While I appreciate anything a smart speaker assistant can help me with, I don’t want to get caught up in long conversations with Alexa. I certainly don’t need her to respond out loud to every request or make suggestions on completely different topics just for asking her to turn off the lights.
Fortunately, there are a few settings you can change on your Amazon Echo to limit the verbosity from Alexa – although you probably can’t rule out unwanted responses entirely. Here are the options to get Alexa to speak less.
How to activate the ‘short mode’ on Alexa
Letter fashion eliminates verbal affirmations like “OK” when you make a request. Instead you will hear a short tone. To enable this setting, open your Alexa app and tap the More Menu. click Settings> Voice responses> Short mode to switch on and off.
You can find that too admittedly creepy whisper mode setting Here. When you turn this on and whisper your questions or commands – let’s say you’re trying not to wake a sleeping person – Alexa whispers back in an unsettling but quiet way.
How to disable purchase suggestions on Alexa
Alexa is also known to follow up simple queries (like asking for a weather report) with suggestions to buy things from Amazon – basically ads. Turns out there is also an attitude for that: Go to in your app Settings> Notifications> Amazon Shopping and deselect the option “Receive personalized recommendations and offers based on your shopping activity”.
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How to turn off the Try it out option
Another quirk of Alexa is her fondness for saying “By the way …” as a preface to the loosely related information she is about to share. Apparently, There isn’t a single setting to turn this off, but you can turn off things to try, which can help cut down some of their chatter. Go to Settings> Notifications> Things to Try and turn off.
How to turn off Alexa ‘ancestors’
When you use Alexa to control smart home devices like lights and thermostats, the Hunches feature (enabled by default) will warn you if something isn’t working as expected. You can find options for this in Settings> Warnings> Settings> Suggestions. You can also turn on Alexa Take care of these issues automatically.
How to set up an Amazon Kids user profile
The most extreme option for turning off unwanted notifications is to use your Amazon Echo with a child account (h / t CNET). The downside is that some other functions are limited – although Alexa can still respond to basic requests, play (not explicit) music, and control your smart home devices.
To turn your Echo into a kid-friendly device, go to equipment In the Alexa app, tap Echo & Alexa and select the device that you want to reconfigure. Tap Amazon children, turn on the bar, and select Set up Amazon Kids. If you’ve already set up a child profile, you can choose it. If not, choose Add child and follow the instructions.
