Why does my alexa keep stopping

From time to time, Alexa can go down due to an issue on Amazon’s end. So if this is the first time you experience Alexa freezing, you might just need to wait a little bit for Alexa to come back online.

But this should not happen to you on a regular basis, so if it does try one of the fixes below.

#2. Unplug the Echo device and plug it back in

Sometimes a simple restart works miracles! And you won’t need to sign in again or anything like that, it’s super easy.

#3. Make sure Alexa is still connected to the internet

Issues arise when Alexa loses connectivity to the internet. To check:

  1. Go into the Alexa app
  2. Tap the hamburger icon in the top left corner
  3. Tap Settings
  4. Tap Device Settings
  5. Tap the Echo smart speaker device that’s giving you problems
  6. Check if the device is connected to the internet (if it says “Device offline” at the top, that means it’s not connected)
  7. If your Echo is offline, make sure it’s in range of your wifi router and try reconnecting to wifi by tapping “Change” to the right of “Wifi Network”

#4. Ask Alexa to check for a system update

Your Alexa device should download software updates automatically when connected to the internet. But if you are having issues with Alexa, it’s definitely worth checking for a system update. Just say “Alexa, check for software updates.”

If you are having trouble updating your device, restart it by unplugging it and plugging it back in.

#5. If all else fails, try a full reset of your Echo device

If your Echo devices remains unresponsive, follow Amazon’s instructions to reset it.

See Also

8 Alexa Settings That Will Seriously Upgrade Your Alexa Experience

VoiceBrew 22: The 22 Best Things To Do with Alexa Today

Best Alexa Speaker for You

VoiceBrew: Get more out of Alexa with a daily Alexa tip delivered to your inbox

I created VoiceBrew to help people get more out of the Amazon Alexa voice assistant. Whether you’re just setting up your first Alexa speaker or smart display or you’re a seasoned pro looking for advanced tips, VoiceBrew can help.

There are so many life-changing ways to use Alexa, but most people aren’t familiar with all of the things Alexa can do. By signing up for VoiceBrew, you’ll receive a free daily email with one actually awesome thing to try with Alexa. VoiceBrew also publishes comprehensive how-to guides on all the best features and important topics like privacy.

Wondering about the best Alexa speakers and smart displays for your needs? Or how to get started with an Alexa smart home? VoiceBrew covers that, too!

Nothing can be more frustrating than having your music stop playing through your Echo Dot. Listening to music is one of the few activities that light up the entire brain and can even be therapeutic. So, while staring at a Netflix buffering screen might be annoying, having your music cut off is downright cruel.

There are several reasons why your Echo Dot may stop playing music:

  • No Wi-Fi connectivity
  • Poor signal strength
  • The device is connected to the wrong bandwidth

Any one of these is a potential issue worth checking into to get your Echo Dot up and running reliably again. To figure out which of these is the culprit behind your device no longer playing music, follow the troubleshooting tips below.

Why Isn’t My Echo Dot Playing Music?

As mentioned above, there are a few reasons why your Echo Dot will stop playing music, most of which involve a poor Wi-Fi connection.

Connection issues with Wi-Fi generally stem from interference, too many linked devices, outages, and distance between the Echo Dot and the router. You can check the status of your Echo Dot—or any linked devices—by visiting your router’s configuration page. To do this:

  1. Look at the bottom or back of your router. The information for accessing your router’s settings and configurations will be there.
  2. Once you’ve logged on, you can view the status and signal strength of every device that is linked to your router.
  3. If your Echo Dot has a weak Wi-Fi signal, try moving it closer to the router. You should also be able to change the connection from 2.4GHz to 5GHz.

Every router has a limit on how many devices can connect at one time. If it is overwhelmed, try turning devices off that are infrequently used or removing them entirely. Ultimately, you may have to upgrade your router if you have too many devices and are unwilling to part with any.

Of course, if you’re still experiencing issues, you may need to reboot your device.

Try Rebooting the Router and Echo Dot

This involves unplugging both devices and plugging them back in.

  1. Unplug both the router and Echo Dot for a solid two-minute period.
  2. Plug the router back in first and allow it to cycle back up.
  3. Next, plug in the Echo Dot and wait for it to cycle up and reconnect.

