Alexa Is Illuminated but Is Unresponsive? In this article we will go through 7 Ways to Troubleshoot this. Alexa is Amazon's virtual assistant, which transforms each Echo speaker and display into a convenient smart home appliance. On rare occasions, Alexa does not perform as expected, ignoring voice commands or responding in unexpected ways.
To make matters worse, the device may appear to acknowledge you the speaker's status light will illuminate but it will not respond. If this happens to you, here are some of the most common fixes for reactivating your Alexa assistant.
- If Alexa illuminates but does not respond, the most likely reason is that the command was not understood; therefore, repeat the command.
- Additionally, it may have ignored the command if it believed your request was intended for another Alexa device nearby.
- Additionally, you can check the status of your Wi-Fi connection and network settings, as well as reset the Alexa device.
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Alexa did not usterstood what you are saying.
The most frequently encountered issue is when Alexa does not understand your command and thus ignores you. Alexa will illuminate the status light, process your speech, and then terminate without any indication of failure.
Give the same command again, this time speaking closer to or more clearly to the speaker. Alternatively, to determine whether this was the issue,
- Open the Alexa app on your phone and tap More in the bottom right corner.
- At the top of the page, tap Activity and then Voice History.
- If you look at the most recent entry, you may notice that Audio was not understood.
You can check the voice history of your Alexa app to determine why a command failed.
Alexa processed your speech using a different Alexa device.
If you have two Alexa devices in close proximity to one another, it is not uncommon for both to respond to your request, but one will determine that it was not the intended device and ignore you. In some cases, this means that you'll see your Alexa speaker illuminate, but a speaker in another room will respond without your knowledge. Reintroduce yourself to Alexa by moving closer to the device or looking directly at it while speaking.
To determine whether the speaker ignored you due to a response from another device,
- Open the Alexa app on your phone and tap More in the bottom right.
- At the top of the page, tap Activity and then Voice History.
- If you look at the most recent entry, you'll notice that Audio was not intended for this device.
If this occurs frequently, you may want to move the two devices farther or change the wake word on one of the devices to avoid confusion.
Alexa’s operating system requires an update.
It is possible that your Alexa device requires an update to its operating system. Generally, speakers and displays update automatically, but you can force them to check for and perform an update if necessary.
Simply say, "Alexa, check for software updates," and allow it to proceed if one is discovered.
Your network is not connected to internet.
In the absence of internet service, your Alexa device may also fail to respond properly. If your internet connection is down or is not properly connected to your Wi-Fi network, you will typically see the status light turn red and receive no response or an error message such as "Sorry, I'm having difficulty understanding you right now."
To get back online, check to see if your internet or Wi-Fi is down and then troubleshoot your internet connection.
Alexa microphone can be muted
Ascertain that the microphone on Alexa is not muted. The simplest way to determine this is to look at the status light, which is solid red. Contrast the red status light which indicates that something is wrong or that Alexa is unable to hear you with the blue light that indicates that Alexa has heard you and is processing your request.
Confusion exists between the red light indicating muted audio and the normal status light indicating Alexa is listening.
Restart Alexa
At times, your Alexa device may become hanged and must be restarted. This is identical to unplugging any other type of computer device; simply unplug it, wait about one minute, and then reconnect it. If a temporary glitch occurred, restarting the device should remove it from memory. After about a minute, it should fully restart and you should be able to give Alexa commands again.
Reset Alexa device
If nothing else has worked, including restarting your Alexa device, there may be a configuration issue with the speaker. Restore your device to its factory default settings.
After that, re-configure your device. On your mobile device,
- Open the Alexa app and tap Devices at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap the Plus sign in the upper right corner and then select Add Device from the pop-up menu.
- Locate the Alexa device you wish to add and follow the on-screen instructions to configure it for the first time.
- Hopefully, it will respond to commands once more.