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
