Control Sonos with Amazon Alexa

This article will explain how to control your Sonos system using Amazon Alexa. See our article on setting up Amazon Alexa on Sonos if you have not set it up already.


Basic commands

Amazon Alexa on Sonos allows you to use basic playback commands like play, pause, skip, and volume up/down. You can find more specific examples of playback commands on the Sonos skill page. Below are some tips for controlling Sonos with Amazon Alexa:

  • When you ask Alexa to play music, it will begin playing from your default music service.
  • You can select a preferred speaker when setting up an Alexa Smart Home Device Group so music plays in a specific room without saying the room name.
  • For stereo pairs of voice-enabled Sonos speakers, both speakers will enable their microphones and respond to commands.


TV commands

Amazon Alexa can control your TV if you have a Sonos product connected to the TV via HDMI-ARC. Here are some commands you can use with your TV:

  • “Alexa, turn on/off the TV.”
  • “Aexa, turn up the volume on the TV.”
  • “Alexa, set mode to TV.”
  • “Alexa, switch to Speech Enhancement mode in the Living Room.”
  • “Alexa, switch to Night mode in the Living Room.”


Not currently supported

  • Playing songs based on lyrics
  • Setting Sonos alarms and sleep timers
  • Thumbs up/down initiated with voice is not reflected in the Sonos app
  • Voice Calling
  • Whisper Mode
  • Drop In
  • Playing songs from your Sonos music library


If you experience issues using Alexa with Sonos, please see our troubleshooting article for additional help.

Still need help?

Our technicians can help over the phone or with a live chat. You can also ask questions and find answers with other Sonos owners in our Sonos Community.