Page 314 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

math, and facts. (You can use Cortana either by speaking to her or by typing

to her.)

But before you dive in, it’s worth taking a moment to set her up. Choose the
in the Cortana panel. (The long way: → → Cortana.) Then:

Turn on “Hey Cortana”

Out of the box, Cortana doesn’t listen to your voice commands until you
click or tap the on the taskbar. Microsoft wants to make absolutely sure

that nobody thinks its algorithms can hear you speak without your
awareness.

If you want Cortana to be able to respond to your voice commands—and

basically, yes, you do—turn on “Hey Cortana.”

Tip
If you’re an efficiency nut, you may as well turn on “Keyboard shortcut,” too; that way, you can

hit +C when you want to bark a command, rather than saying “Hey Cortana” first.

Tell Cortana When to Be Available

While you’re in Cortana Settings, there are three more settings you should
inspect:

Keep my device from sleeping when it’s plugged in. Once your
computer goes to sleep (“Shutting Down”), it’s no longer listening
for you to say, “Hey Cortana.” This option keeps the machine

awake and listening, at least when it’s plugged into power. (There’s
no such option for when it’s on battery power; staying awake full-
time will slurp your battery charge right on down.)

“Use Cortana even when my device is locked.” That’s right: You
can issue commands to Cortana at the Lock screen. That’s a

transformative feature: Now your computer can do your bidding