How to Update Alexa on an Echo, Echo Dot or Echo Show

Amazon’s help pages give two ways to start an update yourself. One is the voice command, which is Amazon’s answer for Echo devices in general. The other is a settings menu on the models with a screen. Most of the time you need neither, because an Echo that is plugged in and online updates itself.

The Alexa app is where you look up which software version a device is running. Amazon also publishes the latest version number for every model, so it takes a minute to see whether yours is behind.

How Echo updates normally arrive

Amazon’s page of software versions opens with the rule: Alexa devices receive software updates automatically when they are connected to the internet. It adds that the updates usually improve performance and bring new features. There is nothing to switch on.

You may see it happen. In Amazon’s guide to the lights on an Echo speaker, a blue light that glimmers briefly can mean the device is receiving an update. The device may then restart, and a slowly spinning teal and blue light means it is starting up again after the update.

So the ordinary way to keep an Echo current is to leave it plugged in and on Wi-Fi.

Ask the Echo to check for an update

Say: “Alexa, check for software updates.”

That is the whole of Amazon’s instruction for Echo speakers: say “Check for software updates” to install software on the device. The help pages on Amazon’s US, UK and Indian sites all give the same line. It applies to an Echo Dot as much as to a full-size Echo, since the page is written for Echo devices as a group.

If an update is waiting, leave the Echo alone while it installs and expect the restart described above.

Update an Echo Show from its screen

Echo devices with a screen can also be updated from the settings menu. These are Amazon’s steps:

1. Say “Alexa, go to Settings”. Or open Settings by hand. If the device runs Alexa+, select the Menu icon on the screen and then Settings. If it runs the original Alexa, swipe down from the top of the screen and select Settings.
2. Select About this Device.
3. Select Check for Software Updates. The device checks for an update and installs it.

Amazon says the same steps work on the Echo Spot. It also notes that the settings menu on the Echo Hub and on every generation of the Echo Show 5 may look different.

Check the software version in the Alexa app

1. Open the Alexa app.
2. Select Devices.
3. Select your device.
4. Select Device Settings.
5. Select About. The device’s software version is shown there.

Then compare it with Amazon’s own list. The help page called Alexa Device Software Versions gives the latest version for each model, from the first Echo to the Echo Dot Max and the newest Echo Show. The numbers differ between models, so match yours against your exact device and generation. If you are not sure which Echo you own, the help page “Which Echo Device Do I Have?” lists every model and generation.

Older guides, the earlier version of this one included, sent you to the alexa.amazon.com website to find the version. When we opened that address it led to Amazon’s page for using Alexa+ in a browser. Amazon’s instructions for finding the version use the app.

When an Echo will not update

Amazon has no help page for a failed update. An update needs power and an internet connection, and Amazon does have pages for both. Work through them in this order, which runs from least to most disruptive.

1. Check the Wi-Fi. Amazon’s advice for an Echo with connection trouble is to keep it within 30 feet (10 metres) of the router and away from things that interfere, such as microwaves and baby monitors. Test the network with another device. If nothing else can connect either, restart the router. If the router has separate names for its 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks, move the Echo to the other one. If your Wi-Fi password has changed, give the Echo the new one in the Alexa app: Devices, your device, Device Settings, then Change or remove a Wi-Fi network. On an Echo Show, Wi-Fi is changed on the device itself.
2. Restart it. Unplug the Echo, or its power adapter, from the socket and plug it back in. Amazon’s pages suggest waiting between 10 and 30 seconds before you plug it in again.
3. Ask again. Once it is back online, say “Alexa, check for software updates”, or use the menu on an Echo Show.
4. Reset it, as a last resort. A reset puts the Echo back into setup mode, and you set it up again in the Alexa app. On an Echo Dot (2nd to 5th generation) or an Echo (3rd or 4th generation), press and hold the Action button for 20 seconds and wait for the light ring to turn off and on again. Amazon says this reset keeps your smart home connections. On an Echo Pop, hold Volume down and Volume up for 15 seconds. On an Echo Show, hold the button that turns off the microphones and camera together with Volume down until the Amazon logo appears, about 15 seconds. That one is a full factory reset. Other models use other buttons, and Amazon’s help page “Reset Your Echo Device” has the steps for each.

If the version still has not moved, consider the age of the device. Amazon promises software security updates for at least four years from the day a device is bought new from Amazon, and its page “Amazon Echo Software Security Updates” gives a date for each model. On the US page the Echo Dot from the 3rd to the 5th generation is covered at least to the end of 2029, and the Echo Pop and the 4th-generation Echo to the end of 2030. The Echo Link and Echo Link Amp were listed only to the end of 2025. Past its date, a device has no promise of further updates. One model is beyond help: Amazon lists the Echo Look as deactivated.

The earlier version of this article said to press the microphone-off button and wait for the Echo to update itself. None of the Amazon help pages we read describes that method, so it is gone. What Amazon says about that button is that it disconnects the microphones and turns the light red.

Moving to Alexa+ is not a software update

People also search for how to update Alexa to Alexa+. Alexa+ is Amazon’s newer assistant, built on generative AI, and you get it by signing up for it. Amazon’s help pages say you can do that on its website or by telling an Echo “Alexa, upgrade”. Amazon limits it to personal accounts set to a supported country and language.

Software still matters in one way. If you have signed up and Alexa+ has not appeared, Amazon’s requirements page says to check whether the device software needs an update, using the same voice command. Some Echos will never get it. Amazon’s compatibility page names the first-generation Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus, Echo Show and Echo Spot among them, and says they carry on with the original Alexa.

What Alexa+ changes about Alexa’s jokes and answers is in our list of funny things to ask Alexa.

Quick answers

How do I update an Echo Dot?

The same way as any Echo. Say “Alexa, check for software updates”, or leave it plugged in and online and it updates itself.

How do I check for software updates in the Alexa app?

Amazon’s instructions use the app to show the version: Devices, your device, Device Settings, About. To start an update, Amazon tells you to ask the Echo by voice, or to use the settings on an Echo Show.

Does Alexa update automatically?

Yes. Amazon says Alexa devices receive software updates automatically when they are connected to the internet.

What is the latest Alexa software version?

There is no single number. Amazon’s help page “Alexa Device Software Versions” lists the latest version for each Echo model, and the figure differs between models.

What does the light do during an update?

On an Echo speaker, Amazon says a briefly glimmering blue light can mean an update is arriving, and slowly spinning teal and blue means the device is restarting afterwards.