Why Your Alexa Echo Makes Random Noises and How to Fix Them
Amazon Alexa uses different ways to interact with you: one way is using its circle of light wherein the light color changes from one to another according to the situation and how the device interacts with you, and the other way is using its speaker. Alexa Echo makes noises and sounds to make you aware of something happening or something being done by Alexa.
As smart home system owners, nobody wants to hear random noises from their smart home devices. Some noises can creep you out while other noises can really distract you. Most users find it really annoying to hear these noises, and I am sure you are one of them.
By reading this guide, you will learn why your Alexa Echo makes random noises, what those random noises are and how to get rid of them on your Alexa.
What is the random noise that your Alexa Echo speaker makes?
Here is a list of annoying noises that people have reported over communities. We have personally experienced some of these noises when we use Alexa.
- Feedback sounds – occur when we use the wake word
- Laughing sounds – a loud laughing sound that can creep you out
- Beep sounds
- Chiming sound
- Ringing sounds
Do you have a different experience? Do not forget to leave a comment at the end of this article if you hear different noises other than those listed above.
Why does Alexa make random noises and creepy sound effects?
Whatever sounds your Alexa makes, the reasons for those noises from your Echo devices are the same.
Therefore, before we move forward to the solutions, we think that you should be aware of what can cause your Alexa to act weird and make those noises without any interaction. By knowing them, you can fix the problem easily and you will not need to worry or creep out by any noise that Alexa makes in the future.
There are several reasons but all of them fall into either two or three categories below
- The connection
- The Alexa device
- The environment
Here are the possible reasons why your Alexa makes annoying noises randomly
- Connection problems (slow connection, high latency).
- Environmental noises can trigger Alexa.
- Incorrectly set up routines.
- Electronic interference.
- Bugs in the AI
- Alerts and other notifications that are sent by other devices to Alexa.
The list could go further but these are the most common ones. Now, let’s go to the solutions that you can do to get rid of these noises.
How to stop random noises on Alexa (Echo devices)
Please make sure to carefully follow and do every solution explained here because we cannot predict when exactly your Alexa will create noises. So, what best is to do all the solutions and see if all the annoying noises are gone.
Restart the Echo device
When was the last time you restarted the Echo speaker? If the answer is a long time ago before you have started to hear those noises, then, giving your Echo device a restart can fix this problem.
You do not need any special procedure to restart the Echo. Just plug out and plug in the back is all you need to do.
Ask from Alexa
You can ask Alexa right after hearing the noise to know about what happened. This has actually come after the 2020 update.
Wake Alexa up and ask “what is that noise, Alexa?” or “what happened, Alexa?” would give the reason most of the time.
Doing this does not guarantee that you will get the right answer every time. However, do not forget to give this a try if such noise occurs again.
Check the routines you have set up on Alexa
Have you checked the routines on your Alexa or the notifications and reminders?
If you have set up or configured routines incorrectly, then the noises you hear from Alexa are actually notifications that need to be produced/executed because you have set them up. To check them
- Open the Alexa app
- Tap on the menu bar (or tap on More from the bottom)
- Go to Routines
- Review the routines you have set up
- Remove or reconfigure routines that have misconfiguration
- Restart the Echo device
Go and check the voice history
Voice history is where Alexa records and stores all the recorded conversations. By reviewing it you will be able to identify the reasons why Alexa makes any noise that you do not expect.
Here is how to navigate to the voice history on your Alexa app
- Head over to the Alexa app
- Tap on the menu icon at the top left
- Tap on Voice history
On each activity, you will see recorded conversations and if you tap on it, the record will also have a description of what Alexa heard to perform any actions (including making noises, too).
What you want to make sure of is that Alexa heard what you said correctly. If it did not, then that is probably the reason why you heard the noise that is totally different from what you expected.
Reset Echo device to default settings
By resetting the Echo device, you allow Alexa’s system to let you set up your device over again. Also, this deletes all previous settings, skills, and routines. This can increase the chance of getting rid of random sound noises from your Echo device.
Keep in mind that resetting Alexa will remove everything you have set up on it. You can proceed to “Contact Amazon Customer Support” below if you do not want to reset Alexa.
Follow these steps to reset your Alexa to factory settings
- Open the Alexa app.
- Tap on the menu icon Devices.
- Then, tap on Echo and Alexa options
- Select the Echo speakers you have linked to your account
- Go to the bottom and tap on Factory Reset; and
- Confirm
Contact Amazon Customer Support
If no solution included in this article worked for you, do not worry. You can contact the Alexa experts by contacting Amazon Customer Support.
There are a few ways that you can contact support, but we will only explain how to contact them by using the Alexa app as it is the fastest way to receive support.
- Go to the Alexa app
- Tap on Support
- Describe the problem briefly and try to add a video containing the noise you heard from Amazon Echo; and
- Submit and wait for a reply
Conclusion
We hope that you have successfully fixed the random noises on your Alexa. If you still have questions or need help regarding this guide, feel free to leave a comment so we can give you a hand.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day!
