September 3, 2025, 6:48 am | Read time: 6 minutes
Voice assistants can be quite useful in everyday life and for controlling smart devices. They provide answers to many questions upon request. But what should you even ask them, and what commands are available? TECHBOOK has compiled a list of important commands for Amazon Alexa.
There are now many smart speakers—whether with Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, or Amazon’s Alexa. There are numerous generations and various models of the Amazon Echo in particular. The speakers come as a compact Echo Dot, a bass-strong Echo Studio, with a screen, or as a Kids Edition. Amazon even offers a version for the car. Alexa can answer knowledge questions, set timers, and even place online orders upon request. However, all voice assistants share a common problem: you’re never quite sure what you can ask—after all, there’s no menu that displays the commands. That’s why TECHBOOK has compiled the most useful commands and questions for Amazon Alexa that you should definitely try out.
General Commands
The commands listed here are quite general, and many will be familiar with them. They essentially form the foundation for requests to Amazon Alexa, which is why we’ve listed them for better clarity:
- Alexa, good morning!
- Alexa, stop!
- Alexa, what’s the weather?
- Alexa, louder.
- Alexa, quieter.
- Alexa, next.
- Alexa, set an alarm for [time].
Also interesting: How to properly set up the Amazon Echo
Knowledge Questions
Basically, you can ask Alexa anything. It quickly becomes clear which questions the voice assistant can answer. Specifically, anything that has a certain relevance. This ranges from spelling a word to the release date of the first Harry Potter book to explaining mathematical formulas. Alexa can also translate words into different languages upon request.
In general: Asking questions costs nothing. Just try it out! Alternatively, there’s a Wiki Skill that reads Wikipedia entries aloud after activation. We’ve gathered some examples of knowledge questions:
- Alexa, translate [XYZ] into Italian.
- Alexa, who is [name of a famous person]?
- Alexa, how tall is [building, mountain, …]?
- Alexa, how far is it from [City 1] to [City 2]?
- Alexa, what is [object]?
- Alexa, how old is [person]?
- Alexa, spell [word].
- Alexa, what is the capital of [country]?
- Alexa, when does the sun rise?
- Alexa, what is the square root of [number]?
- Alexa, what will the weather be like on [day]?
Also interesting: What the ring colors on Amazon Alexa mean
In the Kitchen
Alexa can also be very practical in the kitchen, for example, when you have groceries and household products delivered to your home via Amazon. If your hands are full, you can add items to your shopping list or order something directly through Alexa. Alexa can also replace the classic egg timer and even run multiple timers simultaneously. With various skills, Alexa can assist with cooking by reading recipes aloud, converting quantities, or repeating steps upon request.
Here are a few examples:
- Alexa, set a timer for [number] minutes.
- Alexa, add [product] to my shopping list.
- Alexa, order [product].
- Alexa, add [XYZ] to my to-do list.
- Alexa, how long is [name of a store] open in [location] today?
- Alexa, show me [recipe]. (requires an Amazon Echo Show)
Also interesting: How to disable the ordering function on Amazon Echo
Music and Film
With Amazon’s voice assistant, you can also play music and control it by voice. This works not only with Amazon Prime Music and Music Unlimited but also with Spotify, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, and the radio streaming service TuneIn. If you have a premium Spotify account, you can connect it via the Alexa app and access the entire music library and playlists. Alexa can also help with finding a suitable movie and showtimes at the cinema.
- Alexa, play music by [artist].
- Alexa, play the album [album] by [artist].
- Alexa, what am I listening to?
- Alexa, stop the music in [number] minutes.
- Alexa, next song.
- Alexa, play workout music!
- Alexa, play [music genre] music.
- Alexa, play [music genre] from the [decade].
- Alexa, when is [movie title] playing in [city]?
- Alexa, what movies are playing in [city] theaters?
- Alexa, what is the IMDb rating for [movie]?
Amazon Music’s own streaming service also allows song recognition based on lyrics.
- Alexa, play music with the lyrics [example: Breathless through the night].
Also interesting: Comparison of 7 major music streaming services
Sports Scores and News
Alexa can also provide your daily dose of news and sports upon request. Even the Bundesliga is included. Alexa delivers current scores and, for Amazon Prime customers, even live or conference coverage of the Bundesliga.
- Alexa, what’s the score of [team]?
- Alexa, what’s the score in the [team] game?
- Alexa, when is the next game for [team]?
- Alexa, what place is [team] in the standings?
- With Prime subscription: Alexa, play [team 1] against [team 2].
If you prefer to hear the latest news instead of sports scores, you can ask Alexa for a daily news summary. You can choose the sources Alexa uses by subscribing to the appropriate mini-apps—Amazon calls them “Skills”—from news media in the Alexa app on your smartphone.
- Alexa, what’s my daily summary?
Smart Home
If you’ve equipped your home with smart lamps or thermostats, you can often control them directly with Alexa. The popular Philips Hue lamps, for example, are compatible with Alexa.
- Alexa, turn the lights in the [room] on/off.
- Alexa, set the lights in [room] to [number] percent brightness.
- Alexa, set the temperature in the [room] to [number] degrees.
Communication
With Echo devices, you can also send messages or make calls. However, for most of the following commands, the Alexa app must be installed on your smartphone and have access to various apps.
- Alexa, send [contact name] a voice message.
- Alexa, start a Drop-In.
- Alexa, call [contact name].
- Alexa, turn the camera/microphone on/off.
- Alexa, call [name].
Traffic
Upon request, Alexa provides current traffic information. This way, you can decide in the morning whether to drive, take the train, or ride a bike.
- Alexa, how’s the traffic?
- Alexa, how’s my commute to work?
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Shopping
With Alexa, you can order products from Amazon. Since the assistant is linked to your Amazon account, there’s no need to provide an address or payment method.
- Alexa, order [product name].
- Alexa, reorder [product name].
- Alexa, add [product name] to my cart.
- Alexa, track my order.
Silliness
In addition to a range of practical commands, Alexa also knows more or less funny jokes to pass the time.
- Alexa, are there UFOs?
- Alexa, self-destruct.
- Alexa, high five!
- Alexa, what’s the magic word?
- Alexa, I am your father.
- Alexa, make me a sandwich.
- Alexa, can you beatbox?
- Alexa, test 1, 2, 3.
- Alexa, what do you think of Siri?
- Alexa, Palim Palim!
Or you can simply ask Alexa to tell you a joke. However, the humor of the voice assistant is not to everyone’s taste…