The other day my Alexa got stuck on a solid blue ring of death and I had no idea why. Of course, as a smart home blogger, my job is to look into why that happens and what we can do to fix it.

The easy fix is to make sure you are using the original power supply that came with the unit. Alexa devices use a USB power plug that supplies 1.8 Amps of power. So most generic USB chargers that you find lying around your house from other items will not have enough power to run it.

What Causes The Blue Ring?

Now I’m not a rocket scientist, but I can tell you that if you have just dumped a whole load of soda, coffee, or whatever all over your Amazon Echo device then chances are it is completely and 100% (you guessed it) TOAST.

That said if we want to know outside of that what can cause the solid blue ring, then we need to look at some of the reasons that we have found as to why this might happen.

  • You aren’t using the power adapter that came with your Amazon Echo device.
  • You haven’t tried resetting the Echo device.
  • You could have the DND (Do Not Disturb) setting turned on.
  • The device is plugged into a bad power outlet.
  • You have no internet.

Why Do They Call It “Blue Ring of Death”?

Well, that’s the internet for you. The Playstation 4 has a thing called the Blue Light of Death and so the internet just coined the phrase the blue ring of death. Which is in reference to the solid blue ring that appears on the top of the Echo device when the unit is processing your query, malfunctioning, or refuses to do anything.

What Steps Can I Take To Troubleshoot?

  1. Unplug for FIVE minutes then power up and see how it goes.
  2. Go to Alexa settings and make sure that “do not disturb” is turned off.
  3. Make sure you are using the original adapter that came with the Amazon Alexa or pick up a replacement from Amazon over here.
  4. If you spilled liquid on your Echo device then make sure you unplug it right away. Try to get any water off from the device and then let it sit and dry for a few days.

Why Does My Amazon Echo Device Randomly Turn Blue?

You might notice that your Amazon Echo turns on by itself on occasion. This can be caused by background noise, like a TV or radio running in the background. But if you notice that it’s happening for a few minutes and then goes back to normal then it could be that your Echo device is running an update.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this helps you fix Amazon Alexa Echo device when it’s stuck on the “blue ring of death”. While you are here check out some of my other how to guides or articles about Alexa. I’m sure you’ll find them helpful either now or in the future.