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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."
  • Opening hours: "Is Boots still open?"
  • Navigation: "Navigate home."

Plan your day

  • Traffic: "How's the traffic to work?"
  • Tasks: "Remind me to do the washing this evening". "Remind me to call Mum every Sunday".
  • Calendar events: "When's my first meeting today?"

Ask Google

  • Game updates: "Who won the Leeds game?"
  • Calculations: "What's 20 per cent of 80?"
  • Dictionary: "What does 'gregarious' mean?"
  • Translations: "How do I say 'Nice to meet you' in French?"
  • Finance: "How's the FTSE 100 doing?"
  • Unit conversions: "How many kilometres are there in a mile?"
  • Search: "Search for summer holiday 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 Desert Island Discs."
  • News: "Play the news. What's the latest news from BBC?"

Have fun

  • Get to know your Assistant: "Do you dream?" "What's your favourite colour?"
  • 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." "How much does a lion weigh?"

On specific devices

On your Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro

Summarise web pages

Read aloud and translate web pages on Chrome or Google app

Get Pixel help

  • You can get support for your Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro when you ask Google Assistant a question.
  • You can say things like, "Help me with my Pixel" or ask, "How do I turn off notifications?"
On your Pixel 6 and later

Translate what's on your screen with Google Assistant

  • Activate Google Assistant and say "Translate this", or tap Translate.
  • It will generate translated text to overlay on top of the existing text in another language. This is similar to what you find in Google Lens translate.
  • You can interact with the text in different ways, such as selecting it, copying it, searching for it or having it read out loud to you.
  • This feature works with text that you see on screen, including text in images.

Type with your voice

  • With Assistant voice typing, you can use your voice to type the message, add emojis, make edits and send in multiple languages seamlessly. Google Assistant detects the language that you speak automatically.
  • Punctuation is added automatically as you speak. While you speak, you can also tap on your keyboard to type even if the mic is still on.
  • Use voice commands, such as "delete" and "clear" to edit text with your voice, or "send" to send the message.
  • The text that you speak stays on your device and isn't sent to Google servers.
  • Assistant voice typing is available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish.
  • Learn more about how to use Google Assistant to type with your voice.
On your Pixel 4 and later

Take, search and share photos

  • "Show me my photos from London."
  • "Take a selfie." Then say, "Share this with Ryan".
  • "Take a picture in 10 seconds."

Manage your phone's settings

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

Make calls or send messages

  • "Call Mum."
  • "Answer call" or "Reject call."
  • "Tell Tina, I'll 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 Mum".
  • "Find hotels in Leeds 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 a website open in Chrome, ask Google Assistant to help you complete tasks, such as if you want to:

  • "Find a video to watch."
  • "Search for a message."

It works seamlessly with many apps and we'll continue to improve 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 my London pictures". Then say, "The ones at Tower Bridge".
  • 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 phone or tablet

Communicate

  • Calls: "Call Mum." "Make a video call."
  • Duo: "Call Mum."
  • On phones only:
    • SMS: "Text Mike, see you at 5."
    • WhatsApp: "Send a WhatsApp message to Sam."

Get around your device

  • Change settings: "Turn on Wi-Fi." "Increase the volume." "Decrease the brightness."
  • Control your phone: "Turn on the torch." "Take a photo."
    • 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 7.00 a.m."

Get things done

  • Shopping: "Add cereal to my shopping list."

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 21.” “Lower the temperature by two degrees.”

Plan your day

  • Alarms: “Set an alarm for 7 a.m.”

Communicate

Important: This only works on smart displays.

  • Calls: “Call Mum.” “Make a video call.”
  • Duo: “Call Mum.” “Call the 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

  • Films and 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'."

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 headphones

When you're connected to an Android phone or tablet, some headphones let you control headphone 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 cancellation

If your headphones support Active Noise Cancellation 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 cancellation."
  • Turn up or down: "Turn up noise cancellation."
  • Set: "Set noise cancellation to maximum."
  • Query: "Is noise cancellation 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?"
  • "What's my next turn?"

Media

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

Communicate

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

Get daily weather updates, quotes and more

You can ask the Google Assistant on your phone to send you daily updates on your interests.

Important: Some features aren't available in all languages, countries or regions, or eligible Android devices.

Subscribe to a daily update

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, touch and hold the Home button or say "Hey Google".
  2. Say or type the update that you want, for example:
    • "Send me the weather every day."
    • "Send me a poem every day."
    • "Send me a quote every day."
    • "Send me a funny video every day."
    • "Send me a fun fact every day."
    • "Send me a mindfulness tip every day."
  3. When asked if you want to receive this info every day, tap Yes.
  4. Choose a time to receive your daily update.

Find your daily updates

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, touch and hold the Home button or say "Hey Google".
  2. Say or type:
    • "Find my daily updates."
    • "Find my subscriptions."
    • "What are my subscriptions?"

