What you can ask Google Assistant

You can ask Google Assistant for information and for help with everyday tasks.

Important: Some queries won’t work on all devices and in all languages.

For ideas about what Google Assistant can help with, ask "What can you do?"

What Google Assistant can do

Get local info

• Weather: What’s the weather today?
• Food: Find pizza restaurants nearby.
• Business hours: Is Walgreens still open?
• Navigation: Navigate home.

Plan your day

• Traffic: How’s the traffic to work?
• Reminders: Remind me to do laundry this evening. Remind me to call Mom every Sunday.
• Calendar events: When’s my first meeting today? Add a meeting to my calendar.
• Flights: Is United flight 1463 on time?

Ask Google

• Game updates: Who won the Warriors game?
• Calculations: What’s 20% of 80?
• Dictionary: What does "gregarious" mean?
• Translations: How do I say "Nice to meet you" in French?
• Finance: How’s the S&P 500 doing?
• Unit conversions: How many kilometers in a mile?
• Search: Search for summer vacation ideas.
• Image search: Find pictures of kittens.
• Web answer: How do you remove wine stains from a rug?

Play media

Important: If media isn't playing, check if Use Restricted Mode is turned on in your device's YouTube settings.

• Music: Play some Jazz music.
• Podcasts: Play the latest episode from This American Life.
• News: Play the news. What’s the latest news from BBC?

Have fun

• Get to know your Assistant: Do you dream? What's your favorite color?
• Games: Let’s play a game. Give me a trivia question.
• Entertainment: Tell me a joke. Tell me something interesting.
• Animal facts: Tell me about giraffes. What’s the animal of the day?

On specific devices

On your phone or tablet

Communicate

• Calls: Call Mom. Call Bob on speaker phone. Make a video call.
• Duo: Call Mom. Call Living Room Smart Display.
• On phones only:
  • SMS: Text Mike "See you at 5."
  • Emails: Send an email.
  • WhatsApp: Send a WhatsApp message to Sam.

Get around your device

• Change settings: Turn on WiFi. Increase the volume. Decrease the brightness.
• Control your phone: Turn on the flashlight. Take a photo.
  • Note: Whether Google Assistant can take a photo for you depends on your device manufacturer.
• Find things in your apps: Search for tablets on Amazon. Search for Kanye West on Twitter.
• Find photos: Show my pictures of the beach.

Plan your day

• Alarms: Set an alarm for 7 a.m.
• Reservations: Make a reservation for 2 at [restaurant] on Friday.

Get things done

• Shopping: Add cereal to my shopping list.
• Donate: Donate $5 to [organization].

Tip: To do two things at once, connect two requests with "and." For example, you could say "Hey Google, turn off the lights and turn on the TV." For now, you can only do two things at once if you use Google Assistant in English.

On your speaker or Smart Display

Control your smart home

• Lights: Dim the living room lights.
• Thermostats: Set the heat to 70. Lower the temperature 2 degrees.

Plan your day

• Alarms: Set an alarm for 7 AM.
• Reservations: Make a reservation for 2 at [restaurant] on Friday. Book a table at [restaurant].
  • Some restaurants may not be supported.

Communicate

Important: This only works on Smart Displays.

• Calls: Call Mom. Call Bob on speaker phone. Make a video call.
• Duo: Call Mom. Call living room Smart Display.

Tip: To do two things at once, connect two requests with "and." For example, you could say "Hey Google, turn off the lights and turn on the TV." For now, if you use Google Assistant in English, you can only do two things at once.

 

On your TV

Watch TV

• Movies & TV shows: Play Stranger Things on Netflix.
• Video clips: Play cat videos.
• Apps: Open YouTube.
• Search: Search for sitcoms.
• Info: Tell me about Game of Thrones.

Control

• Playback: Pause. Stop. Resume.
• Volume: Louder. Softer.
• Power: Turn off.

On your watch

Communicate

The following voice actions will use your phone unless you have a watch with an LTE connection.

• Text: Text John "I’ll see you at 5."
• Email: Send an email to Sam.

Fitness

• Running: Track my run.
• Cycling: Start a bike ride.
• Step count: How many steps have I taken?
• Heart rate: What's my heart rate?

On your Pixel 4 and later

Take, search & share photos

• "Show me my photos from New York"
• "Take a selfie." Then say "share this with Ryan"
• "Take a picture in 10 seconds"

Manage your phone’s settings

• "Turn on the flashlight"
• "Take a screenshot"
• "Turn on Do Not Disturb"
• "Turn on Bluetooth"

Make calls or send messages

• "Call Mom"
• “Answer call” or “Reject call”
• "Tell Tina I will be five minutes late"
• "Text Adam, Don’t forget to get milk on your way home"
• In a chat thread, say "Reply, I’m on my way"

Open apps

• "Open Translate"
• "Search for yoga classes on YouTube." Then say "Share this with mom"
• "Find hotels in San Diego on Maps"
• "[Artist name] on YouTube Music"
• "Show me emails from Michelle on Gmail"

Open websites in Chrome

Ask Google Assistant to go to a site in the Chrome app.

• "Go to [site name]"
• "Open [site name]"

Search in your apps or websites

When you have an app or website open in Chrome, ask Google Assistant to help you complete tasks, like finding a video to watch or searching for a message. It works seamlessly with many apps and we’ll continue improving app integrations over time. For example:

• With the YouTube app open, say "search for cat videos."
• With the Google Photos app open, say "show me New York pictures." Then say "The ones at Central Park."
• With a recipe site open on Chrome, say "Search for chocolate brownies with nuts."
• With a travel app open, say [hotels in Paris]

On your headphones

When you're connected to an Android phone or tablet, some headphones let you control headphones features with Google Assistant. Check your headphones’ user manual to find out if your headphones support Google Assistant.

Battery level

You can find the battery level for your headphones or earbuds.

• "What's the battery level on my headphones?"

Noise cancelling

If your headphones support active noise canceling to reduce the sound of outside interruptions, you can use Google Assistant to turn it on or off or adjust the level.

• Turn on or off: "Turn on noise canceling."
• Turn up or down: "Turn up noise canceling."
• Set: "Set noise canceling to maximum."
• Query: "Is noise canceling on?"

Ambient mode

If your headphones support ambient mode to boost the sound of ambient noises (sometimes called talkthrough or passthrough), you can use Google Assistant to turn it on or off, or adjust the level.

• Turn on or off: "Turn on ambient mode."
• Turn up or down: "Turn up ambient mode."
• Set: "Set ambient mode to maximum."
• Query: "Is ambient mode on?"

Touch controls

If your headphones have touch-sensitive controls, you can turn them off to prevent unintended manual activations, like during exercise. If you turn off your touch controls, you may need to use voice match to ask Google Assistant to turn them back on, or turn them back on through your device manufacturer's mobile app.

• Turn on or off: "Turn on touch controls."
• Query: "Are touch controls on?"

In your car

Navigation

• "Navigate to [address]."
• "How's the traffic to work?"
• "Share my ETA with [contact]."
• "What's my next turn?"

Media

• "Play some music."
• "Play [song name]."
• "Play the latest episode of [podcast name]."

Communicate

• "Call Mom."
• "Text Dad."
• "Read my messages."

Pay

• "Pay for gas."
• “Pay for parking.”

Related resources

• Set up Google Assistant on headphones
• Control smart home devices
• Listen to news or podcasts
• Create custom voice commands