How to Review and Delete Your Alexa Voice History

Every time you say "Alexa," your Echo device wakes up, records what you say, and sends it to Amazon's servers to process. Amazon saves these recordings. Depending on your settings, Amazon also uses them to improve Alexa's accuracy — meaning they may be reviewed by Amazon employees or contractors.

Many people don't realize these recordings exist, or that you can listen to them, delete them, and change how long Amazon keeps them.

In the Alexa app or at amazon.com/alexaprivacy, you can see a history of every voice interaction with your Echo devices, listen to the actual recordings, delete individual recordings or all of them, and change how Amazon handles your voice data.

Privacy options include: not saving any recordings at all (Alexa processes them but doesn't store them), or keeping recordings but setting them to automatically delete after 3 months or 18 months instead of indefinitely.

Occasionally, Amazon Echo devices record accidentally when a word sounds like "Alexa" — a TV announcement, a conversation, or background noise. These accidental recordings show up in your history. Reviewing the history occasionally helps you understand what your Echo is picking up and delete anything that was recorded unintentionally.

Some people choose to mute their Echo devices when they're having private conversations. The mute button (circle with line) on the top of Echo devices turns off the microphone and shows a red ring, meaning Alexa cannot hear anything until you press it again.