Learn how to harness the full potential of Siri on your Mac to control system settings for enhanced productivity and convenience.
You can use Siri for all sorts of things on your devices. And on Mac, Siri can come in handy for a variety of tasks as well. You can ask Siri for simple things like the weather, opening an app, or setting up a Calendar event.
But what you probably don’t think to ask Siri for is help with your System Settings or System Preferences. While it’s not difficult to open System Settings and find what you need, it can still be accomplished much faster by asking Siri.
Siri commands for System Settings
You may make quick adjustments to simple settings, such as screen brightness and volume.
Try, “Hey Siri, turn up/down my (screen) brightness” or “Hey Siri, turn up/down the volume.”
You’ll notice that when Siri takes care of the task for you, you have those options right within the Siri window. So, you can use the sliders there if you like.
You can also enable or disable certain Mac features that you’d normally take care of in System Settings, like Do Not Disturb or Night Shift.
Say, “Hey Siri, enable/disable Do Not Disturb” or “Hey Siri, enable/disable Night Mode.”
If you need to turn off your Wi-Fi or Bluetooth for some reason, Siri can do these things for you.
Try, “Hey Siri, turn off/on my Wi-Fi” or “Hey Siri, turn off/on Bluetooth.”
Along with Siri taking care of commands like these, you can also get help navigating to the exact spot you need in System Settings.
You can say things like, “Hey Siri, open my privacy settings,” or “Hey Siri, show Mail settings.” And with that type of command, Siri will open your System Settings directly where you need to go.
If you aren’t sure whether Siri can help you with a System setting, the best way to find out is to just ask.
When you come across a request that Siri can’t help you with, you’ll receive a simple, “Sorry, I can’t help you with that or something similar.”
Siri is one of those tools that you don’t really think to use for things like System settings. But for quick adjustments or help finding a setting, it works great!
What are your favorite things to ask Siri for? Do you request details on nearby locations, use Siri to search the web for you, or ask for help creating Reminders? Let us know the Siri commands you use on Mac most often!
Check out next: How to use Siri on Mac like a pro to make it work for you