
“Alexa, are you possessed?”
*Alexa doesn’t respond*
“I knew it was a bad idea to watch a horror movie.”
If your Alexa suddenly plays music without command, that’s probably what you’d think.
Before considering any paranormal reasons…
Maybe Alexa’s software is just faulty.
But in what ways?
Continue reading to learn:
- How to tell if your Alexa device was hacked and what to do about it.
- 5 issues that cause Alexa to play music without command (and how to fix it).
- Words from Siri co-founder, Adam Cheyer, to give you peace of mind about Alexa’s buggy actions.
- And so much more…
Why does Alexa play music without a command?
Your Alexa plays music without any command due to an Alexa routine issue or buggy glitch. It could also be a nearby person that paired your Alexa device. Sometimes, your music service is hacked. Other times, it’s a microphone hardware problem.
Alexa plays music without command: 5 causes & fixes
#1: Your Alexa was falsely triggered
You know what’s creepier than Alexa randomly playing music?
It’s Alexa chuckling at random in the middle of the night.
Imagine that for a second.
You’re in the kitchen. It’s pitch black. You’re 30 steps away from your front door.
And it’s just you and Alexa. A supposedly harmless machine with zero killing intent.
Then all of a sudden…
It laughs.
And you know what. That alone gave me goosebumps.
Back in 2018, Alexa’s random laugh actually happened. But it’s a good thing Amazon resolved the issue.
Turns out, it was a simple glitch that was falsely triggered.
Oh, and by the way, one person did actually experience that. Yep, somebody encountered Alexa chuckling randomly in a pitch-black kitchen.
In rare cases, Alexa might hear the command “Alexa, laugh” causing it to laugh suddenly.
And that’s what could be happening to your current Alexa device too. It could be a wake word or command that falsely triggered Alexa to play randomly.
Want proof?
Ask Adam Cheyer, co-founder of the Siri app.
Adam mentions that Alexa isn’t exactly invisible. There’s a lot of randomness in the way Alexa works.
He continues to define how Alexa interprets the command “Alexa, play music”. When you tell Alexa to play music, Alexa doesn’t interpret it as you asking Alexa to play music.
The way Alexa understands it is you asking Alexa to find a specific song. Now, here’s the interesting part.
Alexa sounds like a human being, but it doesn’t have human intelligence quite at the same level.
What that means is, Alexa can’t tell the difference between a song that’s found in your profile and a song you like. Read that again.
So, don’t worry. There are bound to be glitches in Alexa. Fortunately, there’s a way to fix that.
How to fix it

The quickest one you can do is to schedule or set the Do Not Disturb function on your Echo device.
Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Open your Alexa app.
Step 2: Tap “More” (three horizontal lines located at the bottom-right of your screen).
Step 3: Tap “Settings.”
Step 4: Tap “Device Settings”.
Step 5: Tap the Echo device you want to set the Do Not Disturb function on.
Step 6: Under General, you should see “Do Not Disturb”.
Step 7: Toggle the Do Not Disturb switch to turn it on.
Alternatively, you can schedule your Do Not Disturb function too. Follow these steps to do so:
Step 1: Below Do Not Disturb, you should see the “Scheduled” option.
Step 2: Toggle the “Scheduled” switch to turn it on.
Step 3: Set your Start time and your End time.
Step 4: Tap Ok to confirm the scheduled Do Not Disturb setting.
#2: There’s an issue with your Alexa routine function
Alexa routines are convenient little shortcuts. They allow you to command Alexa without saying the entire command phrase.
But it does have its downsides.
A simple Alexa routine can take a wrong turn and ruin your sleep. But wait – you didn’t set up the routine, so who did?
It could be a family member or another account that’s linked to your Alexa device. Believe me, it’s possible.
So, let’s go over the best solution for this problem.
How to fix it:
The first thing to do is to check if you have any unusual Alexa routines. If you see any unusual routine, delete it.
Or, you can simply delete any Alexa routine related to playing music on your Echo device. Here’s how it’s done:
Step 1: Open your Alexa app.
Step 2: Tap “More” (three horizontal lines located at the bottom-right of your screen).
Step 3: Tap “Routines”.
Step 4: Check your Routines if anything stands out.
Step 5: Delete any routine related to playing music.
#3: Your music service was hacked
Did you know Alexa is listening to you all the time? That’s what the New York Times says.
So, who would’ve thought that Alexa plays dirty at times, right?
