How to Use IFTTT With Alexa

Use IFTTT recipes to create trigger and action combos for smart devices

Amazon Echo on table near food from completed meal.
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by Tricia Goss
Tricia Goss has been a freelance writer and editor for 10+ years. She's written tips and tutorials for Microsoft Office applications and other sites.
Updated September 10, 2019

IFTTT recipes — also known as applets — are chains of simple conditional statements that work with many applications, including Amazon Alexa. You set up commands that tell the software, “If ‘this’ trigger occurs, then ‘that’ action needs to take place” using the IFTTT service. The IFTTT Alexa channel makes using the service even easier, as you can use its existing recipes. If the IFTTT Alexa channel doesn’t have the trigger and action combo you’re looking for, set up your own to perform the functions you want.

To enable the IFTTT Alexa Skill, create or sign-in to your IFTTT account, then select Connect to link your Amazon account and give it the necessary permissions.

How to Use IFTTT Recipes with Amazon Alexa

Employing one or more of the existing applets is a good way to become familiar with how they work. The general process is straightforward. Within IFTTT, click an applet to deploy from the list of Alexa options, then click or tap Turn on to enable it.

Follow the directions provided to give IFTTT permission to connect with another smart device. For instance, if you want to enable the applet to brew a cup of coffee with your WeMo coffeemaker if you say, “Alexa, brew me a cup,” you will be prompted to connect using your WeMo app.

After you set up the recipe, invoke it with the phrase you specified in the recipe. Each recipe features different terms and rules depending on the other services you connected. For example, the recipe to connect to a task-management service like Remember the Milk looks different from the recipe for controlling a home-automation device.