5 Things You Can Do With Cortana on Windows 10 (3)

 

Launch Programs

Cortana can launch programs for you. Just say “Launch [program name].” If you have the “Hey Cortana” voice shortcut enabled, this means you can just say “Hey Cortana, launch Google Chrome” to your PC and it will automatically open that app.

Send Email

Cortana can send emails using the built-in Mail app and the accounts you’ve configured there. Just say “send email” to get started, or say something more specific like “Send email to Pete” if that’s a person in your contacts.

Create Calendar Events

Cortana can also create calendar events. Just say something like “add meeting at Thursday 2pm to calendar” and Cortana will automatically fill in the information you’ve provided. You can also just start with “add meeting” and Cortana will ask for more details.

Just Chat

Like Siri, Cortana can “chat” about things and respond to silly questions with snappy answers. Ask Cortana a question like “Where’s Clippy?” or even give an instruction like “Tell me a story,” “Tell me a joke,” “Sing me a song,” or “Surprise me!”

Get a List of Commands / Help

Ask Cortana for “help” and you’ll see a list of things you can do with Cortana. This will show you a more complete list.

You’ll find some other options we didn’t list here. For example, Cortana can play music, view sports scores and provide predictions, and offer dictionary definitions and translations for words. Microsoft will likely be adding new features to Cortana and improving the existing ones in free updates going forward.

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Microsoft is currently bringing Cortana to Android and iPhone. When the Cortana apps launch for these other mobile platforms, you’ll be able to use Cortana on non-Windows smartphones, too. This means reminders and other Cortana features will follow you everywhere, too.