How to Set Sleep Timer on Amazon Alexa Echo Gen 1

Amazon Alexa Echo Gen 1 smart speaker, rotating volume ring, causing light ring to increase or decrease illumination.

The original (first) Amazon Alexa Generation One Echo smart speakers now provide a sleep timer function. This you can set and cancel with your voice! So gere, we show using voice commands, how to set sleep timer on the Amazon Alexa Echo Gen 1 smart speaker.

Firstly, the Alexa sleep timer works by asking Alexa to play an internet radio station, podcast, flash briefing, or some other streaming service. Then, once the media is streaming, you ask her play the stream for only as long as you wish, by setting a sleep timer. And of course, be sure to substitute the wake word your speaker is set to respond to, in place of the Alexa wake word in the voice commands listed below.

Amazon Alexa Echo Gen 1 smart speaker with its AC power adapter plugged in.

How to Set Sleep Timer on Amazon Alexa Echo Gen 1

Next, here are some sample commands that we verified to work with the original Echo.

Alexa, set sleep timer one hour. [She sets a sixty minute sleep timer, plays for an hour, and then goes silent.]
Okay Alexa, set sleep timer five minutes. [The Echo 1 plays for five minutes, then stops.]
Alexa, set sleep timer thirty minutes. [The Echo 1 plays for thirty minutes then goes silent.]
Hey Alexa, create sleep timer ninety minutes. [Sets a sleep timer for 90 minutes, then the speaker goes quiet.]
Alexa, cancel sleep timer. [Cancels sleep timer if one is pending.]

When setting a sleep timer, you can use verbs like Set and Create in your voice commands on the Gen 1 Echo. When removing a sleep timer, use the Cancel verb. If you ask to cancel a sleep timer when none have been set, Alexa will respond, “There’s no sleep timer set.”

When you specify a sleep time with one of the above commands, the Echo 1 will answer back as follows: “Okay. I will stop playing in [specified time].” That is, if you say, “Alexa, set sleep timer ten minutes,” to your speaker, she replies, “Okay. I will stop playing in ten minutes.”

Note that you cannot set a sleep timer on the Echo 1 unless it is playing some media.

Short and nice!

Amazon Alexa Echo Gen 1 smart speaker, front view.