Picture of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying the -Change Your Wake Word- screen, with the -Computer- option selected, and the -Save- button highlighted.

How to Change Echo Dot Wake Word

You can indeed change the wake word that the Amazon Alexa enabled speakers respond to.  Current choices are, “Alexa…,” “Amazon…,” “Computer…,” and “Echo…”  The wake word is the name you say to wake up the smart speaker.  Alexa then starts listening for a follow-up command / question.  The wake word is how you “get her attention,” so to speak.  This setting is not customizable beyond these four choices as of yet.  In this post, we show you how to change Amazon Echo Dot wake word via the Alexa app.

Do you might wish to change this word for a particular Echo speaker.  Why?  Because perhaps you have more than one in the same home.  In that case, naming each Alexa speaker differently stops them all from answering at once.  This wake word is speaker-specific.  So if you have multiple echo speakers close to each other, you could assign each one a different trigger word.

Following are instructions on how to set this watch word for a specific Echo device connected to your Amazon account.





How to Change Amazon Echo Dot Wake Word

1. Locate the Alexa App 

First, find the Alexa App on your tablet.  We find our copy on the third page of the home screen on our iPad Air, as shown next.

Picture of the iOS Home screen with the Alexa App highlighted.
iOS Home screen with Alexa App highlighted.

2. Then, Run the Alexa App

Next, You should then get the Alexa app Home screen, similar to the picture displayed next.

Picture of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying the Home screen, with the Settings option highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying the Home screen, with the Settings option highlighted.

3. Tap the  Settings  Option to Continue with How to Change Echo Dot Wake Word

See the Settings item highlighted by the pink arrow in the previous picture.  This brings up the Settings screen, as shown next.

How to change Amazon Echo Dot wake word. Picture of the Amazon Alexa App on iOS, displaying the -Settings- screen, with the Living Room speaker highlighted.
Amazon Alexa App on iOS, displaying the -Settings- screen, with the Living Room speaker highlighted.

4. Tap the Echo Speaker Device

Tap the Echo Dot whose wake word you wish to change.  We’re going to update our Living Room speaker’s trigger word in this example.





So, tapping that device on the screen above, displays the following screen.

Picture of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying the -Device Settings- screen for our -Living Room- speaker. This shows the -Set Wake Word- option highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying the -Device Settings- screen for our -Living Room- speaker. This shows the -Set Wake Word- option highlighted.

5. Tap the   Wake Word   Item

See this link, pointed at by the pink arrow in the last picture.

You should then see the Change your Wake Word  screen, similar to the following.

How to change Amazon Echo Dot wake word. Picture of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying the -Change Your Wake Word- screen, with the Choices pull down menu highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying the -Change Your Wake Word- screen, with the Choices pull down menu highlighted.

6. Tap the  Wake Word Choices   Pull Down Menu Item to Continue with How to Change Echo Dot Wake Word

Find the   Wake Word Choices  item, as pointed at by the pink arrow in the last picture.

Then, the   Wake Word Choices   menu then expands, and appears as follows.

How to change Amazon Echo Dot wake word. Picture of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying the -Change Your Wake Word- screen, with the Choices menu expanded.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying the -Change Your Wake Word- screen, with the Choices menu expanded.

7. Tap the Wake Word Choice you Wish

In our case, we change our living room Echo Dot wake word to   Computer.  So, we tap the  Computer  item on that menu.





This then takes us to the   Change Your Wake Word   screen as follows.  But now, the value in the   Wake Word Choices   pull down combo box is   Computer,  as shown.

How to change Amazon Echo Dot wake word. Picture of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying the -Change Your Wake Word- screen. This shows the -Computer- option selected, and the -Save- button highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying the -Change Your Wake Word- screen. This shows the -Computer- option selected, and the -Save- button highlighted.

8. Tap the  Save  Button

The   Save   button is highlighted in the last picture.

Then, the   Changing Wake Word   window pops up briefly, as shown following.

Next, the   Wake Word Changed   window appears.

Screenshot of the -Changing Wake Word In Progress- window.
The -Changing Wake Word In Progress- window.

 

Screenshot of the -Wake Word Changed- screen, with the -Close- button highlighted.
The -Wake Word Changed- screen, with the -Close- button highlighted.

9. Press the   Close   Button

Finally, your Echo Dot speaker should now respond to the new wake word.  Test it out.

10. Finished with How to Change Echo Dot Wake Word !

Other Posts About the Echo Dot Speaker

    1. Use Echo Dot as Bluetooth Speaker, How To
    2. How to Link Pandora to Echo Dot Speaker, Play Pandora Through Alexa Echo Dot
    3. Connect Echo Dot to Pandora, How To
    4. Reset Echo Dot 3rd Gen Alexa Speaker, How To
    5. Echo Dot Setup Help Instructions

Related Posts to How to Change Echo Dot Wake Word

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    3. Alexa WiFi Connection, How to Change It
    4. How to Change WiFi on Google Home Mini
    5. How to Change Volume on Google Home Mini

References for How to Change Echo Dot Wake Word

    1. How to change Alexa’s Wake Word    from CNET
    2. How to Change the Amazon Echo’s Wake Word, from HowToGeek 

Revision History

    • 2019-05-20: Tuned the targeting for ‘Change Echo Dot Wake Word’ and added tags.
    • 2017-03-18: Originally published.