[Tumultus]

Since yesterday, Cortana isn't working anymore. It doesn't seem like she is picking up anything I say through the microphone and I receive the "I am sorry, I didn't catch that" reply.

The weird Thing: if I Switch my phone language from ENGLISH US to ENGLISH UK or even GERMAN, Cortana works just fine. I already performed a soft reset as well as a complete hard reset - same story! Once my phone is set to ENGLISH US, it appears like Cortana isn't listening through the microphone. If I turn her off and use the Standard voice recognition, it works though, so, the microphone isn't broken or anything.

I am totally desperate right now. Did anyone ever Encounter this issue and found a fix?

EDIT: Try this. That fixed it for me.

[Marko Marjanovic]

Hey there,
,,Cortana'' is still in ,,BETA'' phase, so bugs are expectable. I think that's the problem with her, not with your phone.
Would suggest to wait for update or take quick guide thru German lagunge. :)
PS. Maybe she's angry on chief and won't talk with you either, you know, womens.

[Tumultus]

As of now, she is fully functioning again in US English. I have no idea why that happened but I believe it is somewhere hardware related and she didn't listen to the microphone whenever I had my phone set to US English. Just weird that it worked when I switched region and language to UK or Germany though.

[Marko Marjanovic]

Don't be, my friend..electronic can and will be confusing sometimes.
I still think that's was software or better say, ,,her" problem, if mic didn't worked then your phone would be smartbrick with everything except making calls.
Glad it fixed out for you!

[Devmer11]

Since yesterday, Cortana isn't working anymore. It doesn't seem like she is picking up anything I say through the microphone and I receive the "I am sorry, I didn't catch that" reply.

The weird Thing: if I Switch my phone language from ENGLISH US to ENGLISH UK or even GERMAN, Cortana works just fine. I already performed a soft reset as well as a complete hard reset - same story! Once my phone is set to ENGLISH US, it appears like Cortana isn't listening through the microphone. If I turn her off and use the Standard voice recognition, it works though, so, the microphone isn't broken or anything.

I am totally desperate right now. Did anyone ever Encounter this issue and found a fix?

I'm having the same issues Lumia 1520 USA no fix in sight

[Jordan Neris]

I am having this issue now, I have tricked Cortana into listening briefly when using UK (opens bing) then switching back to US, she listens and the words begin to be typed, then its ignored and "I'm sorry i didn't get that" starts again.

I want to say the issue started yesterday for me. Shame it just quit on me.

Going to bing > settings > personalization > Other Cortana Data and Personalized Speech, Inking and Typing > clear, will that clear out my reminders, I refuse to redo the reminders I have set. There are way too many of them set. I read that this is a good way to clear the Cortana not listening issue for the pre release WP 8.1, unsure if this applies now.

HTC One M8 Windows Phone ATT.

Hope this just fixes itself or someone finds the fix, I have been fiddling with this since last night.

[Tumultus]

Ok, I think I figured it out and know how to fix it. If you have the exact same problem as described in my first post, try the following:

1. Go to SETTINGS -> SPEECH
2. Set READ ALOUD INCOMING TEXT MESSAGES to OFF
3. Check the IMPROVE RECOGNITION FOR NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS
4. Leave the settings and restart the phone.

That fixed it for me.

[bittercold]

I think it is on the server side and possible related to Microsoft accounts. I have about 5 varied windows phones laying around my house. My wife's 1520 still works. Mine does not. First test I did was completely disconnect from the internet. At that point Cortana could "hear me" for command such as "make a phone call" or "Play Artist XXX". I turned internet back on and bam the local commands do not work. I then booted up and hard reset my spare 1520. I setup my MS account on it and Cortana was a no go. Same thing that she couldn't hear me. Did the same test as above and she could hear me for local commands.

EDIT: Tumultus fixed worked for both phones.

[Jordan Neris]

Ok, I think I figured it out and know how to fix it. If you have the exact same problem as described in my first post, try the following:

1. Go to SETTINGS -> SPEECH
2. Set READ ALOUD INCOMING TEXT MESSAGES to OFF
3. Check the IMPROVE RECOGNITION FOR NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS
4. Leave the settings and restart the phone.

That fixed it for me.

This fixed it, THANKS!!!

[18-24-61-b-17-17-4]

Ok, I think I figured it out and know how to fix it. If you have the exact same problem as described in my first post, try the following:

1. Go to SETTINGS -> SPEECH
2. Set READ ALOUD INCOMING TEXT MESSAGES to OFF
3. Check the IMPROVE RECOGNITION FOR NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS
4. Leave the settings and restart the phone.

