8 Alexa Settings to Disable Immediately for Privacy & Sanity
Reclaim your privacy and stop annoyances. Discover the 8 Alexa settings to disable immediately, including Sidewalk, Voice Purchasing, and unwanted ads.
Switch These 8 Alexa Settings Off Right Now to Get a Better Smart Speaker
The first day you bring an Amazon Echo into your home, it feels like the future has finally arrived. You ask for the weather, you play a song, and maybe you even get a kick out of a few jokes. But fast-forward three months, and that helpful assistant can start to feel more like a nagging roommate. Between the unsolicited suggestions, the "by the way" interruptions, and the privacy-related defaults you never actually agreed to, the shine can wear off quickly.
The good news is that Alexa is highly customizable. The bad news is that Amazon doesn't exactly go out of its way to show you how to silence its most annoying features. If you want a device that listens when you want it to and stays quiet when you dont, you need to dive into the settings. Here are the eight Alexa settings you should disable immediately to reclaim your privacy and your sanity.
Amazon Sidewalk
This is perhaps the most important setting to check. Amazon Sidewalk is a shared network that helps devices like Echos and Ring cameras stay connected by using a small sliver of your home internet bandwidth to bridge the gap for your neighbors' devices. While it sounds neighborly, many users aren't comfortable with their hardware acting as a public bridge for others.
How to find it: In the Alexa app, go to More, then Settings, select Account Settings, and tap Amazon Sidewalk to toggle it off.
Voice Purchasing
Voice purchasing is convenient right up until your toddler accidentally orders a 10-pound bag of gummy bears or your Echo mishears a television commercial and places an order. Even if you dont have kids, it is a security risk. If you enjoy the convenience of voice shopping, you should at least require a four-digit voice code. But for most of us, turning it off entirely is the safest bet to avoid "phantom" packages appearing on your doorstep.
How to find it: Navigate to More, then Settings, select Account Settings, and tap Voice Purchasing to disable it.
Things to Try Notifications
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We have all been there: You ask Alexa for the time, she tells you, and then adds, "By the way, did you know I can also tell you recipes for lasagna?" These "Things to Try" notifications are designed to help you discover features, but in practice, they are just interruptions. If you want to use your speaker without being lectured on its capabilities every five minutes, this is a mandatory "off" switch.
How to find it: Go to More, then Settings, select Notifications, then Things to Try. Set both Discovery and Special Offers to off.
Personalized Ads
Amazon is, at its core, a data and advertising company. By default, Alexa uses your voice interactions and app usage to build a profile for targeted advertising. While this doesn't mean a human is listening to your every word, it does mean your data is being used to sell you things more effectively across Amazon’s ecosystem. If you prefer to keep your smart speaker interactions between you and the robot, you’ll want to opt out of interest-based ads.
How to find it: Tap More, go to Settings, then Alexa Privacy, and select Manage Your Alexa Data. From there, find the toggle for Use Voice Recordings to Improve Amazon Services or Personalized Ads and turn it off.
Drop In
Drop In is a feature that allows other Echo devices to instantly connect to your speaker for a two-way intercom conversation. The problem? If it’s set to "on" for your contacts or even just your household, it can feel like a major privacy intrusion. You might not want a family member in another room—or a friend with permissions—suddenly appearing as a voice in your bedroom. Restricting this ensures that communication is a two-way street that requires your permission every time.
How to find it: Go to More, select Settings, then Device Settings. Select your specific device, tap Communications, and select Drop In to turn it off or restrict it to My Household.
Shopping Notifications (The Spoiler Alert)
During the holidays or around birthdays, this setting is a literal party pooper. By default, Alexa will announce when a package is being delivered and—crucially—what is inside the box. If you share a home with the person you’re buying a gift for, Alexa will happily yell the contents of the delivery across the kitchen the moment the delivery truck pulls away. Disabling these notifications keeps the mystery alive.
How to find it: Navigate to More, then Settings, select Notifications, and tap Amazon Shopping. Under the section titled Say or show item titles, toggle off the options for items in your cart or those marked as gifts.
Hunches
Alexa "Hunches" is an AI feature where the speaker tries to guess your intentions. If you usually turn off the porch light at 10:00 PM and you forget one night, Alexa might do it for you. While it sounds smart, it can lead to confusion when lights start turning off while you’re still using them, or when you receive notifications about "hunches" you never asked for. If you want your smart home to do exactly what you tell it—and nothing more—disable this.
How to find it: Tap More, then Settings, and scroll down to Hunches. You can turn off the suggestions and the automatic actions here.
Follow-up Mode
Follow-up Mode allows Alexa to keep the microphone active for a few seconds after she answers a question, so you can ask a second question without saying the wake word again. The downside? It increases the chances of the speaker "accidently" listening to a private conversation happening in the room immediately after a command. If you value a "one and done" interaction and want the microphone to cut out the second your request is fulfilled, turn this off.
How to find it: Go to More, then Settings, select Device Settings, pick your device, and toggle Follow-up Mode to the off position.
The Gift-Giver’s Strategy
If you are giving an Echo device as a gift, you have a unique opportunity to be a "tech hero." For many people—especially parents or less tech-savvy friends—the initial setup of a smart speaker is the most frustrating part. They don't want a device that nags them or shares their bandwidth with the neighborhood; they just want a speaker that plays music and tells them the weather.
Consider offering to help the recipient set it up, or if you’re setting it up for a household member, go through this checklist before the device becomes a permanent fixture in the home. By disabling these eight settings, you’re not just giving them a piece of hardware; you’re giving them a polished, unobtrusive experience. You are essentially "taming" the device before it has a chance to become an annoyance.
Why Tuning Your Tech Matters
At the end of the day, your smart speaker should work for you, not for Amazon’s advertising department or its neighborhood network goals. Default settings are almost always designed to benefit the manufacturer by gathering more data or keeping you in their ecosystem longer.
By taking five minutes to run through these settings, you transform Alexa from a corporate representative in your living room into a truly helpful tool. It’s about creating a boundary between the convenience of voice technology and your right to a quiet, private home. A few toggles are all that stand between a speaker you tolerate and a speaker you actually enjoy using.
8 Alexa Settings to Disable Immediately for Privacy & Sanity | Gimmie
