The complete list of Google Home and Google Assistant commands so far – CNET

Google wants its AI-powered voice assistant to spread to every corner of tech. As of today, you can find Google Assistant in a wide variety of smart speakers — from the original Google Home ($99 at Walmart) to the Google Home Mini to third-party options from companies such as JBL. You can find it in smart displays such as the Google Nest Hub (formerly the Google Home Hub). Google Assistant is built into every Android phone and you can download it as an app for iPhones. It’s even built into cameras, security systems and cars. 

As Google Assistant becomes more omnipresent, the search giant behind it is doing a good job of continually expanding Assistant’s capabilities. Through Google Assistant, you can set timers, control lights and thermostats, play trivia games, watch YouTube or Netflix and more — all with simple voice commands. As the list grows, it can be tough to remember all of the many things Google Assistant can do. 

Google has released a suite full of all the capabilities of Google Assistant. While it’s a seriously helpful website, to make the most of Google Assistant, you’ll still want to have an idea of what you want to do first. Then you can search the site to narrow down your options. As such, we’ve done our best to assemble and test everything we could think of. Below you will find the (almost) complete list of voice commands for the Google Assistant so far.

Summoning the Google Assistant

You can begin a conversation with the Google Home by simply saying, “OK, Google,” or “Hey, Google.” Summoning the Google Assistant on your phone or any other device with Google Assistant works the same way, but your account will know to only respond on one of the devices, even if both hear you. 

The capabilities on all of Google’s speakers are the same, and even third party speakers offer almost all of the same features, so unless noted otherwise, assume the commands listed below for Google Home work for any Google smart speaker or smart display. 

Voice recognition

You and up to six family members can train Google Home to recognize your voice. The technology isn’t foolproof, so be careful before you allow Google to use your voice to verify purchases. Otherwise, Google can customize certain responses based on who’s talking. Ask about your calendar or your commute to work, for instance, and Google will provide an individualized response.

Pick your assistant

Make your Google Home sound unique by switching from the default voice for responses. You now have a few options including a celebrity cameo from singer/songwriter John Legend. Ask your Google Home to “talk like a Legend” and John Legend will respond to a variety of questions including a few easter eggs where he sings. Here are specific things you can ask John Legend:

• “Serenade me.”
• “Sing me a song.”
• “Are you John Legend?”
• “Do you know Chrissy Teigen?”
• “How are you?”
• “Sing Happy Birthday.”
• “Tell me a joke.”
• “Who’s your celebrity crush?”
• “What’s your favorite song?”
• “What’s your best pickup line?”
• “Compliment me.”

Even better, different family members can set different voices, and using voice recognition, Google Home will switch on the fly based on who’s talking. 

Conversational commands

The Google Home allows you to ask lines of questions that are connected. For instance, you could say, “Hey, Google, play ‘Lose Yourself to Dance.”http://www.cnet.com/” Then, “OK, Google, what album is this from?” Then, “Hey, Google, play that album.” Even though you aren’t using the name of the album, Google Assistant understands the context and supplies the answer.

Continued Conversations

Last year, Google added an optional feature called Continued Conversations. Once you speak a command to a Google Home speaker, it will complete the action and continue listening for another command for a few seconds or until you say “thank you.”

For instance, you can say, “OK, Google, what’s the weather?” After it tells you the weather, say, “What about tomorrow?” Then you could say, “Remind me to bring an umbrella tomorrow morning,” all without ever having to repeat the wake phrase. You can turn off this feature in the Google Home app if you don’t want the mic to stay active. 

String two commands together

Google also recently enabled a new feature on Google Home which allows you to speak up to three consecutive commands in one sentence. For example, you can say things like, “Hey Google, play Hammock on Spotify and set the volume to 10” or “OK Google, what’s the weather and turn on the living room lights.”

Almost any of the above commands can be used together, but some commands will only work when phrased in a specific way. An undeniably easier way to make Google Home perform multiple actions at once, however, is to create a routine.

Routines

Much like Alexa, Google Home now has routines that can be triggered with a custom phrase or on a custom schedule. In short, you can create a routine that turns off the lights around the house, locks the front door, adjusts the temperature and plays soothing music when you say, “OK, Google, good night.”

Or you can have a routine that runs every morning on a schedule as an alarm that plays the news, turns on the lights, makes your coffee and creates a timer so you know when it’s time to leave the house.

Read more: Everything you need to know about Google Home. 

