WHAT YOU WILL WANT TO KNOW ABOUT Cortana is a voice-activated personal that was first developed by for its mobile . Since its launch in April 2014, Cortana has been improved and fine-tuned, and includes a more-advanced incarnation that can do a lot more than the original version. You can use Cortana on your Windows 10 devices, including computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Once you set up Cortana on all devices, your data are automatically synced between them, and you can interact with Cortana on any of your Windows devices. Cortana is named after an character in Microsoft’s video game series. With Cortana, you can set reminders, check the weather, schedule appointments, set alarms, add notes, places, ask for directions, find songs, and so on. With each new update, she is capable of doing more and more. Cortana gets to know you and helps you get things done, letting you interact with her in a way that’s easy and natural. She can search the web, find things on your PC, show you the local news, and provide reminders based on time or location. Just tell Cortana what you want, and she’ll be there to help you out. Note: You must have a microphone attached to your computer. Most newer laptops have built-in microphones.

SHOW THE SEARCH BOX OR SHOW THE CORTANA ICON (bullet) As a replacement for the traditional rectangular search box, it is possible to substitute a small circle for the search box and thus provide more uncluttered room for icons on the . To modify the appearance of the search box, right-click on any available space on the Taskbar, move up to Cortana, and over to Show Cortana Icon. Another way to shrink the search box to a small button: right-click on the search box, click on Cortana, and then click on Show Search icon. To expand the search box, right-click on the search button, left-click on Cortana, and then click on Show search box. If you disable Cortana, the Cortana icon is replaced by a small magnifying glass and the search box will change from Ask me anything to Search windows and Internet.

TO USE CORTANA, just type a question in the search box/icon on the taskbar, or select the microphone icon (that appears on the right side of the search box) and Page 1 of 4 talk to her. (Keyboarding/typing works for all types of PCs, but you need a microphone to talk.) Speak naturally to Cortana about anything. Cortana can chat, get info, and do things for you. Examples: Say or type: How old was Lincoln when he died? Say or type: When was Hoover Dam completed? INTERACT WITH CORTANA Once Cortana is set up, you can interact with her at any time. To start using Cortana, do one of the following: • Click the microphone button found on the right side of the search bar. • Say “Hey Cortana.” Once Cortana is up and running, you can talk to her and give her voice commands, or if you prefer, you can type your commands in the search bar. Example: Check the Weather Forecast One of the most popular ways to use Cortana is to check the weather forecast. To do so, you use the “What’s the Weather” voice command, followed by the day or time period you are interested in. • Ask “What’s the weather today?” to check today’s forecast. • Ask “What’s the weather tomorrow?” to check tomorrow’s weather forecast. • Ask “What’s the weather this weekend?” to check this weekend’s weather forecast. • Ask “What’s the weather on Friday?” to check this forecast for a specific day of the week. You can also add locations and days to your commands and check the weather in your destinations. For example, you can ask, “What’s the weather in Los Angeles tomorrow?” or “What’s the weather in Dayton, Ohio next Tuesday?” or “What’s the weather in Monterey, California on May 17?” CONFIGURE HOW CORTANA WORKS You can change to maximize how Cortana works. For example, you can change your name, change whether she calls you by name, delete her tracking information, enable or disable her ability to respond when you say “Hey Cortana.” To change how Cortana works, follow these steps: 1. Click in the search bar/bullet on the taskbar. 2. Click the burger button (three stacked lines, like a burger on a bun), at the top-left corner of Cortana. A menu with several options appears. 3. Click Notebook. After you “sign in”, you’re shown a list of all the settings you can change.

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4. Change the settings you want. 5. Click anywhere outside the list of settings to save your changes. THE NOTEBOOK How does Cortana know about you? One major way is through the Notebook. Cortana's Notebook is one aspect that differentiates her from and . When members of the Microsoft staff were developing Cortana, they interviewed actual human personal assistants, and found that most of them kept notebooks of key data on their employers. Cortana's Notebook is where you set up your interests, , and daily routine. Find the notebook by opening Cortana and then clicking on the three horizontal bars in the upper left corner. HOW TO USE AND CUSTOMIZE CORTANA Cortana was specifically designed to have a personality and will answer sassy questions with witty retorts and even tell you a joke if you ask her to. Cortana gives you control over what she knows about you. Cortana also becomes the default search on Windows 10 desktops. You don't have to use your voice to use Cortana: You can simply type your question into her text box. Cortana is more than just a or reminder creation tool: Cortana pops up your Daily Glance, a digest that includes things like sports results for teams you follow, news stories based on your interests, and local weather. HAVE CORTANA CALL YOU BY NAME 1. Click in the search bar on the taskbar. 2. Click the burger button (three stacked lines, like a burger on a bun), at the top-left corner of Cortana. A menu with several options is shown. 3. Click Notebook. 4. Click About me. HOW TO DISABLE CORTANA In early editions of Windows 10, it was easy to disable Cortana with just a couple clicks. Now, Microsoft is so committed to having its Win10 users use Cortana that it has made it impossible to disable Cortana in the Anniversary Edition (1709) without venturing into the Registry. Follow these steps to open the Registry Editor: 1. Press Windows+R on your keyboard. 2. Type regedit in the search box and press Enter. 3. Click yes at .

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4. Navigate to the following key in the left column: 5. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE 6. Go down the list to find and Expand SOFTWARE 7. Go down the list to find and Expand Policies 8. Go down the list to find and Expand Microsoft 9. Go down the list to find and Expand Windows 10. Go down the list to find and Expand . 11. If you don’t see a “Windows Search” folder below the Windows folder, right-click the Windows folder and select New > Key. Name it “Windows Search”. 12. Right-click the “Windows Search” folder in the left pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. 13. Name the value AllowCortana. Double-click it and set the value to “0”. 14. You can now close the registry editor. You’ll have to reboot your computer before the change can take effect. 15. To undo your change and restore Cortana in the future, you can just return here, locate the “AllowCortana” value, and delete it or set it to “1”.

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