Do more with Cortana in Windows 10

It’s even easier to get help from Cortana, thanks to the latest Windows 10 Creators Update and Dan Grabham.

Windows 10 is constantly evolving. The Creators Update has now rolled out to most PCs and we’ve got another Fall update arriving later in the year, in our spring. As part of this, Cortana is also changing as new features are added and others improved. One thing is for sure — Cortana is here to stay. She even has a promoted role as you set up new devices; Cortana now helps you with the setup.

You will need to be running the latest version of Windows 10 to use many of these features and some others are rolling out as 2017 goes on (not all languages are being rolled out together, as we’ll explain). To make sure you have the Creators Update installed, go to ‘Settings > System > About’. Your Windows 10 version number needs to be 1703 or later. Haven’t got it? Then go to bit.ly/2vaWuuR to download it. So let’s take a look at what’s new...

5 REPLY TO TEXTS ON YOUR PHONE

One of Cortana’s most exciting 2017 features is the ability to reply to text messages from your PC. Third-party apps, such as Pushbullet, have enabled this for a while, but it’s great to have the ability to do it natively on iOS and Android. All you need to do is to enter your phone number, download the Cortana app (or access it via your preferred app store) and follow the instructions.

7 PICK UP WHERE I LEFT OFF

Another exciting feature, ‘Pick up where I left off’ enables you to do just that, but on another Windows device. To get it working, go to the Cortana Notebook (the second icon down in the left sidebar) and scroll down until you see the option shown here. Don’t see it? Change Cortana’s language to US English in Settings (this won’t change your main Windows language).

9 ENABLE NOTIFICATIONS

You need to enable something else in Cortana’s Settings to make this work: the ability to send notifications and information between devices. That’s because ‘Pick up where I left off’ sends a notification to other Windows 10 PCs you’re signed into. This shows things like tabs in Edge that you’re looking at on another PC. Clicking the notification lets you to pick up... you get the idea.

6 SHORTCUT TO CORTANA

You can also now invoke Cortana via a keyboard shortcut, Windows- C. A setting toggles this on and off in case you don’t want to activate her accidentally. Many users won’t find this so useful, but if you’re a sucker for keyboard shortcuts, we reckon you’ll love this one as you can get Cortana working for you without having to touch the mouse.

8 TURN IT ON

You’ll then need to enable this setting. At the time of writing, ‘Pick up where I left off’ was only available for Windows 10 PCs where the Cortana language — or main display language in ‘Windows Settings > Time & Language’ — is set to US English. However, by the time you read this, it may well be available in AU or UK English, so check it out and see how you get on!

10 DEVICES AND SEARCHES

You can also improve Cortana’s search results using the ‘My device history’ and ‘My search history’ settings. These improve searches because they coordinate apps you’ve set up and things you’ve searched for on all your devices. Cortana works best when you give her full access to your stuff, but these settings stop items on specific devices from being used by Cortana if you wish.