Amazon’s Alexa can sometimes misinterpret your questions or commands. If you live in a household with other Amazon users, the voice assistant may also have trouble figuring out which user is speaking. Thankfully, there is a solution.
You can train Alexa to better recognize you by creating a voice profile. After you set up your profile, Alexa can call you by your name and deliver personalized results based on your voice. Alexa can even distinguish your voice from those of other people in the house. Anyone over the age of 13 can create a voice profile. Let’s check out how.
Create a Voice Profile
Open the Alexa app on your mobile device. Tap the More icon in the bottom toolbar and go to Settings > Account Settings > Recognized Voices. Here, you’re going to create a voice profile for yourself.
Alexa automatically associates this profile with whomever is signed into the Alexa app, so make sure the right person is signed in. You can easily do this by going to Settings > Your Profile and then confirming that your name is listed.
If you’ve already created such a profile and want to redo the process, tap Manage Voice Profile under Recognized Voices. At the next screen, tap Delete voice profile so you can create a new one. Otherwise, tap Create a voice profile.
Teach Alexa Your Voice
At the Teach Alexa your voice screen, tap Continue. The next screen displays a phrase for you to say so Alexa can pick up your voice. Speak the phrase and Alexa automatically displays the next phrase. Continue until you’ve spoken all the phrases that Alexa gives you. The app will tell you your voice profile was created. Tap Done to continue.
Enable Voice Recognition
Return to the Recognized Voices screen. To help Alexa recognize your voice, turn on the switch under Automatic Voice Recognition. The app specifies that this option will allow Alexa to learn to better recognize your voice to offer more personalized experiences.
Add More Voice Profiles
If there are other people in your household who wish to set up a voice profile with Alexa, they must do it through the Alexa app on their own mobile device. Have them go through the same steps that you did in order to set up their profile.
If you share a mobile device, log out of the Alexa app by swiping down to the bottom of the Settings screen and tapping Sign Out. Then have the other person sign in at the Amazon Alexa login screen and go through the voice profile steps.
Match Voice Profiles
If there are multiple people in your household who use an Echo device, you can help Alexa better recognize different voices. Return to the Recognized Voices screen and tap Manage Voice Profile. At the Welcome screen, tap Match voice profiles.
Alexa will read aloud a series of spoken phrases. Your job is to match each phrase to the right person’s voice. If you bump into an error saying that there are no profiles to match, you’ll have to wait until Alexa has processed the voice commands of different people in your household and then try again in the future. Otherwise, tap Begin.
Match Voices
At the next screen, tap the link that says Tap to play. Listen to the phrase and then tap the name of the person speaking. To move to the next phrase, tap the Next link in the upper-right corner. Repeat the process to finish matching the voice profiles. Tap Next.
Use Alexa
Now you should be able to ask Alexa to perform certain tasks without needing to clarify who you are. Ask Alexa to play your messages, send a message, call another person, shop at Amazon, play a flash briefing, or play music, and she'll provide a personalized experience based on your voice profile.
Even if you switch to another person's account, Alexa should be able to identify you by voice. If you want to make sure Alexa knows who you are, say "Alexa, who am I?" or "Alexa, whose profile is this?"
For help or feedback on using voice profiles, return to the Recognized Voices screen and tap Manage Voice Profile. At the next screen, tap the Learn more link at the top.