That fixed it for me.

This fixes it temporarily. Good find on that. Not a long term solution though as I usually have Cortana read my texts to me via Bluetooth in my car.

[Devmer11]

I did that yesterday and I still can't get Cortana to work

[Lost 2 Shirts]

Kinda whish I had seen this thread earlier as I thought the problem was me. I still haven't fixed her on my 1520. She works with no problem on my 520.

[Andrew Bares]

In my experience, there's no need to change the "Read aloud incoming messages" option. That step was unnecessary (I skipped it). Just like rebooting was unnecessary.

The minimal steps should be...

1. Go to the phone's settings and open SPEECH
2. Check the "Improve recognition for non-native speakers" box
3. Use Cortana like normal!

Thank you Tumultus for discovering something that made it work! I bet it's just a server issue and will be fixed soon, but for now, checking that checkbox seems to make it work.

[18-24-61-b-17-17-4]

In my experience, there's no need to change the "Read aloud incoming messages" option. That step was unnecessary (I skipped it). Just like rebooting was unnecessary.

The minimal steps should be...

1. Go to the phone's settings and open SPEECH
2. Check the "Improve recognition for non-native speakers" box
3. Use Cortana like normal!

Thank you Tumultus for discovering something that made it work! I bet it's just a server issue and will be fixed soon, but for now, checking that checkbox seems to make it work.

Unfortunately this option does not work for me on my Icon. I wish it were that simple of a fix. Glad yours is better though! :)

[Tumultus]

In my experience, there's no need to change the "Read aloud incoming messages" option. That step was unnecessary (I skipped it). Just like rebooting was unnecessary.

Yeah, unfortunately, it doesn't work on my device without changing the "Read aloud" option to "off". The reboot was just a precaution. :)

[tangledW]

Something weird is going on with Cortana on my 830 now too.

Just today she has started replying incorrectly. I say "find food near me" and she says "now playing "The Rhyme"... WTF. Did it over & over. I say "wake me up at 9am" she says "now playing Mos Def". Seriously?

Oddly, when it spells out the text of what I'm saying, it's correct. She just responds completely of the wall.

Cortana has always worked great for me, now it's tripping. I've done numerous soft resets and tried using Wi-Fi & cellular, same results.

[UtahRandy]

My 521 was doing the same thing and following those steps fixed it. Thanks!

[Mr Lebowski]

I also think she is psychic. Whenever I use Cortana in public, she manages to fail in some embarrassing way. When it's just me and her, of course everything works perfectly..

She's obviously getting back at you because she saw you getting friendly with Siri !

[Crushing Destroyer]

I am having issues with Music right now, I have said everything Cortana says in 'ideas' but every time I try, it just searches. "play music" "open music" "play arctic monkeys" "play music arctic monkeys" etc. Im just trying anything to see if the music app will open, but it never does. I have also tried with several other artists that are saved on my phone too, its just not working.

[Colossus1090]

Thanks a ton for this! I was about to take my phone back to the MS store for replacement haha

[tangledW]

Something weird is going on with Cortana on my 830 now too.

Just today she has started replying incorrectly. I say "find food near me" and she says "now playing "The Rhyme"... WTF. Did it over & over. I say "wake me up at 9am" she says "now playing Mos Def". Seriously?

Oddly, when it spells out the text of what I'm saying, it's correct. She just responds completely of the wall.

Cortana has always worked great for me, now it's tripping. I've done numerous soft resets and tried using Wi-Fi & cellular, same results.

Seems to be working correctly today, so far.

Must have been a backend issue.

[Crushing Destroyer]

Seems to be working correctly today, so far.

Must have been a backend issue.

Most commands seem to be working, but the one bothering me quite a bit is Music - none of the commands are working for me. Still searching in Bing instead of opening the app and playing music. Can someone else try and let me know what you said to have the music app open and start playing? Not sure if it matters, but my music is stored on the mSD card in my Lumia 830.

[18-24-61-b-17-17-4]

Still broken for me today.

[ixarl]

Clearing the cache from the Bing settings worked for me 😃 Thanks!

[Tumultus]

Yeah,
It must be something account related since it also happened on my Ativ S when I took it out the drawer and tried it. Even there, turning off "Read alaud" + switching it to "Improve recognition for non-native speakers" fixed it.