Multilingual support

If you live in a multilingual home, Google has also made it so Google Home speakers can understand two languages at once. You can currently choose a combination of any two of the currently supported languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese.

Once set up, Google Home will then be able to respond to you in a different language on the fly, based on the language in which you originally spoke the command.

Basic commands

• Ask for help: “OK, Google, help.”
• Control the volume: “OK, Google, turn it up,”http://www.cnet.com/”OK, Google, Louder” or “OK, Google, Turn it to 11.” (Yes, the max is 11.)
• Halt an action: “OK Google, stop,”http://www.cnet.com/”Pause” or “Be quiet.”

Your day

• Hear your daily briefing: “OK, Google, tell me about my day” or “OK, Google, good morning.” (This includes a personalized greeting, info on weather, traffic, reminders, calendar entries, flight status and curated news stories.)
• Weather: “OK, Google, how’s the weather today?” or “OK, Google, do I need an umbrella today?”
• Show weather on Chromecast ($55 at eBay): “OK, Google, show me the weather on [Chromecast name].”
• Traffic: “OK, Google, what’s traffic like?”
• Create a reminder: “OK, Google, remind me to The complete list of Google Home and Google Assistant commands so far – CNET on [day] and [time]” or “OK, Google, remind me to The complete list of Google Home and Google Assistant commands so far – CNET every day at [time].”
• News: “Ok Google, what’s the latest news from CNET?,” or “OK, Google, what’s in the news?”
• Get a positive news story: “OK, Google, tell me something good.”
• Create a reminder based on location: “OK, Google, remind me to water the plants when I get home” or “Hey, Google, remind me to buy eggs when I’m at the grocery store.”
• Play reminders: “OK, Google, what are my reminders?” or “OK, Google, what are my reminders tomorrow?” or “OK, what is my reminder for [title}?”
• Delete reminders: “OK, Google, delete my reminders for tomorrow” or “OK, Google, delete my reminder to The complete list of Google Home and Google Assistant commands so far – CNET” or “OK, Google, delete all of my reminders.”
• Check notifications: “OK, Google, what’s up?” or “OK, Google, what are my notifications?”
• Create a new calendar event: “OK, Google new calendar event” or “OK, Google, add [event] to my calendar” or “OK, Google, schedule [event] for me on Saturday at 8 p.m.”
• List next calendar event: “OK, Google, what’s next on my calendar” or “What/where/when is my next meeting?”
• List calendar events for a day: “OK, Google, list all events for January 1,”http://www.cnet.com/”OK, Google, what’s on my agenda for today?” or “OK, Google, what’s on my calendar for Friday?”

Numbers

• Math: “OK, Google, what’s 354 times 11?” or “OK, Google, 546 plus 406?”
• Count: “OK, Google, count to 20.”
• Measurements: “OK, Google, how many liters are in 4 gallons.”
• Roll a die: “OK, Google, roll a die” or “OK, Google, roll a 12-sided die.”
• Flip a coin: “OK, Google, flip a coin.”
• Random number: “OK, Google, give me a random number between five and 50.”
• Currency conversion: “OK, Google, how much is 100 euros in dollars?”

Time

• Time: “OK, Google, what time is it?”
• Time in other locations: “OK, Google, what’s the time in London?”
• Alarm: “OK, Google, set an alarm for [time]” or “OK, Google, set an alarm for every day at [time].”
• Snooze alarm: “OK, Google, snooze alarm.”
• Cancel alarm: “OK, Google, cancel my alarm for [time].”
• Timer: “OK Google, set a timer for [time].”
• Multiple timers: “OK, Google, set a second timer for [time]” or “OK, Google, set a pizza timer for [time].”
• Check timer: “OK, Google, how much time is left on my timer?”
• Cancel timer: “OK, Google, cancel my timer.”

Note: You can now stop an alarm just by saying “stop.” You don’t need to use the wake words when your alarm is sounding. 

Tools

• Recipes: “OK, Google, how do I make [dish]?”
• Uber: “OK, Google, order an Uber.”
• Tune an instrument: “OK, Google, tune my instrument” or “OK, Google, play an F sharp.” (If you don’t specify “flat” or “sharp,” you must say “note” after stating which note you want Google Home to play, such as “play an A note.”)
• Remember things: “OK, Google, remember that I put my passport in the filing cabinet” or “Remember that my password is ‘money’.”
• Recall remembered things: “OK, Google, where is my passport?” or “What is my password?”
• Location: “OK, Google, where am I?”
• Translations: “OK, Google, how do you say [word] in [language]?”

