How to Opt Out Of Amazon Sidewalk

Use the app to quickly disable Sidewalk and Community Finding under Account Settings

By
S.E. Slack
S. E. Slack
S.E. Slack
Senior Strategy & Editorial Director, Lifewire.com
  • California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo
S.E. Slack has 30+ years' experience writing about technology. She has authored 12 books, thousands of articles, and worked for IBM and Microsoft.
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Updated on March 28, 2023
Reviewed by
Jessica Kormos
Jessica Kormos
Reviewed by Jessica Kormos
  • Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
Jessica Kormos is a writer and editor with 15 years' experience writing articles, copy, and UX content for Tecca.com, Rosenfeld Media, and many others.
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What to Know

  • In the Alexa app, go to Settings > Account Settings > Amazon Sidewalk.
  • Disable one or both: Sidewalk and Community Finding.
  • You can turn these back on at any time using the same steps and simply switching things back.

This article explains how to opt-out of Amazon Sidewalk and Community Finding together. It also covers how to disable Community Finding only while keeping Sidewalk turned on.

To Opt Out Completely: Turn Off Both Amazon Sidewalk and Community Finding

You can get out of Amazon's community network experiment by changing some settings in the Alexa app. The following steps apply to all Echo and Ring devices connected to your Amazon account and will disable both Sidewalk and Community Finding.

  1. Open the Alexa app.

  2. Tap More.

  3. Tap Settings.

  4. Tap Account Settings.

    Screenshots of the Alexa app, showing how to access Account Settings.

  5. Tap Amazon Sidewalk.

  6. If the button next to Enabled is blue, you have opted into Amazon Sidewalk. To opt-out, tap or slide the switch to the left. The command will change to Disabled, and the button will turn a very light blue.

    Screenshots of the Amazon Alexa app showing how to disable Amazon Sidewalk.

Once you've changed the setting, you will have opted out of Amazon Sidewalk. This also automatically disables Community Finding.

Community Finding is the part of Sidewalk that lets you connect to neighbors using what Amazon calls 'Sidewalk Bridges.' These bridges connect all your Echo and Ring devices to all of your neighbors, so if that's your biggest concern, then you'll want to shut it down, too. Some people, though, prefer to keep Amazon Sidewalk enabled and only turn off Community Finding. That's a slightly different process but just as easy.

Turn Off Community Finding Only

To opt-out of Community Finding only (but keep Sidewalk turned on), follow these steps:

  1. Open the Alexa app.

  2. Tap More.

  3. Tap Settings.

  4. Tap Account Settings.

    Screenshots of the Alexa app, showing how to access Account Settings.

  5. Tap Amazon Sidewalk.

  6. Tap Community Finding.

  7. On the Community Finding screen, tap or slide the button to the left. It will turn a very light blue, indicating that the feature is off.

    Screenshots from the Alexa app showing how to disable Community Finding.

  8. Use the arrow or slide back one screen to the Amazon Sidewalk screen. Confirm that Community Finding shows as Disabled.

    Screenshots showing how to confirm Community Finding is disabled in the Alexa App.

You can always turn either or both settings back on by following the above steps and simply moving the slider the other way.

FAQ
  • Is Amazon Sidewalk already turned on?

    Yes, Amazon Echos come with Sidewalk and Community Finding switched on by default. You have to actively turn it off if you don't want to use this feature.

  • Will Amazon Sidewalk slow down my internet connection?

    Most likely no. The connection used doesn't use a lot of bandwidth so unless 45 people are camped out in front of your house you shouldn't really notice any slowdown. If you are worried or you just don't want to share your connection, you can follow the steps above to turn off this feature.

  • What is Amazon Sidewalk?

    Amazon Sidewalk is a shared network designed to create smart neighborhoods by letting everyone's smart home devices connect across Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Because Amazon automatically connects all your smart home devices to Sidewalk as you set them up, your Echo and Ring devices will automatically share your internet connection unless you opt-out of Sidewalk using the app.

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