired task that will be launched at any desired time, but Cortana will also help you set up reminders that will activate when you make relevant searches, contacting a specific person from your contacts list or arriving to a determined place (as shown in the image below – buy milk when I get to Tesco).
Reminders
Feedback
Since Cortana is a new service on personal computers, it comes with a feedback section. Here, you can tell Microsoft what you like and dislike about Cortana in order to improve her, or you can even submit your own ideas about what would you like to see in the future.
Feedback
Conclusion
As you can see, you can easily customize Cortana to fit your needs. Even if you might encounter some glitches, remember that the service is still quite new on desktop computers and using the “Feedback” section will help Microsoft greatly improve her.
For specific info about how to set, manage, and use each of these MDM policies to configure Cortana in your enterprise, see the Policy CSP topic, located in the configuration service provider reference topics.
| Group policy | MDM policy | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Search\Allow Cortana | Experience/AllowCortana | Specifies whether employees can use Cortana. |
Cortana won’t work if this setting is turned off (disabled). However, on Windows 10, version 1809 and below, employees can still perform local searches even with Cortana turned off. | |Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Search\AllowCortanaAboveLock |AboveLock/AllowCortanaAboveLock |Specifies whether an employee can interact with Cortana using voice commands when the system is locked.
Cortana in Windows 10, versions 2004 and later do not currently support Above Lock. | |Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\App Privacy\LetAppsActivateWithVoice |Privacy/LetAppsActivateWithVoice |Specifies whether apps (such as Cortana or other voice assistants) can activate using a wake word (e.g. “Hey Cortana”).
This setting only applies to Windows 10 versions 2004 and later. To disable wake word activation on Windows 10 versions 1909 and earlier, you will need to disable voice commands using Privacy/AllowInputPersonalization. | |Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\App Privacy\LetAppsAccessMicrophone |Privacy/LetAppsAccessMicrophone_ForceDenyTheseApps | Use this to disable Cortana’s access to the microphone. To do so, specify Cortana’s Package Family Name: Microsoft.549981C3F5F10_8wekyb3d8bbwe
Users will still be able to type queries to Cortana. | |Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Regional and Language Options\Allow users to enable online speech recognition services |Privacy/AllowInputPersonalization |Specifies whether an employee can use voice commands with Cortana in your organization.
In Windows 10, version 1511
Cortana won’t work if this setting is turned off (disabled).
In Windows 10, version 1607 and later
Non-speech aspects of Cortana will still work if this setting is turned off (disabled).
In Windows 10, version 2004 and later
Cortana will work, but voice input will be disabled. | |None |System/AllowLocation |Specifies whether to allow app access to the Location service.
In Windows 10, version 1511
Cortana won’t work if this setting is turned off (disabled).
In Windows 10, version 1607 and later
Cortana still works if this setting is turned off (disabled).
In Windows 10, version 2004 and later
Cortana still works if this setting is turned off (disabled). Cortana in Windows 10, versions 2004 and later do not currently use the Location service. | |None |Accounts/AllowMicrosoftAccountConnection |Specifies whether to allow employees to sign in using a Microsoft account (MSA) from Windows apps.
Disable this setting if you only want to allow users to sign in with their Azure AD account. | |Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Search\Allow search and Cortana to use location |Search/AllowSearchToUseLocation |Specifies whether Cortana can use your current location during searches and for location reminders.
In Windows 10, version 2004 and later
Cortana still works if this setting is turned off (disabled). Cortana in Windows 10, versions 2004 and later, do not currently use the Location service. | |Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Search\Don’t search the web or display web results |Search/DoNotUseWebResults |Specifies whether search can perform queries on the web and if the web results are displayed in search.
In Windows 10 Pro edition
This setting can’t be managed. In Windows 10 Enterprise edition
Cortana won’t work if this setting is turned off (disabled). In Windows 10, version 2004 and later
This setting no longer affects Cortana. | |Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Search\Set the SafeSearch setting for Search |Search/SafeSearchPermissions |Specifies what level of safe search (filtering adult content) is required.
This setting only applies to Windows 10 Mobile. Other versions of Windows should use Don’t search the web or display web results. |