Search

• Stocks: “OK, Google, how are Alphabet’s stocks doing?”
• Words: “OK, Google, what does [word] mean?”
• Spelling: “OK, Google, spell [word].”
• Special events: “OK, Google, when is [event]?” (Easter, for example.)
• People: “OK, Google, who is [person]?”
• Facts: “OK, Google, how tall is [person]?”
• Things: “OK, Google, what is [thing]?”
• Places: “OK, Google, what country is [location] in?”
• Animal sounds: “OK, Google, what does [animal] sound like?”
• Distance: “OK, Google, how far is [business name] from here?”
• Restaurants: “OK, Google, what are the nearest restaurants to me?”
• Businesses: “OK, Google, are there any [business type] around here?”
• Business information: “OK, Google, how late is [business] open?” or “Is [business] open now?”
• Quotes: “OK, Google, give me a quote” or “OK, Google, give me a love quote.”
• Medical information: “OK, Google, what is a torn meniscus?”
• Calories: “OK, Google, how many calories are in [food item]?”
• Authors: “OK, Google, who wrote [book title]?”
• Inventors: “OK, Google, who invented [item]?”

Shopping

• Get voice shopping instructions: “OK, Google, how do I shop?”
• Order items from Google Express: “OK, Google, buy dish soap.”
• Reorder a previously purchased item: “OK, Google, reorder Old Spice deodorant.”
• Add to shopping list: “OK, Google, add [item] to my shopping list.”
• Check shopping list: “OK, Google, what’s on my shopping list?”
• Track orders: “Ok Google, where’s my package?”

Media

• Play music: “OK, Google, play some music” or “Play some [genre] music.”
• Play ambient sounds: “OK, Google, help me relax” or “OK, Google, play white noise” or “OK, Google play forest sounds.”
• Play an artist or song: “OK, Google, play [artist]” or “Play [song].”
• Play a song by lyrics: “OK, Google, play the song that goes, ‘Is this the real life?”http://www.cnet.com/”
• Play a Google Play playlist or album: “OK, Google, play some indie music” or “OK, Google, play [album].”
• Ask what’s playing: “OK, Google, what song is this?” or “OK, Google, what album is this?”
• Get more information: “OK, Google, when did this album come out?”
• Fast forward and rewind: “OK, Google, skip forward two minutes” or “OK, Google, skip backward 30 seconds.”
• Set a sleep timer: “OK, Google, stop in 20 minutes.”
• Play music on Spotify: “OK, Google, play [artist] on Spotify.”
• Play music on Pandora: “OK, Google, play [artist] on Pandora.”
• Like or dislike a song on Pandora: “OK, Google, dislike this song.”
• Play music on YouTube Music: “OK, Google, play [artist] on YouTube.”
• Play stations on TuneIn: “OK, Google, play [station] on TuneIn.”
• Pull up lists on YouTube: “OK, Google, let’s look at what’s trending on YouTube on [TV name].”
• Play a movie or TV show on Netflix using Chromecast: “OK, Google, play [show or movie title] on the [TV name].”
• Play an audiobook: “OK, Google, read my book” or “OK, Google, read [book title].”
• Jump audiobook chapters: “OK, Google, next/previous chapter.”
• Check time left in audiobook: “OK, Google, how much time is left?”
• Find audiobook author: “OK, Google, who wrote this?”
• Speed up playback of audiobooks and podcasts: “Hey Google, play at twice the speed.”
• Ambient sound: “Ok, Google, play ambient sounds”

Chromecast

• Turn on/off the TV with Chromecast: “OK, Google, turn on the [Chromecast name]” or “OK, Google, turn off the [Chromecast name].”
• Play music through other speakers using Chromecast: “OK, Google, play [song] on [Chromecast or Google Home name].”
• Listen to audiobook on another device: “OK, Google, read my book on [Chromecast or Google Home speaker name].”
• Play videos on YouTube using Chromecast: “OK, Google, play on the [Chromecast name].”
• Play and pause Chromecast: “OK, Google, play/pause [Chromecast name].”
• Stop Chromecast: “OK, Google, stop [Chromecast name].”
• Scrub the Chromecast: “OK, Google, skip to five minutes on [Chromecast name]” or “OK, Google, skip forward/back two minutes on [Chromecast name].”
• Change Chromecast volume: “OK, Google, set [Chromecast name] volume to 50 percent” or “OK, Google, volume down on [Chromecast name].”
• Mute Chromecast: “OK, Google, mute [Chromecast]” or “OK, Google, unmute [Chromecast name].”
• Images: “OK, Google, show me a picture of an antelope.”

