If your Amazon Alexa glows red: here’s what it means

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Red is sometimes a color you don’t want flashing on your devices. Xbox fans know that the dreaded red ring of death represents the design flaw that haunted the Xbox 360 and thus signifies the irreversible death of a console. While Amazon Alexa users shouldn’t be as shaken when their device glows a menacing red, they should still be aware that there is a slight glitch that needs to be addressed, as Amazon Alexa devices sometimes glow red if the microphone is not connected and therefore Alexa is not listening.

This happens after using the mic on/off button and can be easily fixed by simply pressing it again. The signal resembles a similar indicator spotted on the device’s cousin, the Amazon Fire TV Stick remote, which also turns red if its battery is low or experiencing connectivity issues. If your Echo device has a camera, the red light bar may also indicate that video sharing has been turned off. Red lights may also appear if there are network or connectivity issues, or if there are hardware issues. Whether internet problems or physical damage are the cause of the problem, there are several troubleshooting steps you can take before deciding that the device is broken.

The light colors on your Amazon Echo and other devices have several meanings: an orange light might indicate that your device is connecting to the internet, while the green color might mean an incoming phone call. Seeing an ominous red light surrounding your Amazon Alexa device can be an unsettling and stressful experience, especially if simply turning the system back on doesn’t resolve the problem. If you’ve never encountered this problem before, you may not know where to start to resolve it.

An Amazon staffer recommended unplugging the device for 30 seconds in a May 2020 forum post. If this strategy fails, Reolink suggests restarting your router, inspecting the hardware for signs of a faulty microphone, and, if all else fails, performing a factory reset. In situations where the red light indicates connectivity issues, Amazon advises making sure your Alexa device is within 30 feet of your router and separating it from other devices that might cause interference, like microwaves.

It may also be helpful to disconnect other devices from your Wi-Fi network, switch your device from the 2.4 GHz connection to the 5 GHz connection if applicable, or vice versa, or update your Wi-Fi settings on your Echo device. Again, if none of these solutions work, your device may need to be reset.