Amazon Alexa & Echo
What the default settings do
Echo speakers and other Alexa-enabled devices listen for a wake word, then send what follows to Amazon’s cloud for processing. For a narrow set of devices (the 4th-generation Echo Dot, Echo Show 10, and Echo Show 15), Amazon previously offered a “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” option that processed simple commands locally on the device instead of in the cloud. Amazon retired that option in March 2025, telling affected customers by email that it was ending “as we continue to expand Alexa’s capabilities with generative AI features that rely on the processing power of Amazon’s secure cloud.” Every Echo device now sends voice requests to Amazon’s servers for interpretation; the device itself still detects the wake word and handles some sensor processing locally, but no consumer setting restores fully local command processing.
By default, Amazon retains your voice recordings indefinitely, may use a sample of them for human review to help improve its speech recognition, and Amazon Sidewalk, a shared-bandwidth network with nearby devices, is turned on out of the box. Many Alexa settings also live at the account level and are covered in more depth in this site’s Amazon Account guide; this guide focuses on the controls most relevant to using Echo devices day to day.
A reasonable privacy baseline
These settings are managed in the Alexa app, mostly under More → Settings → Alexa Privacy.
Voice recordings
Alexa app → More → Settings → Alexa Privacy → Manage Your Alexa Data → Voice Recordings → Enable automatic deletion, 3 months, or "Don't Save Recordings"
By default, Amazon keeps every voice recording indefinitely. Setting automatic deletion to 3 months limits retention; choosing "Don't Save Recordings" processes each request but discards the audio immediately afterward, though this can slightly reduce how well Alexa adapts to your voice over time.
Same menu → Review Voice History → Delete individual recordings or all at once
Lets you listen to and delete existing recordings one at a time, or clear your entire history. This is a one-time cleanup action rather than an ongoing setting.
Local voice processing → No longer available on any Echo device (ended March 2025)
Amazon has ended the "Do Not Send Voice Recordings" local-processing option that had been available on a handful of Echo models. All voice commands, on every current Echo device, are now sent to Amazon's cloud for processing regardless of your settings; the wake word itself is still detected on-device, but nothing beyond that stays local. If avoiding cloud processing entirely matters to you, the only remaining option is not using Alexa's voice features, for example by muting the microphone below.
Help Improve Alexa
Alexa app → More → Settings → Alexa Privacy → Manage Your Alexa Data → Help Improve Alexa → Off
When enabled, Amazon employees or contractors may review a sample of your voice recordings by hand to improve speech recognition and transcription accuracy. Turning this off excludes your recordings from that review process.
Amazon Sidewalk
Alexa app → More → Settings → Account Settings → Amazon Sidewalk → Off (on by default)
Sidewalk shares a small slice of your home internet bandwidth to extend the range of nearby Amazon and partner devices, including neighbors' Echo speakers, Ring cameras, and Tile trackers, even ones you don't own. It's enabled automatically on compatible devices. Turning it off in the Alexa app disables it account-wide across your Echo devices; Ring devices have their own separate Sidewalk toggle in the Ring app.
Hunches and routines
Alexa app → More → Settings → Hunches → Off
Hunches is Alexa's proactive-suggestion feature: it notices patterns from your connected smart-home devices, such as a door left unlocked at bedtime, and offers to act on them unprompted. Turning it off stops Alexa from using device-state patterns this way, but it doesn't delete the routines you've already built; those keep running normally.
Microphone
Physical mute button on the device → Press to disable the microphone
Every Echo device has a hardware mute button that physically disconnects the microphone, shown by a red light ring. This stops audio capture entirely, including wake-word detection, and is the most direct control available if you want to guarantee no listening is happening.
Trade-offs
- Setting voice recordings to auto-delete or “Don’t Save Recordings” may make Alexa slightly less accurate at recognizing your voice, accent, and speech patterns over time.
- Since local voice processing was discontinued in March 2025, there is no remaining setting that keeps voice commands off Amazon’s servers; muting the microphone is the only way to avoid cloud transmission entirely, at the cost of losing all voice features.
- Turning off Help Improve Alexa removes your recordings from the human-review process Amazon uses to catch and correct recognition errors more broadly across its system.
- Disabling Amazon Sidewalk means your own devices lose access to Sidewalk’s extended range and connectivity backup if they lose Wi-Fi, and you stop contributing bandwidth to help neighbors’ devices.
- Turning off Hunches only stops the proactive suggestions; your existing routines and smart-home automations continue to work unchanged.
- Muting the microphone disables all voice functionality, including hands-free routines, timers, and smart-home voice control.
Who should not change these settings
- If you rely on Alexa for daily routines and want it to keep adapting to your voice, leaving recordings saved with auto-delete at 3 months, rather than “Don’t Save,” is a reasonable middle ground.
- If you use Sidewalk-dependent features, such as extended Ring camera range or Tile tracker finding beyond your own Wi-Fi, keep Sidewalk enabled.
- If you find Hunches’ proactive suggestions genuinely useful, for instance being reminded about an unlocked door, there’s no need to turn it off.
- If you want to help Amazon catch recognition errors that affect other users too, leaving Help Improve Alexa on is a valid choice.
- For account-wide settings such as Alexa skill permissions and Amazon browsing or order history, see this site’s Amazon Account guide.