Why is Alexa flashing green light? This is a perplexing moment that every Echo owner goes through. However, the flashing lights on your Echo device are simple to decipher. If you understand the pattern, the lights can alert you when something is wrong with your Echo, notify you when you have new messages, signal you when Alexa is listening to your voice commands, and more.
A spinning or flashing green light on your Echo device indicates that you have an incoming call or an ongoing drop-in. If your Alexa device is only flashing or blinking green light, you are getting an incoming call. In comparison, the spinning green light occurs when you are already on an active incoming call or a drop-in on your Amazon Echo device.
Alexa flashing green light explained
Alexa simplifies our life. When you connect it to your smartphone, you’ll notice the Alexa green ring whenever you receive a call. Even when your smartphone is on silent mode, you can tell who is calling you by the ring’s color your Alexa is pulsating. On Echo Show with display, you can also see who is calling before answering it or rejecting it.
What is Alexa Drop In?
If you have several Echo devices in your house, you may use the new Drop-In functionality to make a call from one device to the other. It is an audio call for Echo and Echo Dot speakers, but it is a video call for the Echo Show.
Not just the Amazon Echo devices in your home, you can also contact Echo devices owned by your friends if they have Alexa Calling and Messaging enabled in their app.
When you get a Drop-In, the light signal on your Echo device turns pulsating green, and you automatically connect to your contact.
Here are some voice commands that you can use to initiate a Drop-In call:
To use Drop-In to contact a friend: “Alexa, drop in on [contact/friend’s name].”
To use Drop-In to contact another device in your home: “Alexa, drop in on [kitchen/living room].”
What it means when the green light on alexa starts pulsing
Whenever you see a pulsing green light on your Echo, it indicates that you are receiving an incoming call. This may also suggest that someone is trying to connect to your device via the drop-in feature.
You can make the pulsing green light on Alexa disappear by saying, “Answer.”
You can directly connect with the caller by saying “answer.” However, you don’t have to receive every call without knowing who is calling. You could use the voice command to answer the call only if you were expecting a call from a known contact. The users of Amazon Echo Show will see the name of the caller flashing on their device’s screen. Also, the name of the caller will display on Echo devices with a screen.
If you do not wish to answer calls, say “Drop,” and the call will be rejected. Or you can also dismiss it by being silent. When the call finishes, your Echo will cease to spin the green light. Both methods are effective and will switch off your Echo’s pulsating green light.
If you are not at home when someone phones, the green light will begin to pulsate if your Echo is powered on. If the incoming call is not received, the green light will stop spinning after 10 rings.
What it means when the green light on Alexa starts spinning
The other variant of the green light, it will not appear until you answer the call. Your Alexa-powered Echo device will display a green light spinning around to signify that you are engaged in an active call or drop-in.
The green light keeps on spinning for the entire duration of the call. It goes out as soon as you end the call. If you are not on a call and your Echo still keeps spinning green light, just say “Alexa, Hang up.” to make it stop spinning.
You can end the call using the Alexa App.
How to disable the green ring on Alexa
To stop your Echo device from flashing or blinking green light for incoming calls or drop-ins, then follow the steps below to disable the Alexa feature:
- Open Alexa app on your phone
- Tap the menu button (three horizontal lines) in the upper-left corner.
- Tap “Settings.”
- Tap “Device Settings” and then choose your Alexa device.
- Now, tap “Communications” under “General.”
- Toggle “Communications” to disable; it is disabled when it turns gray. You’ll also get a prompt that reads “Disabled for this device” under “Communications,” “Announcements,” and “Drop In.”
Other Alexa Ring Light Colors
Green is not the only color that Alexa shows to alert users. Below, we explain what every Ring light color means.
Pulsing yellow light
The pulsing yellow light means that your Alexa has a new notification for you or reminds you about a missed call.
You’ll notice the yellow light more often when Alexa wants to notify you that an Amazon shipment is delivered or when Amazon will deliver a “Subscribe & save” item.
To hear your Alexa alerts, simply say, “Alexa, tell me my notifications,” and the yellow light will go off after Alexa finishes reading them to you. Or, you can say, “Alexa, remove all my notifications,” to erase all your notifications without listening to them.
For more details, see our full write-up on the Alexa Yellow Ring!
Fixed red light
Another popular and perplexing Echo indication light is the enigmatic bright red light. It appears when someone turns off the microphone or turns off the camera (on Echo Show). You can press the mic/mute button again; the red light should go out.
If you see the red light and no one pressed the mic button or muted it, the red light could be flashing due to Wi-Fi or Alexa problems. You can restart your Echo device and check your internet connection to make the red light go away.
Pulsing or spinning blue/cyan light
When you talk to Alexa using voice commands, blue light with a cyan section indicates the voice’s direction. The light stays through the entire duration when someone gives voice commands. You will notice just blue light when Alexa is analyzing your command. If you don’t see the blue light when speaking to the smart assistant, Alexa is not listening.
Spinning orange light
When you initially connect a new Echo speaker, the spinning orange light indicates that the device is still setting up. If the light shows up even when you’re not configuring the device, it means Alexa is trying to connect to your Wi-Fi network or is experiencing Wi-Fi issues. In any case, check your device and fix the problem to make the light go away.
Pulsing purple light
A purple light will momentarily flash when you put your Echo speaker in “do not disturb” mode (which disables calls and notifications). In contrast, a constant purple light will show up while configuring your Echo for the first time. A fixed light indicates that the device ran into some issues during the Wi-Fi setup.
Spinning white light
Did you activate Alexa Guard before you left your house? If this is the case, the spinning white light on your Echo speaker indicates that Alexa Guard is activated. You can turn it off to make the white lights go away. However, the white lights show up whenever you adjust the volume of your Echo speaker as well.
Conclusion
Alexa has many techniques up its sleeves to notify users about incoming calls. The green ring on Alexa highlights the smart assistant’s calling and messaging functionality. The green light may either pulse or spin, depending on whether you are receiving a call or are already on a call. You can now turn the light off or tweak its capabilities.
We hope our guide helps you understand why is Alexa flashing green light. Let us know in the comments.
