Why is Alexa blinking (flashing) yellow light?

Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa, works on different Echo devices such as Echo Dot, Echo Show, Echo Look. All of these devices have something in common: A colored LED light to inform you about the status or next action.

The color of the ring around the Echo device may come handy while troubleshooting connection issues or determining the next command. In this post, I will explain what the yellow light means and how to make it disappear.

Here is a how a blinking (flashing, pulsing) yellow light looks like:

Lights on Echo devices

There are 8 different colors Echo devices may display: blue, red, orange, yellow, purple, green, white, violet. Your Echo device may flash (blink) or show these colors solid.

Each color and action have a different meaning.  It is important to know their meanings to use your voice assistant efficiently.

Note: The ring may look green in the pictures but it is actually yellow and it is blinking (flashing)!

Why is Alexa blinking (flashing) yellow light?

If your Echo device is flashing yellow light, it means that she needs your attention! In other words, there is something she wants to tell you.

When there are some messages or notifications for you, Alexa blinks yellow light ring and it also chimes to alert you. It could be an incoming message or it could be a comment to your question on a product at Amazon.com.

In order to hear what the message or notification is about, say “Alexa, read my notifications” or “Alexa, play my messages“. You can also use Alexa app on your phone to read the message. Once you read or listen to it, yellow light will disappear.

When you ask Alexa something to do, she may say “Sorry, I’m having trouble understanding you right now. Please try a little later”. This points out a connection issue. For step-by-step instructions to solve it, check this post out: Alexa says “Sorry, I’m having trouble understanding you right now. Please try a little later”

Here is what Amazon says about the flashing yellow light:

Alexa delivers messages to the recipient’s Alexa app as well as to all of their supported Echo devices associated with their Amazon account. When there is an incoming message, lights on supported Echo devices pulse yellow, and the devices chime.

Alexa Messaging

How to turn off shopping (shipment) notifications?

One of the notifications Alexa may have for you is that “Shopping Notifications“. If you buy something on Amazon, Alexa will notify you once it is delivered. The message is similar to this:

One new notification from Amazon Shopping. Two shipments have arrived including smart lights.

Alexa can also notify you if a shipment is out for delivery or if there is an answer to a question you asked in a product page. By default, only delivery and “answers to product questions” notifications are enabled.

If you want to disable delivery notifications or enable others, follow the steps below.

1. Go to alexa.amazon.com
2. Click “Settings“
3. Click “Notifications“
4. Click “Shopping Notifications“

In this page, there settings under 4 categories:

• Delivery Notifications: Receive notifications when a package is out for delivery or delivered
• Settings for ordered items’ titles: Configure Alexa to say or show titles for items you’ve ordered. (To avoid spoiling any surprises, you may want to turn these off)
• Reorder Notifications: Receive reminders when you are running low on products you purchase frequently
• Amazon Community Notifications: Receive notifications from Customer Q&A section or reviews ratings

When you talk to Alexa, you may hear her saying this: “I am having trouble connecting to the internet. Take a look at the help section in your Alexa app”. This is a common issue. For the solution, check this post out: Alexa says “I am having trouble connecting to the internet. Take a look at the help section in your Alexa app”

How about red, blue, green, purple, and white lights?

Wondering what other colors Echo devices display mean? Here is a list of colors and their meanings for Alexa.

In a nutshell:

• Blue light: Alexa is setting up, listening to, processing your request or responding your request
• Yellow light: The device is connecting to Wi-Fi or there is a notification for you
• Red light: There is a connection issue or you turned the microphone off
• Green light: You are on call or you are receiving a call
• White light: You are adjusting the volume level
• Purple light: An error occurred during Wi-Fi setup or “Do Not Disturb” is enabled

Apart from the light colors, Echo devices (most of them) have something else in common: Speaker. For some devices such as Echo Dot, you may not be happy with the sound quality. If you want to improve Echo’s sound quality, check this post out: How to connect more than one Bluetooth speakers to Echo Dot?