Health, food and fitness

Your Google Home can help you exercise, eat well, calm your mind and more. Check out all of the best Google Home commands for health, nutrition and fitness.

Entertainment

• Sports updates: “OK, Google, who is [team] playing next?” or “OK, Google, did the [team] win last night?”
• Sports scores: “OK, Google, what was the score for the last [team] game?”
• Team information: “OK, Google, tell me about [team].”
• Movies: “OK, Google, what movies came out last Friday?”
• Casting for movies: “OK, Google, what actors are in [movie]?”
• Shows by network: “OK, Google, what shows are on [network]?”

Travel

Google Assistant now integrates with Google Maps, allowing users to share destination info with others. It’s also capable of making calls, replying to texts, controlling music, and searching for destinations through voice commands, all within the Google Maps app. 

• Book a hotel room at the following properties: AccorHotels, Choice Hotels, Expedia, InterContinental Hotels Group, Mirai, Priceline, Travelclick and other online services: “Find a hotel in San Francisco” then “Book a room at Quality Inn.”
• Get flight prices to a destination: “OK, Google, how much is a round-trip flight to New York?”
• Get flights with a specific airline: “OK, Google, find me flights with Jet Blue.”
• Check on your flights: “OK, Google, when is my next flight?” or “OK, Google, my flights in [month].”
• Discover places to visit: “OK, Google, what is there to see in Paris?”
• Find restaurants to try: “OK, Google, what’s the best restaurant in Berlin?”

Kid-friendly commands

• Play music and sound effects as kids read certain books out loud: “Hey Google, Read Along with [book name]”
• Create character-themed alarms: “Set a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle alarm for 8:00 PM.”
• Read a variety of kids stories: “Tell me a bedtime story.”

Smart home

Google Home now works with more than 10,000 devices and over 1,000 brands, including August, Lifx, TP-Link and more.

• Turn smart lights on/off: “OK, Google, turn on/off my lights.”
• Dim smart lights: “OK, Google, dim my lights to fifty percent.”
• Change smart bulb colors: “OK, Google, turn my lights [color].”
• Control smart thermostats: “OK, Google, turn the temperature to [temp].”
• Make incremental temperature changes: “OK, Google, raise the temperature 1 degree.”
• Control August Smart Lock: “OK, Google, lock the front door.”
• Turn on the TV with Logitech Harmony: “OK, Google, turn on the TV.”
• Change the channel with Logitech Harmony: “OK, Google, turn the TV to the Travel Channel” or “OK, Google, play channel 12.”
• Change the channel on a DISH Hopper: “OK, Google, play CBS on the Hopper.”
• Customize trigger phrases for IFTTT. For example: “OK, Google, let’s get this party started.”
• Show Nest Cam ($167 at Amazon) feed on Chromecast: “OK, Google, show [camera name],”http://www.cnet.com/”Hey, Google, what’s on [camera name]?” or “OK, Google, play [camera name] on [Chromecast name].”

A recent update made it so assigning your Google Home speakers to rooms makes them smarter about how they control the smart home devices in that room.

For instance, if you have three smart lights in your living room and assign them and the Google Home speaker to the living room, telling Google Home to turn the lights on or off will only affect the lights in that room. To control lights outside the living room, you will need to specify by saying, “Hey, Google, turn off all the lights,” or “OK, Google, turn on the kitchen lights.”

Phone

Google Home can interact with your phone in a number of ways. It can place calls to anyone in your contacts list, find your lost phone and even stream music from your phone via Bluetooth.

• Google Assistant can now integrate with Android Messages, Hangouts, Messenger, SMS, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Viber. Users can tell it to  “Read back replies.”
• Place a call: “OK, Google, call mom” or “OK, Google, call [contact name]” or “OK, Google, call the nearest coffee shop.”
• Hang up: “OK, Google, hang up.”
• Find your phone: “OK, Google, find my phone” or “OK, Google, ring my phone.”
• Pair with Bluetooth: “OK, Google, Bluetooth pairing.”
• Check Bluetooth status: “OK, Google, is Bluetooth active?” or “OK, Google, is Bluetooth paired?” or “OK, Google, is Bluetooth connected?”
• Cancel Bluetooth pairing: “OK, Google, cancel” or “OK, Google, cancel pairing.”
• Clear paired Bluetooth devices: “OK, Google, clear all devices” or “OK, Google, clear all Bluetooth devices” or “OK, Google, unpair devices.”
• Google Assistant will now automatically punctuate sentences when you dictate messages, without you having to change any settings or giving any special voice commands.

