How to Use Alexa Voice Recognition

Amazon's virtual assistant can remember individual voices for more personalized interactions. By setting up Alexa voice recognition profiles, Alexa can tailor her responses to each person in your home.

Information in this article applies to all Amazon smart speakers including the Echo Dot and Echo Show. Voice profiles are not available for the Fire TV or Amazon Fire tablets.

What Is Alexa Voice Recognition?

When you set up your Alexa device, you must link it to an Amazon account. All of your preferences, appointments, and lists are associated with that account, and Alexa will give identical responses to everyone who uses your device by default. However, it's possible to train Alexa to recognize specific voices and access multiple Amazon accounts from a single device. By creating voice profiles, you can:

Make calls and send messages using Alexa from multiple smartphones.
Create separate calendars and shopping lists.
Automatically skip Flash Briefings you've already seen.
Complete purchases without giving your voice code.
Personalize playlists and recommendations from Amazon Music Unlimited.
Sync your voice profile with other Alexa devices via Guest Connect.

You can also use your voice profile with some third-party smart speakers such as the Sonos One.

How to Set Up Alexa Voice Profiles

To create an Alexa voice profile using the Alexa app for iOS and Android:

Launch the Alexa app and tap the Menu icon in the top-left corner.
Tap Settings.
Tap Account Settings.
Tap Recognized Voices.
Tap Create a Voice Profile.
Tap Continue.
Say the phrases Alexa asks you to repeat.
Tap Done to return to the voice profiles screen.
Scroll to the bottom of the voice profiles screen to view instructions for adding additional users.

Once you've added more recognized voices, you can return to this screen and tap Match voice profiles to help Alexa differentiate between users.

Set up Alexa voice profiles using the Alexa app.

After a few minutes, say "Alexa, who am I?" She will respond with who she thinks you are and which Amazon account you're using.

How to Add Voice Profiles to Your Amazon Household

Other users can create voice profiles using the Alexa app on their phones. You must invite a user to your Amazon Household before your smart speaker will recognize their voice:

Launch the Alexa app on your phojne and tap the Menu icon in the top-left corner.
Tap Settings.
Tap Account Settings.
Tap Amazon Household.

Alternatively, tap Guest Connect to allow a user to temporarily connect to your Alexa device for a period of 24 hours.
Tap Start. You'll be prompted to pass your phone to the other user.
Have the other person enter their Amazon username and password, then tap Verify Account.

Now, you can both try asking "Alexa, who am I?" Once she successfully recognizes the other user's voice, they can say “Alexa, switch to my account” to access their calendar, add items to their shopping list, and make calls from a phone linked to their Amazon account.

To switch back to your Amazon account, say “Alexa, switch to my account.” To hear which account is currently active, say “Alexa, identify account.”

Troubleshooting Alexa Voice Recognition

If Alexa is having trouble telling who is who, you can try deleting your voice profile and starting fresh, or you can train Alexa to better recognize your voice:

Launch the Alexa app and tap the Menu icon in the top-left corner.
Tap Settings.
Tap Account Settings.
Tap Recognized Voices.
Tap Manage Voice Profile.
Tap Match voice profiles. Alexa will replay voice recordings from each user associated with your Amazon Household and ask you to match them to the speaker.

Tap Delete voice profile to erase all voice settings for your account.