A smart voice assistant as capable as the Amazon echo has made a lot of lives easier and more convenient. Considering all the advanced home features that come with it, you can already accomplish a myriad of tasks with minimal effort. The AI-based assistant, Alexa, will simply do anything you tell it to with just a single command.
However, things may seem confusing – and creepy – if your Alexa starts making random noises out of the blue. There may be times when you observe Alexa suddenly playing chimes or sounds, some of which you can easily mistake for a genuine notification. Other times, these noises can only be weird and frustrating to deal with, which begs the question: why does my Alexa make random noise?
Fortunately, you’re not the only one who seems to be experiencing this dilemma. Many people have also reported similar situations about their smart voice assistant seemingly glitching all of a sudden.
So you may ask, “Why does my Alexa make random noises?” We got the answer!
There are many reasons why your Alexa may randomly start making noises. One cause is that it may have either mistakenly processed someone saying “Alexa,” or the device is just faulty in general. In this article, we have listed down possible causes why you might encounter the same situation and some ways you can fix it.
Table of Contents
What is Alexa?
Alexa is popularly known as a voice-controlled virtual assistant technology by Amazon. This smart assistant has the ability or skills to manage your smart home alongside other features such as playing audio or answering questions. Alexa elevates the level of entertainment and connection by allowing you to indulge in your favorite services with utmost convenience. On top of that, Alexa also helps keep all your digital essentials safe, organized, and efficient.
Alexa’s skill collection now goes over 25,000, with the number only growing day by day. Because of this, Alexa is being incorporated into a growing number of smart devices or speakers.
Kinds of Random Noises from Alexa
Before knowing how you can stop your voice assistant from playing random sounds. Here’s a list of the commonly reported instances of weird noises that people seem to experience. These include:
- Alexa making a whistling sound
- A train sound
- A boop or beep sound
- Feedback or static noises as what old TV and radios typically make
- Chiming noises
- Alexa making a “creepy or sinister” laugh
- Ringing sounds similar to when a call is being received
Some of these sounds listed above can range from outright weird to borderline creepy. Of course, you wouldn’t want to keep hearing some of these random noises when you’re doing something important or worse – while you sleep.
Because of these, let’s look at the steps you can take to stop this from occurring.
4 Ways You Can Stop Alexa From Making Random Sounds
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Double-check if there are paired devices
One of the most common causes of Alexa making weird noises is because of a forgotten, paired Bluetooth device. You may have paired your phone or other gadgets to Alexa years ago, enabling it to auto-pair instantly. You can test if this situation is applicable or rule it out by saying: “Alexa, disconnect.”
Once you do, Alexa will either disconnect from the currently paired device or tell you that there isn’t any existing Bluetooth device it can disconnect in the first place. If you get the latter response, the cause of the problem isn’t a forgotten paired device, so you’ll have to seek other options.
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Ask Alexa directly
Fortunately, a recent 2019 update in Alexa lets you ask your voice assistant why it performed certain tasks. For this, you can ask Alexa, “Alexa, why did you say that?” or “Alexa, what happened?” When you ask these questions, Alexa may give you an informative response to why it did such a thing.
When looking for solutions to the problem, the best way you can figure it out first is by asking Alexa directly. Doing this might just give you the specific reason why it happened and leave you with an answer to the weird dilemma. Most people have tried doing this and attested that asking directly has worked for the most typical noise sounds. However, it may not be the same for more odd situations or causes.
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Look into its voice recording history
If the above two methods still don’t work, you can try checking Alexa’s history of voice recording. The Amazon Alexa application comes with two helpful parts. There’s a complete list of all the recorded things you have spoken to Alexa, including the things it mistakenly thought you said to her. Regardless, this feature allows you to accurately diagnose the reason behind its weird behavior. You may figure out that the voice assistant may have just misheard your device or a phrase you said – some of which may set it off into making random noises.
To do this, simply run the Alexa app and select the menu located in the top left corner. Tap on “Settings,” then click on “Alexa Privacy.” After this, choose “Review Voice History.” You will be presented with a list of recorded things that Alexa has processed in the meantime.
If you see a recording that says, “Audio was not intended for this device,” it can be vital information that might be causing the glitch that Alexa experiences. This phrase means that Alexa thinks it heard its name but eventually decided that it shouldn’t have to make a reply or action for it.
Furthermore, this may also suggest that your voice assistant is becoming confused, possibly due to the amount of background noises that it receives. This can be the cause of the random sounds or noises, especially if Alexa continues to mishear commands and plays the wrong sounds as a response.
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Check Alexa’s activity history
Another thing you can do is to check its activity. To do this, click on the menu located on the top left of your screen and choose activity.
From here, you can see all kinds of activities that Alexa has processed on your devices. Some may include playing paired Bluetooth audio, alarms, and timers, among many other things. If you encounter something unexpected in this list, it can be the cause of the weird noises that you have been hearing.
To understand the activities listed on your screen further, you can click on the More option, and it’ll tell you what prompted Alexa to carry out a specific response.
Conclusion
Why does my Alexa make random noises? is a common question that most voice-assistant owners frequent on the web for answers. From this article, you now know that Alexa may start playing random noises because of many possible causes. It can be that it may have mistakenly heard a command, is confused, or you may have just forgotten to unpair your device from it. Regardless, following the steps mentioned above can quickly help you resolve this issue instantly so that you can stop hearing sudden noises now and then.
If it still doesn’t work, the best course of action is to reach out to Amazon’s customer support so that you’ll be assisted with your dilemma promptly.
If you enjoyed this article, check out our “Why Does My Alexa Randomly Beep?” article here!