Amazon’s light guides for Echo speakers and for Echo devices with a screen both say a yellow light means a message or notification. Amazon also has a help page for a yellow light that won’t turn off. The steps below come from those pages and from Amazon’s restart and reset pages.

What This Problem Means

On an Echo speaker, Amazon describes the yellow light as a slow burst every few seconds. On an Echo with a screen, it is a solid yellow bar. Either way, Amazon says it means a message or notification is waiting, and the fix it gives is to ask Alexa what your notifications are. Amazon’s speaker light page covers every Echo speaker in one table, with no model-by-model breakdown.

Common Symptoms

• A yellow light pulsing slowly every few seconds on an Echo speaker
• A solid yellow bar on an Echo Show or other screen device
• The yellow light comes back or won’t turn off
• You are not sure if the light is yellow or orange

Safe Checks You Can Try

1. Ask for your notifications

Say “Alexa, what are my notifications?”. Amazon’s speaker and screen light pages both give this as the answer to a yellow light, because it means you have a message or notification.

2. Check it is yellow, not orange

Orange means something else. On Amazon’s speaker light page, orange means the Echo is in setup mode or trying to connect to the internet. On Amazon’s screen light page, orange means it is trying to connect to the internet. An orange light points to Wi-Fi or setup, not a notification.

3. Check the pattern on a speaker

On an Echo speaker, Amazon’s yellow light is a slow burst every few seconds. Moving lights in other colours mean other things: slowly spinning teal and blue means the Echo is starting up or restarting after a software update, and spinning green means an active call or Drop In. Our Echo light colours guide lists them all.

4. Use Amazon’s yellow light page

If you have heard your notifications and the light still won’t turn off, go to Amazon’s page for a yellow light that won’t turn off and follow its steps. Amazon also has a notifications help page.

5. Restart the Echo

Amazon’s restart page says to unplug the device or its power adapter, then plug it back in. On an Echo speaker, leave it unplugged for 10 seconds, as Amazon’s speaker reset pages say. On an Echo Show, wait 15 seconds, per Amazon’s reset page for screen devices. On the Echo Spot (2024 release), Amazon says a few seconds is enough. On the Echo Hub, press and hold the Mute button for 5 to 10 seconds until it restarts instead of unplugging it.

When To Contact Support

If the yellow light still won’t turn off after these steps, contact Amazon customer service and say which steps you have already tried, including the restart. Amazon’s Which Echo Device Do I Have? page leads to the support page for your model.

Last resort: factory reset. A reset is the last resort for a light that won’t clear. Amazon’s speaker reset pages say a full factory reset “erases all your personal information and any device and smart home connections”, and every Echo speaker also has a lighter reset that keeps smart home connections. The buttons differ by model, so use our reset guide for yours: Echo Dot (5th Gen), Echo Dot Max, Echo (4th Gen), Echo Pop, Echo Studio (2019 release), Echo Studio (2025 release), any Echo Show, Echo Spot (2024 release) or Echo Hub.