With the new Xbox One I’ve noticed (heard) a lot of people using Kinect commands online. More so it seems than on the 360, with the most common phrase being “Xbox, record that”.
Until recently I had my Kinect turned off, but recently gave it a go and was pleasantly surprised! It feels very user friendly, with a lot of commands being rather intuitive. However, I did wonder exactly what phrases worked with the hardware, so I’ve provided the list below which highlights all of the current Xbox One Kinect commands you can use. I hope this helps many of you.
Getting Around
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 you do a Bing search, wait for the search box to display before telling the console what to search for.
Communicating
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 an Xbox Live message to a friend |
“Xbox, send a message“ |
Sign-in & Profiles
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) |
“Xbox, 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“ |
Notifications
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
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
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
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
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“ |
Microsoft have also provided this useful downloadable PDF which covers Kinect commands and gestures for Xbox One.
Download Kinect Commands and Gestures Xbox One PDF