Cortana is an intelligent Personal Assistant in Windows platforms. It was initially available in Windows Phones only. Recently released Windows 10 has Cortana as a major feature for Desktop and Laptop machines too.

But this application is not available in all regions and languages. As of this writing it is available only in the following countries: China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States. Cortana is available in these languages only: Chinese (Simplified), English (U.K.), English (U.S.), French, Italian, German, and Spanish. In this small list of countries, India is missed out. Hence this guide is to help a consumer to enable Cortana in countries like India where it is not yet officially supported.

The following screenshot shows Cortana toggle switch is disabled from toggling ON since my country setting is India and Lanugage is English (India).

To use Cortana, the following settings in the system to be setup with one of the supported language and Country to be set as one of the supported one shown in the above list.

1. Device Language

2. Speech Language

3. Country

Disclaimer from Microsoft: If you change your region, you might not be able to shop at Store, or use things you’ve purchased, like memberships and subscriptions, games, movies, TV, and music.

This post shows how to do these and get Cortana available for you. It involves two things. One is setting up Microphone and another one is about setting up Language and Country.

Setup a Microphone

Follow the navigation listed below to reach Microphone setup wizard.

Right Click Start Menu -> Control Panel -> Ease pf Access -> Speech Recognition -> Set up microphone.

Next step is to select type of Microphone you use. In my case I use a Desktop Microphone. You may use Headset, so select according to it.

Follow the simple instructions in Wizard to test the microphone volume and boost level and complete it successfully.

Installing Supported Language Pack

Follow the navigation shown below to install the language pack. In my case I am installing English (United States). This should be one of the languages shown below:

Chinese (Simplified), English (U.K.), English (U.S.), French, Italian, German, and Spanish.

Right Click Start Menu -> Control Panel -> Clock, Language, and Region -> Lanugage (Add Language) -> Add a language -> English -> English (United States)

Once installed you will see list of languages as shown below which includes new language installed.

Configuring Country

Follow the below sequence to select one of the country listed below.

China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States

Right Click Start Menu -> Control Panel -> Clock, Language, and Region -> Region (Change Location) -> Home Location as “United States” -> Apply -> OK

Configuring Cortana

Now it is time to enable Cortana.

Click Search box near Start button -> Settings button (Gear icon) on Cortana Menu -> Follow the wizard to agree with terms and conditions -> Select your nick name -> Enable all settings required by Cortana -> Done!

You need to toggle Cortana switch (as shown below in the screenshot) as first step to go through the above steps.

Disclaimer: Cortana asks a a ton load of permissions to collect your personal information through this PC. It is upto you to decide on saying yes to these permissions. But without these permission, it won’t be enabled 🙂

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