Cortana Only a Search Function? These Features Prove the Opposite

Since the voice assistant Cortana was integrated into Windows 10, there has often been criticism from users. The fear that Cortana collects and shares information has grown increasingly larger. For this reason, many users want to disable Cortana. However, thanks to ever stricter data protection regulations, such as the GDPR, the risk of data espionage continues to decline. Both Cortana and its search function are subject to these regulations. What many do not know, however, is that in addition to the basic search function, Cortana offers many other features that can support you in your daily life or at work. In this article, we present the most useful ones; perhaps you will then give Cortana a second chance after all?

What Cortana Can Do

Once Cortana is enabled, it serves as an effective search function for your desktop and can also access the internet. Like all standard digital search functions, Cortana’s search can be operated manually. However, Cortana is primarily known for its role as a voice assistant. To use this feature, you must first enable it in the Cortana settings.

Cortana’s search function is capable of responding not only to set phrases but also understands variations or abbreviations.

Reminder Function

Cortana can not only perform searches or display your news; the Windows voice assistant also reminds you of appointments or events. The command “Wake me up in 6 hours” sets an alarm. Simply saying “Remind me tonight about my mother-in-law’s birthday” is enough to set a reminder. Cortana learns from your inputs and by connecting with other programs, such as your Windows Calendar, to understand your daily routine and will then remind you of the birthday in the evening.

You can also set reminders via the lightbulb icon after clicking on Cortana’s search bar. Cortana will then remind you of your appointment either verbally or through a desktop notification.

Calendar & Notes

If a simple reminder is not enough, you can use Cortana to directly add appointments to your Windows Calendar or save notes in OneNote. Since these three programs are from Microsoft, they can interact with each other without any issues.

Navigation System

Cortana can also be used on your smartphone. Accordingly, it can replace your navigation system. Simply say “Where am I?” to query your current location. The command “Show me the way to Kaiserstraße 241 in Karlsruhe.” will guide you to your desired destination.

Dictionary & Translation Aid

Cortana’s search also provides great help with linguistic knowledge gaps. For example, it looks up word meanings, provides synonyms, or translates entire sentences into or from another language.

PC Automation

My personal favorite: With the help of a simple “Hey Cortana”, you can boot up your PC without having to press any buttons. This is possible on Windows 10 thanks to a Skylake CPU, specifically an Intel processor designed for this purpose. To do this, simply enable the “Wake-on-Voice” feature in Cortana’s settings. Thanks to Skylake, your PC enters a kind of power-saving mode – the “Ready Mode” – in which the PC or notebook can continue to run background functions. In this mode, Cortana then responds to the voice assistant’s prompt.

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Beyond these simple functions, Cortana is already highly forward-looking thanks to its artificial intelligence. The voice assistant understands various accents and dialects, such as “Moin”. If there are no results locally on your computer, the search function automatically accesses the internet via the Windows search engine and provides you with found search results there. Additionally, like iOS’s counterpart Siri, Cortana can tell jokes and fairy tales, sing a song, give you riddles, and play games. More features include, for example, the calculator, accessing your music via Cortana, or checking the weather.