Screenshot of the Alexa app on iOS, displaying its Settings-->Bluetooth Devices screen with the Pair A New Device button highlighted.

How to Put Alexa in Pairing Mode

You must know how to put Alexa in pairing mode to connect her to a Bluetooth speaker.  But why would you want to do that?  Well, using a BT speaker on Alexa often gives better sound than what you get normally, especially from the Alexa Dot speakers.  So pair those Dots with a JBL Xtreme for example.  Then you hear a big hi-fi sound for anything you ask Alexa to play.  Here we show how to turn on Alexa pairing mode so you can hear all that quality in your Bluetooth speakers.

What you Need First

  • Download and install the Alexa app on your mobile device.
  • Connect your mobile device to same WiFi network as the Alexa speaker whose pairing mode you wish to turn on.
  • Be sure to power on the Alexa speaker you want.
  • Connect that Alexa speaker to your Amazon account.

How to Put Alexa in Pairing Mode

We use an iPad Air tablet in this demo.

1. Find the Alexa app on your Mobile Device

We found it  on our iOS iPad Air as seen in the next screenshot. For us, the Alexa app is on the third home screen page. It’s pointed at by the blue arrow.

Screenshot of the iOS 11 home screen, showing the Amazon Alexa app Icon highlighted. How to Put Alexa in Pairing Mode.
iOS home screen, showing the Amazon Alexa app Icon highlighted. How to put Alexa in pairing mode.

2. Run the Alexa App

The app then displays its Home screen as shown in the next screenshot.

Picture of the Amazon Alexa app Home screen on iOS, with the main menu button highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app Home screen on iOS, with the main menu button highlighted.

3. Tap the Hamburger Control to Continue with How to Put Alexa in Pairing Mode

Find the hamburger item in the top left corner of the screen, pointed at by the blue arrow in the last screenshot.





This brings up the Alexa app’s main menu, as shown in the next screenshot.

Picture of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its main menu, with the Settings option highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its main menu, with the Settings option highlighted.

4. Tap the Settings Option on the App’s Main Menu

We point at the Settings  item with the green arrow in the last screenshot.

This brings up the Settings screen, as shown in the next picture.

Picture of the Alexa App on iOS, showing its Settings screen, with the Device Settings option highlighted. How to Put Alexa in Pairing Mode.
Alexa App on iOS, showing its Settings screen, with the Device Settings option highlighted.

5, Tap the Device Settings Item

This brings up the All Devices screen, where all of your connected Alexa enabled devices appear in a list, as shown next.

Screenshot of the Alexa App on iOS, displaying its -All Devices- page, with an Echo Dot 3rd Gen speaker in the list highlighted. How to Put Alexa in Pairing Mode.
Alexa App on iOS, displaying its -All Devices- page, with an Echo Dot 3rd Gen speaker in the list highlighted.

6. Tap the Alexa Device you Wish to Place into Pairing Mode

For this demo, we chose the  Thomas’s Echo Dot 3rd Gen  Alexa speaker, although pairing works similarly with all the other Bluetooth enabled Alexa speaker models.

Anyway, touching the listed speaker then takes you to the device-specific settings for that particular Alexa device, as shown next.

Screenshot of the Alexa app on iOS, displaying its -Device Settings- screen for the Echo Dot 3rd Gen Alexa speaker, with the -Bluetooth Devices- option highlighted.
Alexa app on iOS, displaying its -Device Settings- screen for the Echo Dot 3rd Gen Alexa speaker, with the -Bluetooth Devices- option highlighted.

7. Tap the  Bluetooth Devices  Item to Continue with How to Put Alexa in Pairing Mode

Find the Bluetooth Devices option pointed at by the   green   arrow in the last screenshot.





This brings up the Bluetooth Devices screen, as shown next.

Screenshot of the Alexa app on iOS, showing its -Bluetooth Settings- page, with the -Pair a New Device- button highlighted.
Alexa app on iOS, showing its -Bluetooth Settings- page, with the -Pair a New Device- button highlighted.

At this point, your Alexa app is ready to begin a Bluetooth scan by your chosen Alexa speaker. We chose our Alexa Dot 3 in the last step. So, that Dot will be the one that pairing mode comes on for when we press the  Pair a New Device   button.

8. Tap the Pair a New Device Button

This puts your Alexa speaker into pairing mode.  That is, it starts your smart speaker scanning for nearby Bluetooth devices that are in Bluetooth discovery mode themselves.

9. Done with How to Put Alexa in Pairing Mode !

You have now successfully put Alexa into Bluetooth pairing mode.  So, if your Alexa speaker finds any nearby Bluetooth speakers that you put into discovery mode, they will show up in the Alexa app.

After a short time, you should get something like the screen we got. Shown next.

Picture of the Alexa app on iOS, displaying its -Bluetooth Settings- screen, with the JBL Xtreme speaker found and highlighted.
Alexa app on iOS, displaying its -Bluetooth Settings- screen, with the JBL Xtreme speaker found and highlighted.

In our demo, the Alexa app, through our 3rd generation Dot, found our JBL Xtreme speaker, named JBL Xtreme.

Alexa leaves pairing mode when you pair a speaker with it, or when it times out waiting for you to pair.

Finally, tap the Bluetooth speaker you wish to pair, and if all goes well, pairing should happen in a few seconds.

Related Posts to How to Put Alexa in Pairing Mode

  1. How to Put JBL Charge 4 in Pairing Mode
  2. How to Put Ultimate Ears Wonderboom in Pairing Mode
  3. Putting JBL Xtreme in Pairing Mode, Xtreme 1
  4. How to Put JBL Clip 2 in Pairing Mode
  5. How to Put JBL Flip 3 in Pairing Mode

References for How to Put Alexa in Pairing Mode

  1. Echo Dot (3rd Gen) – New and improved smart speaker with Alexa Product Page on Amazon.com 

Changes History

  • 2020-09-28: Updated the tags list.
  • 2019-03-26: First released.