The Echo is a cool piece of tech hardware. It’s always listening, so that you can use voice commands to give it orders. You can call for Alexa and ask her to start a countdown timer, play an audiobook for you, or just add “watermelon” to your shopping list! But how do you know when your Echo device is at Max Volume? Or how about when Alexa has heard you the first time? What’s the difference between blue, yellow, and orange lights on Alexa devices?
The colors on Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices can mean a lot of things. In each case to learn about it you can simply ask her “What does your light mean?” But if you want to learn about it all at once, here’s a quick guide to what each color means and how you can use them to your advantage.
What Does each light color mean on Alexa?
Red:
If you see a solid red light on your Alexa device, it means that the device has been muted. When the mic is on mute, Alexa can’t hear you or respond to your commands. To fix this simply press the mute/unmute button on top of your Echo device and the red light should be gone.
If you see a pulsing red light it’s mean that you are offline or maybe there is a problem with your wifi or internet connection. Pulsing red light is followed by a voice response denoting the connection issue, Something like: “Sorry, your Echo lost it’s connection” or “I’m having trouble connecting to the internet”.
Read more about the red light ring on Alexa
Yellow:
A blinking yellow light on Alexa means you have a notification from Amazon or someone has sent you a message. To listen to your messages/notifications and thus make the yellow light disappear, just ask
- “What are my notifications?”
- “What are my messages?”
- “What notifications do I have?”
- “Play my notifications!”
- “What did I miss?”
- etc
A glowing yellow light can also mean you have missed a reminder. Just ask her “What are my reminders?” or “What did I miss” to find out more about it.
Green:
If you see a pulsing green light, that means the device is receiving a call. To answer a call with Echo, simply say “Answer!”. You can also answer your calls using your phone as always. When you answer a call the green light will start to spin slowly which means there is an active call. To end a call ask Alexa “End call!” or “Hang up!”.
Blue:
A blue light on Alexa usually means that the device is processing a command or is busy doing something else. For example, if you ask Alexa to play a song, the light will turn blue while the song is being processed.
Purple:
A purple light on Alexa means that Do Not Disturb mode is enabled. This mode silences all notifications and prevents the device from responding to commands. To disable Do Not Disturb mode, you must use the Alexa app.
Why is my Alexa Red
Using different light colors to represent a situation is an intuitive way to interact with users by Amazon’s Alexa. One of the Alexa’s primary light color indicators is red. Typically the Red color indicates danger or malfunction in electronic devices but hopefully this is no the case here.
If you see a red light on your Amazon Echo, there are two main things that could be causing this:
1. Your speaker is mute
A solid red light means Alexa is mute and won’t respond to your commands. So it’s been muted deliberately or by accident.
The quickest way to unmute Alexa is to press and hold the mute button on the device for three seconds. If you’re using an Amazon Echo device with a screen, you can also unmute it by tapping the “unmute” button in the top-right corner of the screen.
2. Your WiFi is down
One possibility is that your Echo is having a problem connecting to the internet. This could be due to a problem with your home Wi-Fi network or the Amazon servers. If you think this might be the case, try restarting your Echo and see if that fixes the problem.
3. You’re having an Echo device issue
Another possibility is that your Echo is having trouble understanding your voice commands. This could be due to a problem with the microphone or a software issue. If you think this might be the case, try restarting your Echo by pressing and holding the Action button for about 20 seconds. If that doesn’t work, try unplugging and then replugging in your Echo device.
If you’re still seeing a red light on your Echo after trying these troubleshooting steps, it’s possible that there’s a more serious issue going on. In this case, you should contact Amazon customer support for help.