Android users can now access voice commands for Google Assistant, even when the device is locked. In the past, this option was only available on Pixel 3 handsets. 

To use this feature, tap the Explore icon in the top right of the Google Assistant app. Next, tap the three vertical dots in the upper right corner, and hit Settings. Then go to Assistant > Assistant devices, and pick your phone.

Within that menu, turn on Access with Voice Match and Lock screen personal results.

Broadcast

If you have more than one Google Home speaker in your home, you can broadcast messages to all speakers (except the one you give the command to) using one of the built-in commands. Or you can create your own broadcast message. Plus, people can now reply to broadcasted messages.

• Wake up: “OK, Google, broadcast wake everyone up” or “OK, Google, broadcast it’s time to wake up.”
• Breakfast: “OK, Google, broadcast breakfast is ready” or “OK, Google, broadcast breakfast is served” or “OK, Google, broadcast it’s time for breakfast.”
• Lunch: “OK, Google, broadcast lunch is ready” or “OK, Google, broadcast it’s lunch time.”
• Dinner: “OK, Google, broadcast dinner is ready/served” or “OK, Google, broadcast ring the dinner bell” or “OK, Google, broadcast it’s dinner time.”
• Time to leave: “OK, Google, broadcast time to leave” or “OK, Google, broadcast time to get out.”
• Arrived home: “OK, Google, broadcast I’m home” or “OK, Google, broadcast I’m here.”
• On the way: “OK, Google, broadcast I’m on the way” or “OK, Google, broadcast I’ll be home soon.”
• Movie time: “OK, Google, broadcast it’s movie time” or “OK, Google, broadcast the movie is about to start” or “OK, Google, broadcast let’s go to the movie.”
• TV time: “OK, Google, broadcast the show is about to start” or “OK, Google, broadcast it’s time to watch TV” or “OK, Google, broadcast TV time.”
• Bedtime: “OK, Google, broadcast time for bed” or “OK, Google, broadcast it’s time to go to bed” or “OK, Google, broadcast sleep time.”
• Custom: “OK, Google, broadcast/shout/announce/tell everyone [custom message].”

Third-party actions

Last year, Google rolled out what it calls Actions for Google Assistant. These are third-party services and integrations that work much like Alexa skills, except you don’t have to activate them one by one. Actions are enabled by default.

You can find the full list of Actions in the Google Home app by going to More settings > Services. You will also find sample invocations there, which will tell you how to interact with the different services available.

• 21 Blackjack: “OK, Google, let me talk to 21 Blackjack.”
• Best Dad Jokes: “OK, Google, talk to Best Dad Jokes.”
• Domino’s: “OK, Google, talk to Domino’s and get my Easy Order.”
• Product Hunt: “OK, Google, talk to Product Hunt.”
• Tender: “OK, Google, can I talk to Tender about drinks like an old fashioned?”
• Todoist: “OK, Google, tell me what my next task is with Todoist.”

Poems and songs

• Sing a song: “OK, Google, sing me a song.”
• Sing Happy Birthday: “OK, Google, sing me Happy Birthday.”
• Read a poem: “OK, Google, read a poem.”
• Tell a story: “OK, Google, tell me a story” or “OK, Google, tell me a scary story.”
• Sing a lullaby: “OK, Google, sing a lullaby.”
• Sing nursery rhymes: “OK, Google, sing ABC” or “OK, Google, sing Yankee Doodle” or “OK, Google, sing Old MacDonald.”

Easter eggs

• “OK, Google, always be closing.”
• “OK, Google, what is your quest?”
• “OK, Google, I am your father.”
• “OK, Google, set phasers to kill.”
• “OK, Google, are you SkyNet?”
• “OK, Google, make me a sandwich.”
• “OK, Google, up up down down left right left right B A Start.”
• “OK, Google, do a barrel roll.”
• “OK, Google, it’s my birthday.”
• “OK, Google, it’s not my birthday.”
• “OK, Google, did you fart?”