You can also factory reset your Echo Dot and reconnect it to your router like a first-time setup.

  • On a generation one Echo Dot, insert a paperclip into the small hole located on the back of the device.
  • For all other generations of Echo Dots, press and hold both the microphone and volume down buttons. Do this for twenty seconds or until you get an orange light.

(Source: Amazon)

You can also do a factory reset directly from the Amazon Alexa app—iOS or Android.

  1. Open the Alexa app and go to Devices at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Then select Echo & Alexa at the top.
  3. Choose which Echo Dot device you want and scroll to the bottom of the screen, where you will select Factory Reset.

The Issue May Not Be Your Echo Dot

All things considered, it may not be your Echo Dot that’s giving you the problem after all. Before resorting to any drastic measures, try playing music through other devices throughout your home. Of course, those devices need to have a connection with the same Wi-Fi network—and preferably the same bandwidth—as your Echo Dot.

This could be especially true if you enjoy streaming music from Spotify, Pandora, or other internet radio sources. The problem could be on their end. Even the best and brightest companies have server issues now and then. Try listening to the same music through the same app as your Echo Dot, but from a different device. If the same thing happens, you’ll know that there is no reason to reset or otherwise troubleshoot your Echo Dot.

Final Thoughts

Amazon products typically come with at least a one-year limited warranty. There is also the option of purchasing a one, two, or three-year additional warranty on any Echo devices that you purchase on Amazon. If you’ve exhausted all of the above options, take advantage of the warranty.

Also, always consider purchasing the additional warranty when buying electronics. It’s generally pretty low-cost—ranging from $5 to $10—and will cover you if anything goes wrong. The Amazon Echo lineup is full of high-quality, excellent products, so don’t give up on the Echo Dot if your music has suddenly stopped. Follow the troubleshooting tips above, and you’ll be back to listening, uninterrupted, in no time.

There are many times when you send a command to Alexa and it did not respond actively. When listening to your favorite music on your Echo devices, it gets rather annoying when your voice command to Alexa doesn’t hold and the music suddenly turns off.  Or else, the song stops for a few moments before it resumes on its own. This sudden stoppage or stop-and-play interruptions make it difficult for any listener to continue as one looks for a solution to resolve the issue. Another aspect of the problem emerges when Alexa responds to the ‘play music’ command but doesn’t play the music. All this and more can have various reasons. Moreover, when you are gripped by Alexa Not Playing Music issue, foremost comes to the mind that “Why Does Alexa Stop Playing Music?” So, factors leading to this issue can range from Amazon account issues, Wi-Fi connectivity problems, network issues, or even incompatible Alexa app configurations.

Your Alexa Echo device configuration has tons of likable features but its ability as a music player is perhaps on top of the list. With Echo or Dot devices, you can listen to a variety of music emerging from various sources. Plus, the method to connect and begin with your favorite playlist is the same no matter which Echoes equipment you are using. The most convenient way to connect to Echo devices for music playing is via a music-streaming service. For this, your Echo box will link to Amazon Music and give you a virtually endless list of more than a million songs to go on forever. So, this is only interrupted when you confront the Alexa Not Playing Music issue. “Why Does Alexa Stop Playing Music?” can have several reasons.

Why My Alexa Stop Playing Music? Music Not Playing in Alexa

There can be several factors due to which the Alexa may stop working or playing music as per the commands of the user. The possible reasons for this can be as follows:

· WI-FI Congestion Issues

· Account Not linked

· Interference of any metal objects or barriers between the command and device

· Hardware issues

· Device not linked to the same account

· End of subscription

· Default settings issue

Best Ways To Fix Alexa Not Playing Music – Play Music With Alexa

If Alexa Echo or Echo Dot speakers haven’t played any song on your command, you don’t need to be disappointed. There a possible solutions for the Alexa Not Playing Music issue.

Check Your Streaming Devices

This error can happen when you are playing music through your Amazon app or via Echo devices linked to the same Amazon account. In addition, it will lead to a situation where you will not be able to stream any music on any other application when you are using more than one device on the same Amazon account. So, this is due to the streaming rule limit that applies here. Amazon Prime Music only allows music streaming or other content only on a single device at any given time. This is one of the reasons Why Does Alexa Stop Playing Music. This can be corrected with steps that specifically delink the Amazon accounts.

