Microsoft has released a useful list of official commands for the Kinect on Xbox One which will cover all of the tasks you may wish to carry out with your brand new console, including turning it on, making a Skype call and recording an epic goal on FIFA 14!
We’ve had some fun playing around with Kinect already and we’ve been mighty impressed with the camera side of things, though we’ve found the voice control tricky to master. Whilst it recognises natural speech more more freely and is very comprehensive compared to the Xbox 360 version, it can take a bit of practice to get right.
So to save you from shouting random orders at your console and getting frustrated at it completely ignoring you (not something we’ve done, honest) here’s the commands it will respond to:
General Commands –
| If you want to… | Say this… |
| Turn on your Xbox One console (works only when Instant On power mode is enabled) | “Xbox on” |
| Turn off your Xbox One console | “Xbox turn off” |
| Return to the home screen | “Xbox, go home” or “Show my stuff” |
| Open and go to a particular application(for example, Xbox Music or Xbox Video) | “Xbox, go to <application name>” |
| Go back to the previous screen | “Xbox, go back” |
| Cancel the current action | “Xbox, cancel” |
| Snap a particular application | “Xbox, snap <application name>” |
| Unsnap a snapped application | “Xbox, unsnap” |
| Switch focus between snapped view and main view | “Xbox, switch” |
| Search using Bing | “Xbox, Bing <subject or topic>” |
| View the context menu | “Xbox, show menu” |
| Change view (same as pressing the View button) | “Xbox, change view” |
| Display the on-screen Help | “Xbox, help” |
Note:
When using Bing, the search box must open before you say what you want to search for.
Communication Commands:
| If you want to… | Say this… |
| Bring up a list of your contacts | Xbox, Skype |
| View the Contact details of your Skype contact | “Xbox, Skype <person>” |
| Start a video call using Skype | “Xbox, Call <person>” |
| Answer a video call | Xbox, Answer |
| Answer a voice call | Xbox, Answer Without Video |
| Hang up or end a call | “Xbox, hang up” |
| Send a Xbox Live message to a friend | “Xbox, send a message” |
Sign-in & Profile Commands:
| If you want to… | Say this… |
| Go to the sign-in page to sign in to any profile | “Xbox, sign in” |
| Sign-in to a specific account (use the first name on the account) | “Sign in as <person>” |
| Sign out of the active profile | “Xbox, sign out” |
| Scan a QR code for a game or downloadable content | “Xbox, use a code” |
Notification Commands:
| If you want to… | Say this… |
| See your notification history | “Xbox, notifications” |
| See more details about a notification that appears | “Xbox, show notification” |
| Dismiss a notification that is on the screen | “Xbox, close notification” |
| Answer an incoming call when the notification appears | “Xbox, answer” |
| Answer an incoming call without video when the notification appears | “Xbox, answer without video” |
Video & Music Commands:
| If you want to… | Say this… |
| Play video content | “Xbox, play” |
| Pause video content | “Xbox, pause” |
| Rewind to a previous point | “Xbox, rewind” |
| Fast forward to a future point | “Xbox, fast forward” |
| Rewind or fast forward at a faster pace | “Xbox, faster” |
| Rewind or fast forward at a slower pace | “Xbox, slower” |
| Skip to the previous chapter | “Xbox, skip backward” |
| Skip to the next chapter | “Xbox, skip forward” |
| Stop playback of the content | “Xbox, stop” |
| Play music, starting with the last active playlist | “Xbox, play music” |
| Pause the track | “Xbox, pause music” |
| Skip forward to the next track of a playlist or album | “Xbox, next song” |
| Skip backward to the previous track of a playlist or album | “Xbox, previous song” |
Note: Xbox Music must be active to use music commands.
TV Commands:
| If you want to… | Say this… |
| Watch live TV | “Xbox, watch TV” |
| Display the OneGuide | “Xbox, show guide” |
| Watch a specific channel | “Xbox, watch <channel name>” |
Volume Commands:
| If you want to… | Say this… |
| Mute your television | “Xbox, mute” |
| Unmute your television | “Xbox, unmute” |
| Increase the television volume | “Xbox, volume up” |
| Decrease the television volume | “Xbox, volume down” |
Gaming Commands:
| If you want to… | Say this… |
| Invite a friend to a game or chat | “Xbox, Invite <name>” |
| Record a game clip or highlight | “Xbox, record that” |
If you’ve experienced an early issue with your Xbox One since release day these related Gadget Help articles may be of interest to you:
Xbox One: Day One Release Issue – 4 Simple Solutions
How to fix Xbox One Error OX876CO104 with BT Home Hub 4 or 5