Although Cortana is already the voice assistant in Windows 10, many users prefer Google Assistant due to its many features and strong ability to integrate into any environment. The sad aspect, though, is that Chromebooks are the only desktop PCs that support Google Assistant, which is disheartening. You shouldn’t be discouraged, though, since we are providing you with a comprehensive guide on how to use Google Assistant to operate your PC. I’ve described a few clever techniques in this article to control your computer using any Android smartphone, Google Home, Mini, Nest Hub, etc. Without further ado, let’s start learning how to use voice commands to operate your PC.
1. Control Your PC with Google Assistant
Let me briefly describe the main idea behind this tutorial before we get started. A Windows 10 computer is being controlled by an Android smartphone. On a mobile device, we use the Pushbullet and IFTTT apps, while on a computer, we use the Push2Run application. Rob Latour developed Push2Run, which can be used without cost. The programme excels at automating chores with voice commands, which is what it is intended for. The breakdown of our task flow is as follows: Google Assistant voice command -> IFTTT -> Pushbullet -> Push2Run on PC -> Finishing the task on PC. Now that you understand the fundamentals, let’s get started.
1. To begin with, download the free versions of IFTTT and Pushbullet onto your Android device. After that, sign in to both applications using your Google account and grant the required permissions. Verify that you are logging into all apps and platforms with the same Google account.
2. After that, launch the PushbulletandIFTTT website on your computer and sign in using the same Google account.
3. Once you’ve completed step 2, download and instal the Push2Run(Free) application on your computer. You’ve almost finished laying the foundation; now let’s proceed to the important steps.
4. To access your Pushbullet account page, click this link. Now, search for Access Tokens as you go down. Then, when you have clicked the Create Access Token button, a string of key values will be presented to you. Make sure you copy the token and don’t give it to anybody else.
5. Once Push2Run is open on your PC, complete the initial setup. Select Pushbullet from the left menu in the first dialogue box, then tick the box next to Enable Pushbullet. The copied token (from step #4) should now be pasted into the Pushbullet API box. Then, paste the content into the Title Filter box and press the Ok button.
6. To create an IFTTT task, follow this link. After that, select + and then type “Google Assistant” into the search bar. Select Say a phrase with a text ingredient by clicking on it.
7. Type the voice commands you’ll use to connect with your PC on the following page. You can choose your own set of commands to call on your computer, but I have chosen these for you. But for the time being, I suggest you to do as I say in order for things to go smoothly. Remember that the task you will want your computer to perform is indicated by the dollar sign ($). In the end, press the Create Trigger button.
Note: If it displays any issues linked to Google Assistant, enter this IFTTT Settings page and click the Edit button. Now, give Google Assistant permission to use your account again.
8. Go to the following page and select that phrase there. Look for Pushbullet here, then launch it. Click on Push a Note after that. Then, put the text that was copied from step #5 (Title Filter) into the Title box. In the end, press the Create Action button.
9. You’re nearly finished. You can try asking Google to open the calculator by saying OK Google. On your PC, the calculator app should launch without any problems. Additionally, if everything is configured properly, you should notice Pushbullet connection is fine in the Push2Run app’s bottom bar.
2. Create Push2Run Tasks
Now that you have successfully connectedGoogle Assistantwith your PC, you may create tasks that you would like to accomplish with a voice command. In this part, for instance, I’ll demonstrate how to use Google Assistant to launch the Beebom website on a PC. Let’s begin.
1. Launch the Push2Run application and select Actions from the menu. Here, select Add.
2. You need to define everything in this window. You can describe your task by saying something like Beebom. Next, input the voice command you’re likely to use in the Listen for box. As an illustration, I typed open beebom, open beebom.com, and open beebom website. You have no limits, right? Next, directly input the URL in the Open section. Ensure that the URLs contain an HTTP or www initializer. Hit the OK button after that.
3. At this point, activate the toggle in the primary window to launch Google Assistant. Your computer will quickly launch the default browser and open the website when you simply say, “Tell my computer to open Beebom.”
Note:Due to problems in Push2Run or Windows 10, our attempts to open numerous websites through Chrome failed. We then switched to using Microsoft Edge as the primary web browser, and everything began to function perfectly. Open Settings -> Apps -> Default Apps -> Web Browser in Windows Settings to modify the default browser.
4. You can create a different task if you want to search for anything instead than a specific website. Change listen for command to something like this: look for $, search for $where$ is the search query. Keep the description as it is. Paste the following URL into the Open section: www.google.com/search?q=$. It will confirm that Google is the source of the search results. Call in your assistant now and instruct my computer to look for Beebom films to get the job done.
5. Requesting the Assistant to play a song on your PC via YouTube is another example shown here. The rapid play URL function of DuckDuckGo was utilised. The blank field is here for you to copy: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=!ducky+$+site%3Ayoutube.com
6. This concludes the article’s examples. Let’s say you want to use Google Assistant to shut off your PC. Even simpler, really. Keep the “requested by Google Assistant” text in the Open field as shutdown.exe and the parameters as/s /t 10 Here, we shut down the machine using the built-in shutdown.exe application while passing various options to deliver a certain message.
shutdown (/s)
/t 10 denotes a shutdown after a 10-second timeout.
Before shutdown, the comments syntax /c is displayed.
Note:Admin permission is required for this action because it modifies the PC’s state. In order to grant it, select Push2Run Administrator Privilege from the Actions menu.
What More Can We Do?
I’ve now demonstrated how to connect with browsers and system apps in the examples above. However, there is still a tonne to learn about additional syntax and outside software. For instance, you may play and pause videos in the VLC player, update your grocery list in Notepad, and more using voice commands to control the volume. Batch and Powershell interaction with Push2Run have not even been mentioned. It would advance PC automation even farther. I will be releasing more detailed instructions in the upcoming days so that we can interact with any Windows component using just voice commands. As of right moment, the Push2Run developer offers a few pre-made example cards that you can easily import into the programme.
Control Your Windows PC with Google Assistant Like a Pro
That concludes our in-depth examination of using Google Assistant to control Windows machines. The automation process is now lot more seamless thanks to the amazing Push2Run app. So, if you appreciate the software, think about giving the creator some money here. That’s all we have to say, though. Please let us know in the comments section below if this post helped you learn something new or if you’d want to see more tutorials like it in the future. Additionally, let us know in the comment section if you run into any problems.