Summoning Alexa


By default, Amazon’s connected speakers have the same wake word. All you have to do to queue up a request is say, “Alexa.”

Summoning The Complete List Of Alexa Commands


The list of Alexa commands is expansive and grows with every new service or device it supports. Alexa isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty great at understanding natural language, so you don’t always have to speak the commands exactly as you see them below. Many commands work when worded several different ways or even with words omitted.

Here are all the native Alexa commands.

Basic Commands


  • Ask for help: “Alexa, help.”
  • Mute or unmute: “Alexa, mute” or, “Alexa, unmute.”
  • Stop or pause: “Alexa, stop” or, “Alexa, shut up.”
  • Change volume: “Alexa, set volume to 5,” “Alexa, louder” or, “Alexa, turn up/down the volume.”

Media Controls


  • Play music:“Alexa, play some music.”
  • Queue specific song or artist: “Alexa, play music by [artist].”
  • Play a song based on context: “Alexa, play the latest Avett Brothers album” or, “Alexa, play that song that goes ‘Gotta gotta be down, because I want it all.'”
  • Play Spotify music:“Alexa, play on Spotify.”
  • Play Pandora station:“Alexa, play [artist] station on Pandora.”
  • Play a radio station:“Alexa, play [radio station] on TuneIn.”
  • Play an audiobook:“Alexa, play [title] on Audible,” “Alexa, read [title]” or, “Alexa, play the book, [title].”
  • Resume the last played audiobook:“Alexa, resume my book.”
  • Skip audiobook chapters:“Alexa, next chapter” or, “Alexa, previous chapter.”
  • Listen to Alexa read you a Kindle book:“Alexa, read me my Kindle book.”
  • Set a sleep timer:“Alexa set a sleep timer for 45 minutes” or, “Alexa, stop playing in 45 minutes.”
  • Song information:“Alexa, what’s playing?”
  • Music controls:“Alexa, play” or, “Alexa, next.”
  • Restart song:“Alexa, restart.”
  • Add a song to your Prime Music library:“Alexa, add this song.”
  • Like or dislike a song on Pandora and iHeartRadio: “Alexa, I like this song” or, “Alexa, thumbs down.”
  • Start Amazon Music Unlimited trial: “Alexa, start my free trial of Amazon Music Unlimited.”

Time and Date


  • Set an alarm:“Alexa, set an alarm for 7 a.m.” or, “Alexa, wake me up at 7 in the morning.”
  • Set a repeating alarm:“Alexa, set a repeating alarm for weekdays at 7 a.m.”
  • Set a timer:“Alexa, set a timer for 15 minutes.”
  • Set multiple timers:“Alexa, set a second timer for 5 minutes.”
  • Check timer status:“Alexa, how much time is left on my timer?”
  • Ask the time:“Alexa, what time is it?”
  • Ask the date:“Alexa, what’s the date?”
  • Ask when the next alarm is:“Alexa, when’s my next alarm?”
  • Cancel an alarm: “Alexa, cancel my alarm for 2 p.m.”
  • Snooze alarm:“Alexa, snooze.”
  • Check dates: “Alexa, when is [holiday] this year?”

News and Weather


  • Check headlines:“Alexa, what’s in the news?”
  • Check weather:“Alexa, what’s the weather like?” or, “Alexa, will it rain today?” or even “Alexa, will I need an umbrella today?”
  • Get a weather forecast:“Alexa, what’s the weather going to be like this weekend?
  • Get traffic information:“Alexa, what’s my commute look like?” or, “Alexa, what’s traffic like?”

Entertainment and Food


  • Find movies in nearby theaters: “Alexa, what movies are playing in [city]?” or, “Alexa, what action movies are playing tonight in [city]?”
  • Get information on movies playing:“Alexa, tell me about the movie [title].”
  • Discover nearby restaurants:“Alexa, find me a pizza restaurant in [city].”
  • Get operating hours or a phone number for local businesses:“Alexa, find the address for [business name] in [city]” or, “Alexa, find business hours for [business name] in [city].”
  • Get IMDb rating:“Alexa, what is the IMDb rating for [movie or TV show]?”
  • Get casting for a movie or show:“Alexa, who plays in [movie or TV show]?”
  • Find out who an actor is:“Alexa, who plays [character] in [movie or TV show]?”
  • Find an actor’s latest work:“Alexa, what is [actor]’s latest movie?”
  • Find out who sings a particular song:“Who sings the song [title]?”
  • Get the names of band members:“Who is in the band [name]?”
  • Get album information:“What year did [band] release [song or album]?”
  • Find popular music from an artist:“Alexa, what’s popular from [artist]?”
  • Sample music from an artist:“Alexa, sample songs by [artist].”
  • Find a particular album or song: “Alexa, find [song or album] by [artist].”

Math


  • Convert units: “Alexa, how many [units] are in [units]?”
  • Basic math: “Alexa, what’s 5 plus 7?” or, “Alexa, what’s 56 times 33?”
  • Advanced math: “Alexa, 70 factorial.” (Warning: Alexa will list numbers you didn’t know existed for about a minute.)
  • Find a particular album or song: “Alexa, find [song or album] by [artist].”

Definitions and Spelling


  • Get the definition of a word: “Alexa, what’s the definition of [word]?”
  • Get the spelling of a word: “Alexa, how do you spell [word]?”

Sports


  • Check the results of a finished game: “Alexa, what was the score of the [team] game?”
  • Ask if a team won:“Alexa, did the [team] win?”
  • Ask when the next game is scheduled:“Alexa, when do the [team] play next?”
  • Get Fantasy Football update with the Yahoo Fantasy Football skill: “Alexa, ask Yahoo Fantasy Football for a score update” or, “Alexa, ask Yahoo Fantasy Football if Colin Kaepernick is playing this week.”

Search


  • Get Wikipedia information:“Alexa, Wikipedia: [subject].”
  • Tell Alexa to continue reading a Wikipedia entry:“Alexa, tell me more.”
  • Ask a general question:“Alexa, how tall is [person or object’s name]?”
  • Ask a general question:“Alexa, how many people live in America?”
  • Get a “Game of Thrones” quote:“Alexa, give me a ‘Game of Thrones’ quote.”

Easter Eggs


Alexa comes chock-full of Easter eggs and jokes — the list is long. Some of the more popular or prominent commands that prompt a snarky or humorous response…

  • “Alexa, good morning.”
  • “Alexa, tell me a joke.”
  • “Alexa, tell me a fact.”
  • “Alexa, beam me up.”
  • “Alexa, set phasers to kill.”
  • “Alexa. Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.”
  • “Alexa, my name is Inigo Montoya.”
  • “Alexa, I want the truth.”
  • “Alexa, party on, Wayne.”
  • “Alexa, show me the money.”
  • “Alexa, what’s the first (or second) rule of Fight Club?”
  • “Alexa, surely you can’t be serious.”
  • “Alexa, are you SkyNet?”
  • “Alexa, party time!”
  • “Alexa, open the pod bay doors.”
  • “Alexa, when am I going to die?”
  • “Alexa, what is your quest?”
  • “Alexa, nice to see you, to see you…”
  • “Alexa, don’t mention the war.”
  • “Alexa, this is a dead parrot.”
  • “Alexa, what is your cunning plan?”