Do you have an Amazon Echo sitting in the corner of your home? Have you ever wondered how to connect Alexa to your PC? Your friends might already be using Amazon's voice assistant in conjunction with their computers to listen to higher-quality music or to manage their daily tasks more efficiently. Meanwhile, you might feel a bit lost about how to make the most of this versatile device and feel somewhat behind compared to the potential offered by modern technology. Don't worry! You've landed on the perfect guide that will help you solve this problem once and for all!
In the following paragraphs, I will explain in detail how to connect Alexa to your PC using different methods: both using a Bluetooth connection—turning your Amazon Echo into a powerful wireless speaker to play audio from your computer without wires—and through a simple AUX cable for those who prefer the stability of a physical connection. Additionally, I will show you how to install the official Alexa app for Windows, allowing you to interact with the voice assistant directly from your PC, set reminders, control your smart home devices, and much more. I assure you that by carefully following the instructions I provide, you will be able to set everything up in no time, even if you're not particularly tech-savvy!
So, are you ready to discover all the secrets to make the most of the integration between Alexa and your computer? Fantastic! Get comfortable in your favorite chair, take a deep breath, and dedicate yourself to reading this guide with all the necessary calm. I wish you a pleasant read and am sure that by the end, you will be thrilled with the results!
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How to Connect Alexa to the PC as a Speaker
If you want to connect Alexa to your PC and use your Amazon Echo as a Bluetooth or wired speaker, here’s how to proceed and what requirements you need to achieve your goal.
How to Connect Alexa to the PC via Bluetooth
The easiest way to connect Alexa to the PC as a speaker is to utilize Bluetooth technology (wireless), which is supported by all Amazon smart speakers and is now integrated into most computers. If your PC lacks built-in Bluetooth support, you can purchase a USB Bluetooth adapter for a few euros.
Once you've taken the necessary steps, it's time to get to work. The first things you need to do, if you haven't already, are set up your Echo in the Amazon Alexa app for Android or iOS/iPadOS (if you need assistance in this regard, please consult my guide on Amazon Echo) and check that Bluetooth is activated on your computer.
If you are using a PC with Windows 11, you can easily enable Bluetooth as follows. First, click on the Wi-Fi, audio, and battery icon at the bottom right of the taskbar and press the Bluetooth icon to activate it.
Alternatively, open Settings (using the shortcut Win+I or clicking the gear icon in the taskbar or Start menu), select Bluetooth and devices from the left sidebar, and then activate Bluetooth by switching the toggle next to Bluetooth to ON.
Now you are truly ready to connect Alexa to your PC via Bluetooth. Say the phrase Alexa, enable Bluetooth (or something similar) to activate the pairing mode on your Amazon Echo.
Press the Wi-Fi, audio, and battery icon at the bottom right again, but this time press the right arrow next to the Bluetooth icon to access the quick settings. In the New Devices section, click on the name of your Echo (e.g., Echo Show 8—5P0) that you want to connect. Once the connection is established, you will see the word Connected beneath the name of the smart speaker.
Alternatively, go to Settings, specifically the Bluetooth and devices menu (accessible via the instructions I provided earlier). This time, press the Add device button or the + Add device tile and select Bluetooth from the Add a Device screen. After that, click on the name of your Echo in the list of devices found by your Windows PC, wait for the connection to complete, and, when done, click the Done button at the bottom right.
Regardless of the method used, your Amazon Echo will play a sound indicating that the connection between the smart speaker and the computer has been established.
Afterward, you can adjust the volume and connect/disconnect the Amazon Echo from the computer through the Windows menus (the speaker icon located in the notification area next to the Windows clock) or by saying commands like “Alexa, connect Bluetooth”, “Alexa, disconnect Bluetooth”, “Alexa, increase the volume”, “Alexa, decrease the volume”, and “Alexa, set the volume to 5” toward the speaker (you will not be able to use Alexa through the PC unless you follow the procedure outlined in the next chapter of this tutorial).
How to Connect Alexa to the PC with AUX Cable
Prefer a AUX connection, hence the wired connection, over Bluetooth? You can achieve your goal of connecting Alexa to the PC as a speaker quite easily, depending on the model of Amazon Echo you possess.
Although all Amazon Echo speakers come equipped with a standard 3.5mm jack, in most cases, it is only an AUX audio output (useful for playing audio from the Echo on external speakers, not the other way around) and not an audio input (which would be necessary to use the Echo as a speaker).
Currently, various Amazon Echo models with audio input are available in the market, including the fourth-generation Amazon Echo, Amazon Echo Studio, second-generation Amazon Echo Plus, third-generation Amazon Echo Dot, and Amazon Echo Show 5. However, I advise checking the user manual to see if your smart speaker has a 3.5mm jack input.
How to Use Alexa on the PC
By connecting an Amazon Echo to the PC as a speaker, you’ll only have the ability to command the multimedia playback of the computer with your voice: you can say play, pause, next track, etc., but you won’t be able to control the computer with Alexa or use Amazon's voice assistant directly from your PC.
To accomplish this, you can install the Amazon Alexa application for Windows, which allows you to summon Amazon's voice assistant directly from the computer and request all the information you can also obtain from Echo family speakers: news, weather information, setting timers and reminders, playing music from streaming services, and so on. All for free, of course.
To get started, download the Amazon Alexa app directly from the Microsoft Store by clicking the Install button. After waiting for both the download and installation, press the Open button to launch the application.
From the initial screen, press the START button and enter your Amazon account credentials—your email address or phone number. Then click the Continue button, fill in the field under Amazon Password with your account password, and proceed with login by clicking the Sign In button. If prompted, complete the SMS verification if necessary.
Accept the terms and conditions of use by pressing the ACCEPT AND CONTINUE button, choose whether to keep the Wake Word option active or not (with this active, just say Alexa to make a request without touching any buttons), press the Allow button, and consent to the app accessing your PC’s microphone by clicking Yes.
Next, choose whether to remove or keep the check on the options Start the app when you log into this computer and Add the Alexa App to the Taskbar. Conclude the process by pressing the FINISH SETUP, START from the Welcome to Alexa screen, and I ACCEPT from the Alexa Communications screen.
Once you launch the application, you will immediately see the Home screen. From here, you can access various shortcuts. For example, you can quickly go to the music screen (to listen to your favorite tracks with Alexa), access your smart home devices (by clicking the Go to Smart Home button), view your shopping list (by pressing the Go to Lists button), and much more.
In the left sidebar, there is a menu that allows you to discover various sections in detail: Music, Smart Home (to manage devices connected to your Amazon account), Communicate (to communicate with your preferred contacts using your Echo devices), Lists, Reminders (to add a reminder and get Amazon Alexa to remind you of something), Alarms, Things to Try, Settings, and Help and Feedback.
Through the settings of the Amazon Alexa app, you can toggle the Wake Word (as seen earlier), sounds within the app, change the shortcut key to enable Alexa when the app is running in the background (by default, the shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+A), change the language, turn on/off the app start-up when you turn on the computer, and much more.
In the Show Mode tab, you can activate the special feature that turns your PC into a smart display with voice command capabilities. This mode runs as an active application, ensuring the computer does not enter sleep mode while it is running. You can quickly enable it by also using the voice command Activate Show Mode found at the bottom of the left sidebar.