The Amazon Echo makes it easy to troubleshoot your device by pairing primary color lights with potential issues. Although a red light might seem like the worst possible situation, it's actually much easier to fix than you might think.

Here's what the Echo red ring light means and how to make it go away, so you can continue to use your Echo like normal.

Why Does My Alexa Device Have a Red Ring?

Any Amazon Echo will display different colors if it has problems functioning properly. Each color means something different, allowing you to quickly diagnose what is wrong. As long as you know what each Echo ring color signifies.

Almost all Echo speakers display a light ring on the top. The exceptions are the newest Echo Dot and Echo speakers. The 4th and 5th-generation Echo and Echo Dot light ring is at the base of the sphere but is just as easy to see. All Echo Show smart displays have a light bar instead of a ring, running along the bottom of the screen.

When you see a red light on an Echo device it usually means the device can't hear you. That could mean the microphone isn't working or has been turned off. Alexa will no longer listen to your commands until the microphone has been turned back on.

If you are using the Amazon Echo Show, the red light can also indicate there is something wrong with your camera's connection.

A red circle can also appear because the microphone button on the Echo was pressed and it disabled the function. There could also be something wrong with your internet connection or device. The worst-case scenario is that your Echo device has been knocked or dropped, causing physical damage to the microphones. If this is the case, and none of the remedies below help, you will likely need to buy a new Echo device.

How to Fix an Alexa Device Red Ring

There are several methods to troubleshoot the Alexa red circle depending on the potential problem. Go through the following methods one by one to eliminate possibilities and get your Amazon Echo working again.

Enable Your Echo Microphone

It's an easy fix to get your microphone set back up with your Amazon Echo. A microphone button is located on the top of the Echo that you can press to enable and disable the feature. If the microphone has been disabled in this way, the button will also be lit up with a red light.

Simply press the button and the red light on your Alexa device will automatically turn off. Alexa should now be able to hear your commands but if that doesn't work, try restarting the device. You can restart any Echo device by unplugging it from the mains, waiting 20 seconds, and then plugging it in again.

Reset Your Amazon Echo

Since there is a wide variety of different Amazon Echo devices, the factory reset procedure for each one is a bit different. But the good news is that you can also reset the Echo device using the Amazon Alexa app for iOS or Android. There used to be a Factory Reset option in the Alexa app device settings, but this is no longer available. Instead, you need to deregister the device, which achieves the same result.

1. Open the Alexa app and select Devices on the bottom bar.
2. Choose Echo & Alexa and select the name of your Echo device.
3. Tap the Settings button (the gear icon) to see the device settings.
4. Scroll down to Registered To, tap Deregister and confirm the action.

An orange light on your Amazon Echo means that your command to reset has been accepted and Alexa is going through the resetting process.

Once the orange light turns off and on, the device has reset and is in setup mode. Go through the setup process like normal and your device should be back to working status.

Update Alexa on Your Amazon Echo

Certain glitches or bugs can be unresolved in previous versions of the device software. This can lead to your red light coming on without a reason.

By upgrading the software version your Echo device is using, you will get rid of any technical problems to hopefully get rid of the red ring light. Here's how:

1. Open the Alexa app and tap Devices.
2. Go to Echo & Alexa and select your device.
3. Tap the Settings button (the gear icon) and select About.
4. If there is a software update available, it can be installed from here.

If the microphone was working, you could simply say "Alexa, update yourself". If an available update was found, Alexa would then ask if you wanted the update installed. Obviously, this isn't useful if you have a red light on your Echo, but it is a useful command for the future.

Connecting Alexa to Wi-Fi

If your internet connection is down or running slowly, Alexa will have trouble hearing your commands and may display the red light ring.

Check your router for connection strength or try to visit a website on your phone to see how quickly it loads.

Restart your router if you are having trouble; this may be the reason Alexa is showing a red circle.

Fixing the Alexa Red Ring

If your Echo speaker is showing a red ring light then it's likely your microphone has been turned off. You can simply turn the microphone back on using the top of the device or factory reset the speaker to get back to the original factory settings. If neither of these solves the problem, there are a number of other potential ways to fix a red ring on an Alexa speaker.