Voice Shortcuts
Voice Shortcuts let you run your computer by talking. Hold the Voice Action key and say what you want. Simple things happen instantly; anything more involved is handed to the AI Agent automatically.
How to use it
Section titled “How to use it”The Voice Action key is Fn on macOS and Right Alt on Windows and Linux. The mouse wheel button is also a Voice Action key by default.
Hold the key → say the command → let go. Or tap once to start and tap again to finish.
Can’t talk right now? Press Option + Space (Ctrl + Space on Windows and Linux) to open the text command bar, type your command, and press Enter. It works the same way.
What you can say
Section titled “What you can say”Go to Voice Shortcuts in the main menu to see and set up each category:
| Category | Say something like | What you can set up |
|---|---|---|
| Open App | ”Open Slack” | Aliases for apps; in-app voice shortcuts |
| Open Websites | ”Open YouTube” | Popular sites are built in; add aliases for any URL |
| Open Folder | ”Open Downloads” | Add folders you use often and give them aliases |
| Search Web | ”Search for weekend hiking trails”, “Google black holes” | Turn search engines on or off, add and edit engines |
| Process Text | Select text, then “translate to Spanish” | Nothing to set up; just select and speak |
Aliases
Section titled “Aliases”If an app’s name is long or hard to say, give it a short alias. Set “Visual Studio Code” to “editor”, and “open editor” does the trick.
In-app voice shortcuts
Section titled “In-app voice shortcuts”Link a spoken command to a keyboard shortcut inside a specific app. For example, in your video editor, link “split” to Ctrl + B. Saying “split” in that app presses the shortcut for you.
Search engines
Section titled “Search engines”You can turn on several search engines. “Search for…” uses your default engine. Include an engine’s name or alias in the command, like “Google black holes”, to use that engine.
When adding your own engine, mark where the search terms go in the URL with {query}, %s, or xxx, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search={query}.
Work with selected text
Section titled “Work with selected text”Select some text, hold the Voice Action key, and say what you want:
- “Translate to English”
- “Summarize in three bullet points”
- “Make this more polite”
- “Explain this code”
- “What date is mentioned here?”
Where the result goes depends on where the text is:
- Editable text (a document, a text box): the result replaces your selection directly.
- Read-only text (a web page, a PDF): the result appears in a window so you can read or copy it.
If Owlfy can’t read the selection in a particular app, copy the text into the AI Agent and ask the same thing there.
Bigger requests go to the AI
Section titled “Bigger requests go to the AI”Requests that take several steps, like “move all the screenshots on my desktop into one folder”, are handed to the AI Agent automatically.
Extras in the text command bar
Section titled “Extras in the text command bar”Besides running commands, the text command bar has two handy tricks:
- Calculator: type
128*3.5+20to see the result; press Enter to copy it. - Color converter: type
#3B82F6orrgb(59,130,246)to see a preview and every format; press Enter to copy.
Press ↑ and ↓ to scroll through commands you’ve typed before.
Intel AI Quick Execution
Section titled “Intel AI Quick Execution”This feature requires Windows and an Intel 11th Gen Core processor or newer. On eligible PCs, Voice Shortcuts has an extra Intel AI Quick Execution tab. Once you’ve set up the local model it asks for, commands like changing the volume, switching windows, taking screenshots, and controlling media are recognized and carried out entirely on your PC.
See your history
Section titled “See your history”On the home page, click the Voice Shortcuts stats to see everything you’ve said and what Owlfy did.