What voice commands does Google Assistant understand?

Google Assistant understands spoken commands for calls and messages, alarms and timers, reminders, smart-home controls, music and media, navigation, and questions about facts. Which of those work depends on the device you are using. Google's own list of examples is sorted by device, and each device answers a different set of phrases. Learn the phrases for the device in front of you, and check which assistant answers before you rely on one.

This page lists the commands by device, shows how to turn the wake phrase on, and explains where the list is changing. For the full set of categories and setup steps, see our guide to Google Assistant voice commands, and for the wider picture of spoken input, see speech to text and AI.

Commands are sorted by device, so start with the one you use

Google's help page for Assistant gives its example phrases in sections for the phone, the speaker or Smart Display, the car, and the TV ( Google's What you can ask Google Assistant page). The same phrase is not guaranteed to work on each one. On some phones, Gemini answers instead of Assistant, and the phrases on this page may behave differently there, as covered below.

On a phone, commands cover calls, messages and dictated text

On a phone, the commands cover calls and messages. Google's examples include calling a contact, and answering or rejecting an incoming call by voice ¹. Google's list also gives "Call Mom." as the phrase for a call, and "Reply, I'm on my way." for a reply in a chat thread. Its phone examples include alarms too, such as "Set an alarm for 7 a.m."

Assistant voice typing is a separate feature. You can dictate a message, say "delete" or "clear" to edit it, and say "send" to send it. Google says voice typing works in six languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish ². If you want your own words typed into any app rather than a message, you are using dictation, not a command. Yap, which we make, is an on-device dictation app for Mac and Windows. For dictating into any app, see the dictation commands guide.

On speakers and displays, commands are mostly smart-home and timers

On a speaker or Smart Display, Google's examples are mostly about the home. The list includes lights and thermostats, such as "Dim the living room lights" and "Set the heat to 70" ³. For the smart-home side in more detail, see how to control smart home devices by voice.

Speakers and displays have their own assistant setting. Gemini for Home can replace Assistant on compatible speakers and displays, and Google says that once a home switches, it cannot switch back to Google Assistant ⁴. Check which assistant your speaker uses before you test a command.

In a car, commands cover navigation, calls and messages

In a car, Google's examples are for navigation, media and communication. For messages and calls, the phrases are "Call Mom," "Text Dad," and "Read my messages" ⁵. Navigation phrases such as "Navigate to" and "How's the traffic to work?" are on the same page, under the car heading.

Car commands depend on the car's own system and on the phone it connects to, so check which assistant your phone uses before you test a car command.

Hey Google starts the commands, and you turn it on once

Hands-free commands start with the wake phrase, "Hey Google," which is a wake word. On an Android phone or tablet, open the Google Assistant app, say "Assistant settings," then under Popular settings tap Hey Google and Voice Match and turn it on ⁶. Follow the prompts so the phone learns your voice.

Hey Google is not available in every language. Google says the Hey Google and quick voice action features with Gemini are not available in 14 languages, including Greek, Hebrew and Ukrainian ⁷.

Gemini is replacing Assistant on Android, so some commands may change

Gemini is taking over from Assistant on Android phones. Google says some familiar Assistant features may not be supported in Gemini, which is still evolving, and it does not list the gaps ⁸. Test the phrases you depend on rather than assuming they carry over. The question on which Assistant features Gemini lacks covers the gaps we could document.

What to do: test your phrases and check which assistant answers

1. Check your default assistant. On an Android phone, open Settings, tap Apps, tap Default apps, and look at Digital assistant app. Google's Gemini help page says that if the Google app is your default assist app, you can choose Gemini as your mobile assistant ( Google's Gemini help page).
2. Test the phrases you use every day. Try a call, an alarm, a timer and a smart-home command, and note which ones fail.
3. Switch back if a command you need is missing, while you still can. Google says you can switch to Google Assistant as your primary assistant in the Gemini app, under Menu, then Switch to Google Assistant. This works only until Assistant is removed from your phone. The question on switching back explains the limits.
4. Check the list again after each update. Google's examples and the gaps change, so a list you read today may be out of date next month.

For whether the switch is happening on your phone at all, read the question on whether Gemini is replacing Google Assistant. A voice assistant answers commands like these, while dictation turns your speech into text.