Change or cancel a daily update

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, touch and hold the Home button or say "Hey Google".
  2. Say or type:
    • "Find my subscriptions."
    • "What are my subscriptions?"
  3. Tap a subscription and then Change time or Cancel the subscription.

Daily updates don't work

Do more with Google Assistant on Google TV

You can ask questions and complete tasks on your Google TV with Google Assistant. Google Assistant comes installed on your Google TV device. You can turn it on when you first set up your device or you can turn it on later.

On Google TV devices, Google Assistant is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Hindi, Chinese (Traditional), Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish.

Talk to Google Assistant

  1. On your Google TV remote, press the Google Assistant button Assistant.
  2. Ask a question or say a command.
  3. To help Google Assistant understand your request, speak into the microphone on your remote.

Tip: To do even more with your Assistant, on your phone, download the Google Assistant app Assistant.

What you can ask Google Assistant

Watch videos

  • Films and TV shows: "Play The Mandalorian on Disney+."
  • Video clips: "Play cat videos on YouTube."
  • Apps: "Open YouTube."
  • Search: "Search for sitcoms." "Find sci-fi movies."
  • Info: "Tell me about Game of Thrones."

Control media

  • Playback: "Pause." "Stop." "Resume."
  • Volume: "Louder." "Softer."

Control your smart home

  • Lights: "Dim the living room lights."
  • Thermostats: "Set the heating to 20." "Lower the temperature by two degrees."

Plan your day

  • Alarms: "Set an alarm for 7.00 a.m."

Ask Google

  • Game updates: "Who won the Leeds game?"
  • Calculations: "What's 20 per cent of 80?"
  • Dictionary: "What does "gregarious" mean?"
  • Translations: "How do I say 'Nice to meet you' in French?"
  • Finance: "How's the FTSE 100 doing?"
  • Unit conversions: "How many kilometres are there in a mile?"
  • Search: "Search for summer holiday ideas."
  • Image search: "Find pictures of kittens."
  • Web answer: "How do you remove wine stains from a rug?"

Have fun

  • Get to know your Assistant: "Do you dream?" "What's your favourite colour?"
  • Games: "Let's play a game." "Give me a trivia question."
  • Entertainment: "Tell me a joke." "Tell me something interesting."

Tip: For more ideas, ask Google Assistant, "What can you do?"

How to get Google Assistant to take action

To respond to your requests, Google Assistant uses the best available device. If you ask Google Assistant to "Play music", your speaker will play music rather than your phone because it provides the best audio.

It's not always easy for Assistant to decide which device should respond to your request. To make sure that your preferred device responds:

  • Device placement: Check that your devices are at least 2.4 metres (8 feet) apart.
  • Say the device name: For some actions, you can say the device that you'd like to use. For example, "Hey Google, play music on the bedroom speaker" or "Hey Google, turn on the lights in the kitchen".
  • Target certain devices: Depending on the type of device, there are ways to show Google Assistant which device you intend to use for your request. Sometimes, it helps to move closer to the device.
    • Pixel Watch: Raise or move your wrist.
    • Nest Hub Max: If granted the right permissions, look at the device while you ask Google Assistant.
    • Phone and tablet: Make sure that the screen is facing up.
  • Control timers, alarms and media remotely: It's possible to control ongoing timers, alarms and media on other devices through a device closer to you. For example, if you want to stop a ringing alarm in your bedroom from your living room, say "Hey Google, stop the alarm". The device closest to you will stop the ringing alarm.

Help Google improve future behaviour

To provide a better experience, Google Assistant uses your feedback.

Assistant notifications

We regularly send push notifications to ask for your feedback. If you receive a notification, share your feedback to help improve Google Assistant.

Send feedback on the Google Home app

  1. Open the Google Home app Google Home.
  2. At the top right, tap your profile icon.
  3. Select Help and feedback and then the type of device you'd like to submit feedback for.
  4. Tap Send feedback and then the device you'd like to submit feedback for.
  5. Enter a brief description of your issue.
  6. Tick the box for Screenshot and system logs.
  7. At the top right, tap Send Send.

Change the volume

After you ask your Google Assistant to play media, you can control the volume with commands. You can set the volume to a specific level (1–10) or per cent (1–100%).

Important: The languages you can use depend on the device. Learn which languages work on your device.

How to change the volume

Say "Hey Google" or press the button to talk to your Google Assistant. Then say a command.

  • Increase: "Turn it up." (Increases volume by 10%).
  • Decrease: "Turn it down." (Decreases volume by 10%).
  • Set a specific level or percentage: "Volume 5." "Volume to 65%."
  • Change volume by [X] amount: "Increase volume by 10%." "Decrease volume by 10%."
  • Maximise: "Max. volume."
  • Minimise: "Minimum volume."

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