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A Possible fix for Cortana with no Chit Chat or interests.

mikeycl

New member
Apr 14, 2014
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Quick thing for people who still get bing results and no interests.

I just did this on a hunch following some other tips on this forum and now Cortana is working properly with full chit chat and interests

1. Turn off Cortana by going to "Settings" swipe left then tap on "Cortana"
2. When prompted restart.
3. Check your region, Language and Speech Settings are correct (See 2nd Post for more details) and restart as necessary
4. Once restarted hold down the search key and do a normal voice search making sure to accept the voice agreement. Once the results are displayed press the start button
5. Go back to the cortana settings. DO NOT OPEN CORTANA TO DO THIS but go back into "Settings" swipe left and select "Cortana".
6 You will see an option toward the bottom to delete local data. Press this and confirm any dialogs that show.
7 Next open Cortana using the apps list or live tile if pinned.
8. This should run through the first run wizard where she asks your name etc.
9. Try asking a question that would get a response such as "tell me a story" she should nw work normally and you should also be able to add interests.

You should note that when deleting local data all previously configured settings such as interests and places will be retained. You will however lose your "Inner Circle" contacts and if you had connected cortana to facebook you will need to reconnect her.

let me know how you fare so far a lot of people are seeing success with this.

The Next post outlines any region/language configurations needed to ensure Cortana works as intended.
 
Last edited:

mikeycl

New member
Apr 14, 2014
141
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Below should be the settings required to ensure Cortana works properly based on Beta or Alpha availability

I Will break them down for each country by current status (Alpha/Beta) I apologise in advance if some of these come across as completely obvious but sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry.

As more are added i will try to keep this up to date. Any contributions via DM or on this post will be welcomed in this and that way we can keep the community updated with single reference point.

Please note that should you change Language your phone may need to download the language pack. If this is the case you can speed up the process by looking in "Phone Update" and checking for updates. this will download the pack and the phone will restart to apply it. Once it has been downloaded and applied the Required language MUST be at the top of the list. If it isn't you can tap and hold on the language and the menu will provide the option to Move it up to the top. Again if prompted to restart do so before doing anything else.

If you change Region a restart will also be required. Make sure to do this before trying to use Cortana.

Beta​
CountryLanguageRegionSpeech
USEnglish (United States)United States, English (United StatesEnglish (United States
UKEnglish (United Kingdom)United Kingdom, English (United Kingdom)English (United Kingdom)
ChinaTBCTBCTBC


Alpha

CountryLanguageRegionSpeech
IndiaEnglish (India)IndiaEnglish (United Kingdom)
AustraliaEnglish (Australia)AustraliaEnglish (United Kingdom)
CanadaEnglish (Canada)CanadaEnglish (United States)
 
Last edited:

boxa72

New member
Dec 2, 2012
440
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I cant even get her to respond in Australia but as soon as I change to US she responds. Any ideas??
 

anon(5408460)

New member
Nov 24, 2012
76
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0
I am using Nokia 1520 in the UK and could not get Cortana to chitchat or answer basic questions. I tried this advice and it worked right away and Cortana is now chatting away quite happily !

Quick thing for people who still get bing results and no interests.

I just did this on a hunch following some other tips on this forum and now Cortana is working properly with full chit chat and interests

1. Turn off Cortana by going to "Settings" swipe left then tap on "Cortana"
2. When prompted restart.
3. Once restarted hold down the search key and do a normal voice search making sure to accept the voice agreement. Once the results are displayed press the start button
4. Go back to the cortana settings. DO NOT OPEN CORTANA TO DO THIS but go back into "Settings" swipe left and select "Cortana".
5 You will see an option toward the bottom to delete local data. Press this and confirm any dialogs that show.
6 Next open Cortana using the apps list or live tile if pinned.
7. This should run through the first run wizard where she asks your name etc.
8. Try asking a question that would get a response such as "tell me a story" she should nw work normally and you should also be able to add interests.

