Fix: Cortana Is Not Working In Windows 10

Cortana, the personal digital assistant from Microsoft, is one of the new features available in Windows 10. The feature, which was exclusive to Windows Phone till a couple of months ago, is now part of Windows 10, and has just been released for Android operating system as well.

Since the launch of Windows 10 for PCs, Cortana is available in the U.S., UK, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and China. The feature will be available in other regions/countries later this year, but, right now, Cortana is officially supported in these regions only.

Most users are happy with Microsoft’s digital assistant, but some Windows 10 users are unable to enable Cortana in Windows 10 despite being in supported regions.

If you’re also located in one of the above mentioned regions where Cortana is officially supported but unable to enable or use Cortana in Windows 10, the following workarounds might help you to resolve the issue.

Fix 1

Make sure that Cortana is enabled

Although you have likely checked it, make sure that it’s not turned off. To verify the same, click on the taskbar search box, click Settings icon, and then make sure that the option labelled Cortana can give you suggestions, ideas, reminders, alerts and more is turned on.

If you are unable to turn on the option, try to turn on the option after following below mentioned fixes.

Fix 2

Run the Start menu troubleshooter

The official Start menu troubleshooter can fix issues with Cortana as well. Visit our Start menu repair tool to download the troubleshooter and then run the same to fix the Corana problem.

Fix 3

Install latest updates

Before trying anything else, make sure that Windows Update is enabled on your computer and all recently released updates have been installed. Microsoft has recently released an update to address some issues related to Cortana. So, please make sure that your system is up-to-date.

Fix 4

Turn on location

In order to enable and use Cortana, location tracking should be enabled. To do so:

Step 1: Open Settings app.

Step 2: Click Privacy.

Step 3: On the left-pane, click Location.

Step 4: On the right-side, under Location, you will see On if the location is enabled for this device.

And, if the location for this device is not enabled, please click the Change button, and then move the slider to on position.

Fix 5

Check country, display and speech language settings

If you’re in one of the supported regions, please make sure that your country, language and speech language are aligned correctly.

For instance, if you’re in the U.S. region, then you must be using English (United States) as your display language and English (United States) as your speech language. In other words, if you have set English (United Kingdom) as your display language and English (United States) as your speech language, Cortana will refuse to work on your PC.

Please refer to the following chart to configure your Windows 10 display language and speech language:

To change speech and display language:

Step 1: Open Settings app, click Time & language.

Step 2: On the left-pane, click Region and language.

Step 3: On the right-side, under Country or region, select your country or region.

Step 4: Under Languages, verify if the already selected language is actually for your region (use the above chart). For instance, if you are in the U.S., please be sure to set English (United States) only.

And if the language is different and is not meant for your country or region, click Add a language, select the right language, and then click on it to add Languages list.

Click on the newly added language, click Options, and then click Download button (under Download language pack) to begin downloading the language pack.

Once downloaded, you can set it as the default display language by clicking on it and then clicking Set as default option. After changing the language, please sign out and sign in again to apply the new language.

Step 5: On the left-pane, click Speech.

Step 6: On the right, under Speech language, see what language is selected is by default. If it doesn’t align with your region and display language (selected in Step 4), please change the same.

Step 7: Click on the Cortana tile on the Start menu, and then follow the on-screen instructions to enable it.

Fix 6

You might not be using Microsoft account

Yes, in order to enable and use Cortana, you must be using a Microsoft account to sign in to Windows 10 instead of a local user account. You can switch your local user account to Microsoft account with a few mouse clicks by navigating to Account section in Settings app.

Fix 7

Uninstall these third-party tools

If you have been using a tool like DoNotSpy to stop Windows 10 from sending data to Microsoft servers, it could be that these tools are automatically starting with Windows 10, and turning off location and other services that are required for the proper functioning of Cortana. Please uninstall such tools and then try again.