What the yellow light on an Amazon Alexa device means and how to clear it
A flashing yellow ring on an Amazon Echo smart speaker means Alexa has a message or notification for you. You can clear it by asking Alexa about your notifications or messages.
Amazon's Echo devices, which run the Alexa voice assistant, have a light ring that shows the device's status. Most users know the blue ring, but the ring can display nine different colors in total. If a yellow light pulses slowly around your Echo every few seconds, Alexa has a message or notification it wants to tell you about.
The notification system was introduced in 2017. It lets the device alert users to breaking news, calendar reminders or the shipment of an Amazon order. It also supports some additional features, such as price-drop alerts in Alexa for Shopping.
How to clear the yellow light
To clear the light, simply ask Alexa something like "What notifications do I have?" or "What messages do I have?" The assistant will read out the list, and you can move through it with phrases such as "next" or "repeat".
If the light relates to a missed reminder, ask "What are my reminders?" You can then turn off, dismiss, snooze or reschedule the reminder.
Notification settings
Settings can be changed in the Alexa app on a phone or tablet: open More, then Settings, then Notifications. There you can switch notifications on or off for individual features, services and apps. For reminders, choose Reminders on this Device.
Notifications from Alexa Skills, the voice-activated apps that extend the assistant, are managed under More > Skills & Games > Your Skills > Settings > Manage Account Permissions, followed by saving the changes. Alerts from a smart camera or doorbell about a detected person or package are controlled under Devices by selecting the camera and then Device Settings.
Other colors
A cyan ring means Alexa is listening or processing a request, while teal-blue means it is waiting for a command. Two spinning shades of blue indicate the device is starting up or restarting. A red ring shows the microphone is turned off. A spinning orange light means setup mode or an attempt to connect to the internet, a pulsing green light signals an incoming call, a brief purple flash shows Do Not Disturb mode, and a white light displays the volume level.