Alexa pays more attention to you than you think.
In certain cases, this also places your Alexa device at risk of being hacked. As you’re already aware, cyberhacking is a constant threat and issue in today’s world of technology.
And for devices like Alexa or even a music app like Spotify, well…
It’s possible that your Alexa plays music without command because someone hacked it.
If you’re using a weak password, then it’s more likely for a hacker to hack your device easily.
According to ComputerWorld, weak passwords are like early Christmas presents for hackers. Bad Santa.
How to fix it
First, check your music service/app.
For example, it could be your Spotify that was hacked. After checking your Spotify, you realize your liked songs and playlists are different.
If you notice any suspicious activity, log out of all your accounts. Then, change your password immediately.
Here’s how to log out of all your accounts on Spotify:
Step 1: Open Spotify in your browser.
Step 2: Log in to your Spotify account.
Step 3: You’ll see three sections under Account overview. This will be “Profile”, “Your plan”, and “Sign out everywhere”.
Step 4: Under Sign out everywhere, tap sign out everywhere.
Step 5: Change your password.
Here’s a link to quickly access the reset your password function on Spotify. Once you’ve done all that, make sure to protect your account even further through various means.
One final tip: Use a strong password this time. Stop using your birthday as a password. Avast has several tips to create a strong password you can remember easily.
Make sure to check all your other music apps too.
You might also like: (5 Fixes) Alexa Not Hearing Me When Playing Music
#4: Interference from your neighbor or a family member
Are you chummy with your neighbors?
Maybe they come over for lunch or dinner sometimes…
I ask you to consider such.
Why?
Because there’s a possibility your neighbor used your Echo device before.
And guess what. Maybe he/she forgot to turn off his/her access.
Or, it might be a family member who has access to your Echo device. And let’s just say they sleep in a room closer to your Alexa device than you.
What if your family member’s a late sleeper? Or what if they left the TV on in their room and Alexa mistook TV sound for a command?
These are all possibilities that can happen.
Remember? Alexa’s always listening to you. There was even one instance where Alexa “thought” it heard a command.
Then, Alexa sent an entire private convo to a stranger’s Echo device.
Weird, right?
How to fix it
Trace the source of the Alexa command. There’s one way to do this in the Alexa app. Check Alexa’s voice history. Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1: Open your Alexa app.
Step 2: Tap “More” (three horizontal lines located at the bottom-right part of your screen).
Step 3: Tap “Settings.”
Step 4: Tap “Alexa Privacy”.
Step 5: Tap “Review Voice History”.
Step 6: Tap “Review History of Detected Devices.”
Step 7: Perform a factory reset.
Why perform a factory reset?
Let’s say you find out the reason Alexa randomly played music was due to a family member.
They accidentally said a wake word or command that triggered Alexa to play a song. Or, they left the TV on, and Alexa somehow heard it.
That leaves you with one conclusion: It could be your neighbor. But you can never be too sure where the source came from.
So, take extra precautionary steps and do a factory reset. Then, as you’re setting up your device, change the password. And that includes your WiFi password.
To perform a factory reset, follow these steps:
Step 1: Hold the action button on your Echo device.
Step 2: Wait for Alexa to say “Resetting your device”.
Step 3: Set up your Echo device.
Reading recommendation: Alexa vs Echo: What’s The Difference & Do You Need Both?
To change your Alexa device’s WiFi password, here’s a short video clip on how to do so:
#5: Microphone hardware issue
Last but not least, your Echo device might have a microphone hardware issue.
It’s not as common as minor bugs or glitches, but it still happens. In that case, you can’t solve it even by doing a factory reset.
Hardware issues will almost always require you to replace the unit or the faulty part. This might mean you have to take it to a service center.
In some cases, though, all you have to do is report your problem online.
How to fix it
First, report the problem to Amazon. This will save you the hassle of manually tinkering with your Echo device.
You can contact Amazon directly through the Alexa app:
Step 1: Open your Alexa app.
Step 2: Tap “More” (three horizontal lines located at the bottom-right of your screen).
Step 3: At the very bottom of your screen, tap “Help & Feedback”.
Step 4: Under the “Contact Us” section, Tap “Speak with a representative”
Step 5: You can also tap the “Chat with us” option”. However, it’s faster to speak to an Amazon representative.
Personally, I prefer to speak with an Amazon customer representative. It’s faster, and you get feedback in real-time.