Alexa won’t stop playing music. What can I do?

Alexa, stop. ALEXA, STOP. ALEXA, FOR *!%*’s SAKE, STOP! If you constantly find yourself yelling at your Amazon Echo devices because Alexa won’t stop playing music, you’re not alone. Judging by online forums and social media, lots of folk have problems getting Alexa to behave.

The tips below might not cure all problems, but they’ve definitely helped to keep Alexa under control in our house. Here, then, is how to get Alexa to listen and restore peace in your home.

Turn down the volume

The number one cause of Alexa failing to stop playing music in our house is that the volume level is high. If the music is loud, Alexa’s mics may have trouble hearing or interpreting your voice commands. If you’re being ignored, try using the volume buttons/dials on the Echo device to turn the volume down. In our experience, this seems to be a bigger problem with smaller devices such as the Echo Dot, which don’t have the same mic array as the larger Echo speakers.

Tell Alexa to stop playing music

Being more specific can sometimes help. Instead of saying:

“Alexa, stop”

Try:

“Alexa, stop the music”

Or, if you’re listening to an online radio station:

“Alexa, stop the radio”

I’ve no idea why being more specific makes a difference, but it does. Sometimes.

Use the Home button

On Echo Show devices with screens, use the touch controls to get Alexa to go back to the Home screen.

To do this, drag down from the top of the screen and select Home in the top-left corner.

Then try asking Alexa to stop playing the music again. Again, I’ve no real idea why this works, but it does.

Pull the plug

It’s the nuclear option, of course, but if all else fails yanking the plug out of the wall will kill the music. More pertinently, it will also soft reset the Alexa device and seemingly make it behave a little better. For a while, at least.