Skype continues to be one of the most reliable instant messaging and calling solutions for business users and casual users alike because it is available on all major operating systems.
Microsoft has been making many changes to make the app more intuitive, and one such introduction is Cortana.
Being a cloud-based AI assistant, Cortana aims to make your conversations easier on Skype by providing suggestions.
The concept is pretty much similar to Google’s smart replies, where it will automatically suggest simple phrases that you could use instead of typing them out.
However, if you want to know how to disable Cortana’s suggested responses in Skype, here are five easy steps to do it on different operating systems.
How Cortana Works
According to Microsoft’s website, the voice assistant will work best only when users provide permission on Skype.
It will access all your conversations in order to provide personalized responses and access your location to create suggestions based on the place.
The idea is to integrate the AI service on all devices and to provide a seamless chat experience.
With the help of the assistant, you will be able to easily find restaurants nearby, find movie schedules and also set automatic reminders as soon as they pop up in a conversation.
While the service was originally introduced in 2017, it has now been integrated into Skype’s latest version on Windows 10, Android and iOS. Cortana is added as a contact by default which a lot of people don’t prefer because they’re concerned it is being used to spy on them.
You can choose to disable it on different platforms, and this is how you can do so.
How to Turn Off Cortana in Skype?
- Click on your profile picture within the Skype app.
- Select the Settings option.
- Tap on General and scroll until you find the Cortana window.4. Below the same, find the option that says Personalization and turn it off.
5. Turning off the service will also stop you from talking to Cortana to quickly set reminders or receive updates on weather, among other things.
Step-by-Step Guide to Turning off Cortana’s Non-Personalized Suggestions
If you haven’t come across these features by now, Cortana allows two different types of suggestions.
While personalized suggestions focus on enhancing your texting experience on Skype, a non-personalized version exists as well.
The type of suggestion offered by the service will vary, and it is less of a privacy intrusion, compared to the personalized version. You do have the option to turn it off.
- Log in to your Skype application and click on the profile picture.
- Click to open the Settings panel.
- Find the option named Cortana.
- Scroll to find Suggestions.
- You can choose to toggle this setting off and it will no longer make any suggestions.
Turning off Intelligent Suggestions on iOS
Apple iOS is one of the most preferred mobile platforms where millions of users use Skype.
While they already use Siri for a lot of AI-based tasks, having another assistant like Cortana might sound like an unnecessary add. You can actually choose to disable the assistant, remove it from contacts or enable it in case you find it useful.
- Download the latest version of Skype on your iOS device, be it your iPhone or iPad.
- If you are not already logged in, log in to your messenger.
- Tap to open your profile picture.
- Head to the Settings menu and find the option Cortana.
- Use the toggle button to switch Cortana off, which will automatically remove all the allowed permissions.
How to Turn off Cortana in Windows 10, Android and iOS?
The overall concept is pretty much the same and there are very minor differences on different platforms.
On mobile devices, you don’t have to revoke any special permissions you might have provided to Skype.
When you disable Cortana, it will automatically remove all permissions granted so far.
Here is a generic step-by-step guide that you can follow to disable it on any platform.
- Click on the profile picture or the three dotted line.
- Open Settings.
- Continue to open General or find the option named Cortana.
- Turn off both personalization and suggestions so that it will not interfere with any of your chats.
- NOTE: Doing it once in Windows 10 will not work on iOS or Android, as you have to do it individually on your devices.
With different cloud-based AI assistants like Cortana, Siri and Google Assistant, it is not surprising that users are concerned with their intrusion into privacy. This is why companies do provide the option to turn these features off if you are not interested in using smart replies and automatic reminders.