Alexa’s Green Light? A Guide to the Echo Notifications and What the Colors Mean

By Amy D

Posted on January 17, 2023

The holiday season just went and, as most tech lovers out there, it’s likely you got an Amazon Echo device as a gift. Is it your first?

If so, you’re probably wondering what the color on your Alexa ring means and what notifications are associated with it. Even if you have had Amazon Echo devices in the past, you might wonder why sometimes Alexa has a yellow light for example – so read on for an in-depth explanation of all the Alexa lights colors.

What is the green ring flashing on my Alexa device and what does it mean?

If you have a new Echo Dot speaker,  you probably noticed the bottom light ring is green but, if you didn’t know what that means, there are two explanations. If you have a 4th Gen Echo, the ring is at the bottom, but the explanation is still the same.

Alexa green light pulsing notification

If your Alexa device has a pulsing green light, that means someone is calling your device – you can ask Alexa to take the call or just ignore it using the regular voice command.

Alexa green light spinning notification

However, if your Alexa device has a green light spinning instead of pulsing, that means 2 things: either you just called someone without knowing by giving a command Alexa misinterpreted, or someone did a “Drop In” on your device.

What does Alexa’s yellow ring mean?

Sometimes though, Alexa is herself trying to tell you something. If there’s a yellow light on your Alexa device, it means you have a notification to receive.

Usually, it’s just a text or voice message you might have missed by not hearing the sound when it came in but sometimes it can be a notification for a reminder you set.

To get rid of the yellow light on your Echo device, just say “Alexa, check my notifications” or check the app on your phone to see what you missed.

If you can’t get rid of the yellow ring on your Alexa, just go ahead and delete all the reminders you set – you probably have some old ones you forgot about.

The Alexa purple ring explained

This is one color you should rarely see your Alexa flashing. A purple ring on your Alexa happens when you first set up your Echo device and it means there was a problem with your WiFi connection.

If you see a purple ring on your Alexa past that point, it simply means you put your device in Do Not Disturb mode and probably forgot about it.

To disable Do Not Disturb on your Alexa, go into the app, pick the device you have and there you’ll find the option to turn it off. That should turn off the purple light on your Alexa and make it so you get notifications on the speaker.

Your Alexa has a white ring spinning?

Another common way your Echo device might confuse you is the white ring. Just like the Purple ring means Do Not Disturb is on, the white ring means you or someone else enabled Alexa Guard when you left the house.

As you probably noticed by now, a white Ring appears on Alexa when you adjust the volume but, if that light is spinning, the speaker is in Alexa Guard mode.

Just say “Alexa, I’m home” and it will disappear.

The dreaded Alexa red ring

A red signal is rarely a good sign and the Alexa red ring light is no exception.

If your Alexa has a red ring, it means your device can’t hear you so you basically can’t use it.

A red ring on Alexa usually means someone pressed the microphone button on your Echo device, so they inadvertently shut down that functionality.

It can also mean your Echo has issues connecting to the Internet.

To fix Alexa’s red ring, the first step would be to press the microphone button and see if that works. If not, the usual advice applies: turn your device off, then on. You can reset your Amazon Echo device from the Alexa app. Simply pick your device from there, go to the Settings gear icon, and select Deregister from the Registered To option. That basically performs a factory reset on your Alexa and you will have to do a regular setup again to get the assistant back online.

If that didn’t work, check if your Alexa device is updated, because usually most issues revolve around outdated software.

To update your Echo, go to the app, select Devices, and then pick the speaker you have. Then, tap the gear icon for Settings and select About, which will show you if there’s a software patch available.

If you tried all this and your Alexa red ring light is still on, the sad news is that the microphone might be physically damaged – in which case, you’ll need to either ask for a replacement or buy a new Alexa device.

Fortunately, Amazon’s customer support is still great so it shouldn’t be too much of a bother.

We hope these tips help you understand your new Amazon Echo device and Alexa better.

Also read: How To Change Alexa’s Voice to Your Favorite Celebrity & More

Alexa’s Green Light? A Guide to the Echo Notifications and What the Colors Mean