You should note that when deleting local data all previously configured settings such as interests and places will be retained. You will however lose your "Inner Circle" contacts and if you had connected cortana to facebook you will need to reconnect her.

let me know how you fare so far a lot of people are seeing success with this.

The Next post outlines any region/language configurations needed to ensure Cortana works as intended.
 

boxa72

New member
Dec 2, 2012
440
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0
Nah I can't even get results after agreeing to speech n besides what average person on the street would know to try that anyway. I bet you Microsoft didn't even bother getting someone at Microsoft Australia to test it first! Oh well its back to US settings although I do like Jen's voice better
 

anon(5408460)

New member
Nov 24, 2012
76
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So you cant even get the old speech system to send a text to someone ?

Nah I can't even get results after agreeing to speech n besides what average person on the street would know to try that anyway. I bet you Microsoft didn't even bother getting someone at Microsoft Australia to test it first! Oh well its back to US settings although I do like Jen's voice better
 

boxa72

New member
Dec 2, 2012
440
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0
No I meant after I hit agree n do a voice search I get no response. I've just reverted to US settings and everything is fine
 

mikeycl

New member
Apr 14, 2014
141
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Nah I can't even get results after agreeing to speech n besides what average person on the street would know to try that anyway. I bet you Microsoft didn't even bother getting someone at Microsoft Australia to test it first! Oh well its back to US settings although I do like Jen's voice better

double check your region and language settings. before doing the normaly voice search. I have updated my second post with the settings needed to make sure it works properly.
 

boxa72

New member
Dec 2, 2012
440
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0
Bro I've restarted my phone enough today as I reverted to WP8 n all that, I'll try again tomorrow but thanks for ur help. It's working fine on US. The only thing I was looking forward to was metric details. I don't like the UK voice
 

mikeycl

New member
Apr 14, 2014
141
0
0
Bro I've restarted my phone enough today as I reverted to WP8 n all that, I'll try again tomorrow but thanks for ur help. It's working fine on US. The only thing I was looking forward to was metric details. I don't like the UK voice

Thats cool. I'm not keen on the UK voice either. Give me Jen Taylor any day she just sounds more playful.

Hopefully MS pay attention and give people an option on which to use.
 

PabsTheGeek

New member
Jul 13, 2014
51
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0
This!!!!! It fixed my issues with Cortana in the UK. She wouldn't sing or tell jokes...now she won't shut up :D

Fank you!!!!
 

Geddeeee

New member
Mar 17, 2013
750
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I didn't have to do any of those things. I installed Update 1 on the day it came out, and Cortana could barely get my name right.
Once the Cortana teams 'turned on' the stuff on their servers, a day or so after Update 1, all was as it should be. Jokes, songs etc

Great that you found a 'fix' for others who have had 'problems'....
 

Pete

Retired Moderator
Nov 12, 2012
4,593
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0
I think that some of the problems could be partly due to there being some pre-existing Cortana data on people's phones or in their cloud (from previously playing with the US Cortana). Deleting that cache prompts Cortana to start over.
 
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Robbed Time

New member
May 22, 2013
28
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0
The OP instructions worked for me perfectly. Now sings to me and all the other chit chat stuff. Cheers.
 

fc000

Member
Nov 29, 2010
188
0
16
Confirmed worked for me. Was having issues with Interests not showing up. All working now!
 

PabsTheGeek

New member
Jul 13, 2014
51
0
0
I think that some of the problems could be partly due to there being some pre-existing Cortana data on people's phones or in their cloud (from previously playing with the US Cortana). Deleting that cache prompts Cortana to start over.

I wonder if that's the issue, as I did play about with the US version
 

bologni

New member
Apr 14, 2014
10
0
0
hello guys, i've been trying this, but with no results. Maybe because i am not actually in the uk, i live in Argentina (south america) but the thing is that if i write something, like "hello cortana" she answers me, but if i talk to the cell, she always say "i'm sorry, i didn't catch that" and i talk loud and clear... i already follow this post step by step, but... no results. any thoughts?
 

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