Set up Google Assistant on your Pixelbook

Google Assistant has its own key on your Pixelbook and can help you find info and get things done. Find quick answers and tell it to do things, like play music, set a reminder, send an email or show you directions to where you want to go. Here we’ll show you how to set up and use Google Assistant on your Pixelbook.

Discover what you can do with your Google Assistant on your Pixelbook.

Note: If you're using your device through work, you might need to ask your admin to turn on Search & Assistant services and Web & App Activity in order to use Google Assistant. After your admin turns on these settings, it can take a few hours for the changes to apply. You can also just sign in to your device through your personal account, rather than your work account.

Note: If your Google Account was set up through a school or nonprofit group, or you have a .EDU email address, you won't be able to use 'Hey Google' on your device.

For Family Link users: If the parent declines Voice Match enrolment during device setup, the Voice Match enrolment option in Settings will be greyed out. If the parent wants to turn on Voice Match, they need to reset the device and choose it during Voice Match enrolment.

For more information on using Google Assistant and adding a person to your device, see Related articles.

Languages that you can use

The Google Assistant currently supports English (US, UK, CA) and French (CA) for your device. If your device is set to an unsupported language, you won't be able to set up the Google Assistant. Change your language setting to a supported language. For more information on language settings, see Related articles.

Set up the Google Assistant

You can activate the Google Assistant when you first set up your device. If you skip that step during initial setup, here's how to get started:

At the bottom right, select the time.
Select Settings
Under 'Search and Assistant', select Google Assistant.
Tap the toggle to "On".
Tap the toggles to turn on any of these features:
- "Related info" allows the Google Assistant to show you info and actions related to what's on your screen.
- 'Hey Google' lets you access the Google Assistant any time that you say 'Hey Google' when your device is awake and unlocked.
- "Notifications" allows the Assistant to show you notifications.
- "Voice activation" changes your default method of interacting with the Assistant to speech instead of your keyboard whenever the Assistant is opened.
To update additional settings for your Google Assistant, select Google Assistant settings.

Settings that you may be asked to turn on

To get the full Assistant experience, your Assistant may ask you to turn on specific settings. If you choose not to turn on these settings, you can still get a less personalised Assistant experience.

Web & App Activity, which includes your activity on Google sites and apps. This info helps your Assistant give you more personalised experiences and suggestions.
Device Information, which includes your contacts, calendar and apps, so that your Assistant can help with tasks, like give you directions or play your favourite music.
Voice & Audio Activity, which records your voice and audio on Google services to improve speech recognition.

Important: When you turn on these settings, you turn them on for your Assistant and other Google services that you use.

For more information on Google Assistant, see Related articles.

Launch the Google Assistant

There are a few different ways to get help from your Google Assistant:

Keyboard: Press the key on your keyboard.
Voice: Say 'Hey Google' (you'll need to set this up first).
Touchscreen: Touch and hold the Launcher located in the bottom-left corner of your touchscreen.
Pixelbook Pen (sold separately): Press the Google Assistant button on the Pixelbook Pen while circling an item on-screen.

The Google Assistant window will appear. You can talk or type your question or command.

For more information on setting up Google Assistant and the Pixelbook pen, see Related articles.

Disable the Google Assistant

You can disable the Google Assistant at any time.

At the bottom right, select the time.
Select Settings .
Under 'Search and Assistant', select Google Assistant.
Tap the toggle to "Off".

Check your Google Assistant activity

If your Assistant has access to your Google Account and your Web & App Activity is turned on, your interactions with your Assistant will be saved to your account.

Go to your Google account's Assistant activity page. If you haven't already, sign in to your Google Account.
At the top of the page, search for an activity or filter by date.

Tip: To view specific activity info, in an activity's banner, select More More Details.

Delete your Assistant activity

Go to your Google account's Assistant activity page. If you haven't already, sign in to your Google Account.
At the top right, on the "Google Assistant" banner, select More Delete activity by.
Under "Delete by date", choose a time period.
Select Delete.

Important: When you delete all activity, it can take a day before the activity is deleted from your other devices.

Common questions

How does Google use my information?

We use data to make our services, like the Google Assistant, more useful to you. You can find out more at Google's Privacy Policy page.

Are my interactions with the Google Assistant used to improve it?

We'll continue to improve the usefulness of the Google Assistant over time, and part of this is through learning from past activity with the Google Assistant.

Does Google use my interactions with the Google Assistant to personalise the ads that I see?

If you interact with the Google Assistant, we may use these interactions to deliver more useful ads. You can delete past interactions with your Assistant at any time.

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