Amazon Alexa is a powerful virtual assistant, and there are many tasks you can get done with it. To do these tasks, though, you need to learn the appropriate Alexa commands.These Alexa commands are basically the actions that you advise your Alexa device to perform. You have hundreds of commands and their variations to use with your Alexa device. Here are some of the common commands that you should know.

1. Alexa, Volume X

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When you turn on your Alexa device for the first time, one command that you’re going to need is the volume command. This will help you adjust the volume levels of your Alexa device.

You can choose from 1 to 10 for volume levels. You can also raise or lower the volume in increments, by saying "Alexa, turn up the volume" or "Alexa, turn down the volume."

Alexa also features a hidden level, 11, that you can use to further increase Alexa’s volume to This is Spinal Tap levels. However, you probably shouldn't choose this level, as it can be too loud for most users.

2. Alexa, Mute/Unmute

When you need to immediately mute the audio on your Echo device, use the Mute command. The Mute command lets you temporarily turn off the audio on your Alexa-enabled device. This mutes any audio that’s coming from your device, including any music or voice recordings. Use the Unmute command to turn the audio back on.

Know, however, that muting the sound doesn't pause playback. The audio continues to play—you don’t hear it.

3. Alexa, Pause

When what you really want to do is pause music playback, not just mute it, use the Pause command. Say, "Alexa, unpause" to resume playback.

4. Alexa, Stop

If you’ve asked Alexa to do something, but you now want it to stop doing that task, say this command. Alexa will stop whatever task it’s doing. You might want to use this when you realize you didn’t want to do something that you’ve already asked Alexa to do.

5. Alexa, Pair

To connect your Alexa-enabled device with other devices via Bluetooth, use this command. This command puts your Alexa device into pair mode, which helps other devices find your Alexa device.

You can use this command to pair your Alexa device with a computer or smartphone.

6. Alexa, What’s 12 Percent of 579?

Maths calculations with Alexa

Alexa has the ability to calculate both basic and complex mathematical equations. All you need to do is ask your question in the proper way and Alexa will answer it for you. (In most cases, working through an equation from left to right, as normal, does the trick.) Alexa performs the requested calculation and provides you with the correct answer.

In the above command, Alexa will perform the calculation and provide you with the correct answer. You’re free to modify the command to include your own mathematical questions.

7. Alexa, Pick a Number Between 10 and 49

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Alexa comes with a randomizer to help you pick a number between a range of numbers. Alexa will randomly choose a number from the given range.

This command is useful if you’re playing a game with your friends, or you’d just like to get a random number. (You can also have Alexa automatically toss one or more dice; just tell the assistant how many dice and how many sides per die.)

8. Alexa, How Much Is 20 Ounces in Cups?

Alexa knows all sorts of conversions. You can ask Alexa to convert miles to kilometers, feet to meters, ounces to grams, dollars to euros, and a lot more. Just state the first number of units, then what you want to convert it to, and Alexa does the rest.

9. Alexa, What’s the Weather?

Do you want to know what the weather's like outside—and what the forecast is? Just ask Alexa. This one is a popular command as it provides up-to-date weather information for your current location.

Alexa tells you whether the day is going to be hot or cold, and any other details that it thinks you should know. You can then ask follow-questions, such as "What's the weather tomorrow?," "What's the weather this weekend?," or "How much rain will we get?"

Weather information with Alexa

You can also ask specific weather-related questions, like “Alexa, will it rain today?” to know if it’s going to rain on the current day. Feel free to use natural language to ask your weather-related questions.

10. Alexa, Play the News

If keeping up with the latest news is important to you, ask Alexa the above command to get the headlines for what’s happening around the world. Alexa is connected to a lot of major news sources, including ABC News, CNN, NPR, and USA Today. Ask Alexa to play the news and you'll hear the latest stories from your chosen provider. (The first time you issue this command, Alexa asks what news provider you want to use.)

If you want a shorter list of news headlines, set up your custom Flash Briefing in the Alexa app and then tell Alexa to "Play my Flash Briefing." In response, Alexa will play the top headlines from the multiple news sources you previously selected.

Finally, if you just want news from a specific source, say "Alexa, play the news from (Source.)" You'll get the latest stories from the news source you mentioned.

11. Alexa, What's the Latest Score?

If you're a sports fan, you can use Alexa to tell you the score of the latest game by your favorite team. Just say something like, "What's the score of the latest Green Bay Packers game?" If the game's currently in progress the assistant will tell you the current score. If the game's over, Alexa tell you the final. (You can also ask Alexa all sorts of sports-related questions—just try a few)

12. Alexa, Set an Alarm for 9 a.m.

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With this Alexa command, you no longer need to manually bother with your phone’s apps to set up alarms. Just say this command out loud and Alexa will set an alarm for the specified time.

13. Alexa, Set a Timer for 10 Minutes

Timers are important for various tasks, from cooking in the kitchen to setting timeouts for unruly kids, and Alexa makes it easy to set one on your device. Just tell the virtual assistant the time for your timer, and it’ll set one up for you. When the time is up, Alexa will let you know.

14. Alexa, Play Relaxing Music

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Since your Amazon Echo device is a smart speaker, it makes sense that you can use Alexa to play music. You'll need to synch Alexa with your preferred streaming music accounts, which you do in the Alexa mobile app, but then it's easy to play your favorite tunes.

You can tell Alexa to play your favorite music tracks songs ("Alexa, play Shake It Off"), music by specific artists ("Alexa, play music by Lady Gaga"), or just play a certain genre or type of music. Tell Alexa to play relaxing music, and it will select some relaxing tunes for you to listen to.

Alexa also has specific commands you can use with individual streaming music services. Check out these Alexa commands to use when listening to music on Spotify.

15. Alexa, What Song Is Playing?

Alexa can help you find the music that’s being played around you. It uses your Echo device's built-in microphone to listen to and analyze any music that's currently playing, finds that song in its huge library, and lets you know what that music track is. It works just like those music-recognition apps you can install on your phone.

16. Alexa, What Is Software?

Alexa is extremely good at finding word definitions. If you aren’t sure what a particular term means, just ask Alexa and you’ll get a proper definition. Since these definitions are retrieved from the internet, you can ask Alexa for a definition for pretty much any item or word you can think of.

17. Alexa, How Far is It to the Moon?

Alexa knows lots of things—and what the assistant doesn't know, it can look up, online. Just ask her a question, any question, and chances are the assistant will tell you the answer.

18. Alexa, How Do You Spell Mississippi?

Alexa can also help you with your spelling. Just ask it how to spell a given word, and it will spell it out for you, letter by letter.

19. Alexa, Open Storytime

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Alexa makes a good babysitter. When you're putting the kiddos to bed, ask Alexa to open the Storytime skill, and it will tell a bedtime story. Your children will love it. They'll also love this list of fun games they can play with Alexa.

20. Alexa, Tell Me a Joke

Our list of the best Alexa commands ends with a command that tells you a joke. Using this command on your Alexa, you can get Alexa to tell you a funny random joke. Depending on your preferences, Alexa might even tell you a localized version of a joke. You can even ask for a knock-knock joke, by saying "Alexa, knock knock." You'll find out who's there.

That's not the only fun thing Alexa can do, of course. Check out these awesome Alexa skills that will make you smile.

These Are the Best Alexa Commands to Learn

Alexa is an extremely powerful virtual assistant, and it can do pretty much everything you ask it to. However, to do this, you should learn the commands that trigger Alexa to perform your tasks. You can even enhance Alexa's built-in commands with additional skills, many of them free.

These commands help you get the most out of your Alexa-enabled device, and bring a bit of convenience to your life.