Check Your Subscription

An always active subscription is required for Amazon Prime or Amazon Music Unlimited for any song to play on Alexa. In instances where you do not have an active subscription for them, Alexa will disallow any song to be played with a user command or request. So, follow these steps to view your current subscription plans:

Step 1: Visit and log on to your Amazon account on the Amazon website specific to your country.

Step 2: Click on your name coming on the top, and choose Subscriptions and Memberships. Moreover, it is a step to troubleshoot the Alexa Not Playing Music issue on your Echo devices.

Step 3: Here you will come across a list of all your active subscriptions which you can configure with the necessary steps in case it is not active.

Please let us know if you still need help following these simple steps. So, we will offer you immediate and full assistance. You can reach us at +1-805-391-7162

Restart Echo

At the outset, reconfigure the power cycle for your Echo device. For doing this, unplug the cable from your Echo speaker and wait for a minimum of 20-30 seconds before plugging it all over again. Moreover, once you have plugged in, you may now try giving the voice command to Alexa to play the music from Amazon Music to see if the issue is resolved.

Echo Settings

It is really important to verify and correct a few configuration settings within your Alexa app for music to work properly on your voice instructions. These include device location settings, time zone, as well as language settings. So, keep these Echo settings to your current location to get rid of the Why Does Alexa Stop Playing Music issue.

You need to follow these steps to change the configurations:

Step 1: Firstly, go to your Alexa app and tap on the ‘Devices’ link.

Step 2: Then, on your Echo device, tap on Alexa and Echo.

Step 3: After that, look for the device location settings, time zone, and the language prescribed. Set it according to your local settings. Once done, you are ready to play any song on Alexa.

Check Linked Accounts

Amazon Prime subscribers are only allowed to use Amazon Prime Music. So if your Echo or Echo Dot application has more than one account linked to multiple Amazon accounts, you simply need to be connected to the one that is being utilized for your Amazon Prime subscription. Moreover, to resolve Alexa Not Playing Music issue, you need to go ahead with the ‘Alexa switch profile’ or ‘Alexa switch user’ command to change the users. This will help troubleshoot the issue.

Make Prime As The Default Music Provider

Suppose you have set more than one music provider in the Alexa app and have not set any default, you will need to fix the service identity to the music command. In addition, when your default music provider is Amazon Prime, you necessarily have to say a long line and it starts playing. Conversely, if it is not configured as default and you use the command, it can only be done via the default music provider where the song can be located.

There is also a possibility that the song you are trying to play is not contained within the list leading to the Alexa Not Playing Music issue. So, you require to make Prime your default music provider, or else you can give a full line command with the song name along with “Amazon Music.”

To modify the default music setting, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Firstly, tap the 3-bar icon at the top of the Alexa app screen. Select Settings.

Step 2: After that, tap on Music.

Step 3: Lastly, tap on Default Services and select Amazon Music.

Turn Off Explicit Filter

Amazon Music provides a feature that blocks songs that have explicit lyrics. It also becomes a reason Why Does Alexa Stop Playing Music for the user. Now, in such a situation, when you are trying to play such songs, it will not start unless the explicit filter is removed. To turn the filter off, you need to do the following:

Step 1: Firstly, open the Alexa app and tap on the three-bar icon.

Step 2: After that, enter Settings and then Music. This is a step towards resolving the Alexa Not Playing Music issue.

Step 3: Lastly, disable the Explicit Filter on the screen.

Deregister Echo

If none of the above steps assist in resolving the Alexa Not Playing Music issue, then you require deregistering the Echo application from your Alexa app to play the song again on your voice command.

To deregister your Echo device:

Step 1: Firstly, go to the Alexa app and Tap on the devices

Step 2: After that, tap on Alexa & Echo and choose the name of your Echo device

Step 3: Finally, scroll down and tap on Deregister.

After deregistering, add it again in the Alexa app as before.

With the above steps and fixes, check for the soluito of the question “Why Does Alexa Stop Playing Music?”. For further help, you can call Amazon Alexa Help  24×7.