Appleβs voice control assistant has finally found its way onto macOS, with the release of macOS Sierra. In this article, weβre going to cover everything you need to know, in order to get started with Siri on your Mac.
Launching Siri on your Mac
When you installed Sierra, one of the setup screens asked whether you wanted to enable Siri. If you chose not to enable Appleβs voice assistant, then you can reverse this decision by completing the following steps:
- Click the βAppleβ logo in the your Macβs toolbar.
- Select βSystem preferencesβ¦β
- Select βSiri.β
- Make sure the βEnable Siriβ checkbox is selected.
Once Siri is enabled, thereβs a few different ways that you can launch it:
- Hold down the βCommand + Spaceβ keys.
- Select the βSiriβ icon from your Dock (if available).
- Click the Siri icon in the upper-right corner of your Macβs toolbar.
- Open a βFinderβ window and select βApplications > Siri.β
However you choose to launch Siri, itβll appear as a floating window in the upper-right corner of your screen. At this point, Siri is listening and awaiting your commands!
To dismiss Siri, either click the little βXβ icon in the upper-left corner of the Siri window, or press the βEscβ key on your keyboard.
What Can I ask Siri?
If youβve previously used Siri on your iPhone or iPad then you may already have a repertoire of go-to Siri commands, but hereβs a few commands that can prove particularly useful on macOS:
- Set yourself a reminder
If youβre reading an item in another application, such as an email in Apple Mail or a webpage in Safari, and need to take a break, then you can tell Siri to remind you about this item later. For example, if you tell Siri to βremind me of this is an hour,β then itβll create an entry in your Macβs Reminders app, complete with a link to the item in question, and an alert set for an hour from now.
2. Search for files
Siri can be a powerful tool for helping you locate files on your Mac based on very specific search terms, for example you can ask Siri to βShow me the image files I created yesterday,β βShow me all files containing the keyword Appleβ or βShow me all files with the PNG extension.β
Once Siri has returned its initial set of results, you can narrow your search by asking follow-up questions.
3. Adjust system settings
You can use Siri to quickly adjust various System settings, including turning Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on and off; and increasing and decreasing your Macβs volume and screen brightness. Similarly, if you tell Siri to change your desktop wallpaper or screen saver, then itβll launch the βDesktop & Screen saverβ section of your Macβs System Preferences, which is another useful shortcut.
4. Location-based searches
If you grant Siri permission to access your geographical data, then you can ask it to perform searches based on your current location. To enable Location Services for Siri:
- Navigate to βSystem preferences > Security & Privacy.β
- Select the βPrivacyβ tab.
- Select βLocation Servicesβ from the left-hand menu.
- Select the βEnable Location Servicesβ checkbox.
- Select the βSiriβ checkbox
You can now ask Siri questions based on your current location, such as βWhereβs the nearest cafe/real ale pub?β βWhere can I buy a burger?β and βCan you get me driving directions to Pure Gym?β
5. Search the web
You can tell Siri to search for anything on the web, simply by asking it to βsearch the web for X.β You can also ask Siri to launch any URL for you, for example if you ask Siri to βopen facebook.com,β then itβll respond by opening a new tab in your default browser.
But for the biggest productivity boost, you can combine these two commands, for example you could ask Siri to βsearch youtube.com for funny cat videos.β
Getting More Out of Siri
Now you have an idea of what to ask Siri, letβs take a look at some of the hidden features that can help you get the most out of Siri on macOS.
Pin Siri Results to the Notification Centre
Sometimes, you may want to remember the exact results of a Siri request, or perhaps you want to track how these results change over time.
You can pin the results of a Siri question to your Macβs Notification Centre, by clicking the little β+β that appears in the upper-right corner of every Siri result box. You can then view this information in the Notification Centre at any time, by clicking the lined icon in the far-right corner of your Macβs toolbar.
Pinned queries update each time you open the Notification Centre, which makes them particularly useful when the results of a query are likely to update throughout the day, for example if youβve asked Siri for the weather report for the next 24 hours, then this may be a prime candidate for pinning to the Notification Centre.
Turn Siri results into a screenshot
Sometimes you may want to keep a record of Siriβs results, or share this information with others. One method is to transform a Siri results box into a PNG image file, by grabbing the boxβs toolbar and dragging it to a new location, such as your Desktop, a Finder window, a word processing document, or even inside an email. As soon as you drop the results box, itβll turn into a PNG file.
Interact with Siri using the keyboard
Feel a bit silly talking to your Mac? Maybe youβre in a public place and donβt want to annoy the people around you, or perhaps all the background noise is preventing Siri from hearing you correctly.
Although Siri is designed to respond to your voice, there is a workaround that lets you interact with Siri using text commands. You may have noticed that whenever you issue a vocal command, macOS displays your command at the top of the Siri window. You can actually edit this command by clicking it and then using your keyboard to change the text.
This feature is intended to help you tweak a previous vocal request, for example if Siri misheard one word in your query then you can use your keyboard to edit this command, rather than repeating yourself. However, thereβs nothing stopping you from using this feature to issue completely new text commands.
To use this feature in this slightly unorthodox way, youβll need to issue at least one vocal command. Then, once Siri has processed this command, click the command text, type your new command and then press the βReturnβ key on your keyboard.
Changing Siriβs voice
Finally, if you fancy a change then Siri has a number of different voices that you can try out:
- Open your Macβs βSystem preferencesβ¦β
- Select βSiri.β
- Open the βSiri voiceβ dropdown menu and choose any of the new voices from this list.
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