Latest Xbox One Update Lets You Turn Off Cortana And Use Xbox Voice Commands Instead

Microsoft has become more flexible with its latest Xbox One update, allowing users to choose between using Cortana and classic Xbox commands. Early versions of Cortana on Xbox One automatically disabled Xbox voice commands when users activated the personal assistant, but now Microsoft is giving users a choice.

This piece of news is very satisfying for the many users who complained about Microsoft forcing them to enable Cortana. Now, thanks to the latest update, Xbox users can now disable the assistant and return to the old Xbox commands.

This decision also sends a subtle message to all Xbox One users: Microsoft is not ready to combine the old Xbox with the new one. If users want to benefit from the full Xbox experience, they should be prepared to adopt the whole package — even the features they don’t like.

Insiders can already disable Cortana on their Xbox, while non-Insiders have to wait one more month to be able to do this.

If the update is already available for you and you want to disable Cortana, go to Guide > All Settings > System > Cortana settings, and flip the first toggle to Off.

Also, this update disables Cortana in France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, but the digital assistant should be available in those countries in the near future.

Thanks for helping us test Cortana on Xbox One! We’ve received tons of excellent usage data and feedback, leading to dozens of improvements. While we continue to train Cortana, if you choose to opt out of Cortana, the “Xbox…” legacy voice command will be enabled.

If you choose to opt-out of Cortana, please be aware of the following: 1) Headset voice control support will be disabled. 2) Voice dictation will be disabled. 3) Universal Windows apps voice features will no longer function. Only “Xbox…” legacy voice commands will be recognized.