How to Change Alexa’s Awakening Word to Something Other Than “Alex”
If you own an Amazon Echo device, then you’re probably used to saying “Alexa” when you want it to do something.
While the device defaults to using the word “Alexa” as its wake-up word out of the box, there are some situations (for example, if your name is Alexa) where you might want to change something and use something different.
Amazon won’t let you change your Echo’s wake word to anything, but it does offer a few options. Instead of “Alex,” you can also use “Echo” or “computer” as your awakening words. This is a feature that has been available for a while, but not many people realize that it is. CNBC pointed this out again this weekend.
To make changes, go to the Alexa app on your phone and then click on the hamburger icon in the upper left corner of the page (it looks like three lines stacked on top of each other). From there select “Settings” and then “Device Settings”.
The wake word you choose is device dependent, so if you have multiple Echo devices, you’ll need to swap positions on each individual device that you want to change individually.
When you click on the device, you want to scroll down to “Wake Word”. Select the new wake word you want from the list and then click OK.
You can also make changes directly on your Amazon Echo display device. On them, say “Go to Settings”, then select “Device Options” and then “Awakening Word”.
And keep in mind that your device must be connected to the internet to make this change, so if you have an Echo device disconnected for any reason, you’ll need to connect it before you can make any changes.