There are two variations of the purple light ring on your Alexa Echo device.
- The first is a quick purple flash which signifies that the “Do Not Disturb” mode is currently active
- The second is a pulsing purple light which communicates that there has been a Wi-Fi issue while setting up your device.
Everything you need to know is outlined in this article or alternatively, you can check out the video I created on this below.
1. Alexa’s “Do Not Disturb” Mode
Every Amazon Echo Device comes with the “Do Not Disturb” mode. Similar to your smartphone, the “Do Not Disturb” feature on your Alexa device prevents announcements, notifications or calls from interrupting your day.
I regularly use this feature when my infant is down for a nap, so as not to disturb her sleep. It’s also great when I am working from home to avoid distractions when on calls or in meetings.
When the “Do Not Disturb” mode is enabled, Alexa will give a quick flash of the purple light. Any further commands you give Alexa, while still enabled, will also include the purple light flash to remind you.
You can manually enable and disable “Do Not Disturb” by voice or through the app. You can also set a schedule, to provide a daily start and end time for the feature to toggle on and off.
You can access all these notifications that Alexa has been storing as soon as you turn off the “Do Not Disturb” mode.
It’s worth noting that alarms, reminders and timers are still delivered even with “Do Not Disturb” mode enabled.
How to Enable “Do Not Disturb” Mode
If you would like to stop Alexa disturbing you with calls, drop-ins or notifications …
- Simply say, “Alexa, turn on Do Not Disturb Mode.”
- Or open your Alexa app on your smartphone
- Go to the Devices tab
- Click on Echo & Alexa
- Select your specific speaker
- Press on Do Not Disturb to enable it
“Do Not Disturb” Schedule
To avoid calls or notifications during work hours or at night, you can create a “do not disturb” schedule. To set this,
- Click on the settings cog in the top right corner
- Go to Do Not Disturb under General
- Enable Schedule and enter a start and end time
You can also sync your “Do Not Disturb” settings to all of your Echo devices by clicking Sync in the top right corner.
How to Disable “Do Not Disturb” Mode
If you'd like to stop the Alexa purple ring glowing and receive calls and notifications again …
- Simply say, “Alexa, turn off Do Not Disturb Mode.”
- or Open your Alexa app on your smartphone
- Go to the Devices tab
- Click on Echo & Alexa
- Select your specific speaker
- Press on Do Not Disturb to disable it
2. Wi-Fi issues during setup
While not a common occurrence, the Alexa purple light ring can pulse if it encounters Wi-Fi issues during device setup.
In my experience, this usually requires performing a full reset of your Echo device and starting the setup process again.
To perform a hard reset, you simply hold the action button on your speaker for 30 seconds. The action button is the one with the solid circle. You need to keep holding the button even after set up mode is entered to fully reset it.
Other Tips
To make life easier when setting up an Echo speaker, it’s best to have Bluetooth enabled. This speeds up device provisioning as you don’t need to swap over to the Echo speaker's temporary Wi-Fi network.
Wi-Fi range and interference can be a cause of this purple light pulsing during setup. So I recommend standing close to the Wi-Fi router until setup is complete.
Your Wi-Fi configuration or security protocols may also be a factor to consider. It’s worth reviewing any firewall settings, MAC address filtering, Host configuration settings, etc. which may be blocking the connection.
See more information on this issue here.
Conclusion
I hope the above sheds some light on the Alexa purple ring (pun intended!). If you’ve encountered the Wi-Fi issues mentioned, let us know in the comments your experience with what worked and what didn’t.