If you’ve embraced smart homes in any fashion, then you most likely have an Alexa device to contend with. And, you’ve probably had situations where it’s just not responding or working right. While we’re not going to get into all the minutiae of fixes for specific problems in this guide, the easiest way, not to mention one that will take care of a majority of the issues, is to restart it.
So, whether you have one of the best Alexa speakers or another Alexa-enabled device, the steps will be the same for this process. Essentially: Remove power. Reestablish power.
You can apply this strategy to most devices. Sometimes, there’s something deeper going on. But, a lot of issues can be solved with a restart, especially in a streamlined product like an Amazon Echo Show 8 (or any of the Echo products). With that in mind, here’s how to restart Alexa.
Steps for how to restart Alexa
- Unplug your device
- Plug your device back in
Tools and requirements
- Alexa-enabled smart speaker
Step by step guide
1. Unplug your device
(Image: © Future/James Holland)
A power cycle is when you turn something completely off and then on again. That’s what we need to do here. So, unplug your device for at least 10 seconds, just long enough for any remaining power to dissipate.
2. Plug your device back in
(Image: © Future/James Holland)
Then plug it back in. It might take a minute for your device to get through its startup phase. Once it’s done, you should be able to use it as before. And hopefully, any issue you had has resolved itself via the power cycle.
Final thoughts
This is a very simple process that applies to the vast array of Alexa-enabled devices available. Just like anything else, when you remove power for a moment and then reintroduce it, your device will be forced to restart.
Remember, when you press power on a device or let it go dormant, it has entered sleep mode and doesn’t restart when you turn it on. It’s just waking up. If there’s an issue, such as not connecting to the internet (and resetting network settings doesn’t fix anything), restarting might just do the trick.
