Play back, delete and auto-delete your smart speaker recordings

Listen to what Alexa, Google Nest or HomePod stored about you, delete it, and set it to auto-delete from now on.

This guide shows you how to listen to what your Amazon Echo, Google Nest or Apple HomePod has stored about you, including accidental wake-ups. You then delete it and set it to clean itself up from now on.

Why bother

A smart speaker listens on the device for its wake word. When it thinks it hears it, it sends what follows to the company's servers, sometimes after a word that only sounded like "Alexa" or "Hey Google". Unless you change it, Amazon saves Alexa recordings until you delete them. Google and Apple keep text records of your requests even when they don't keep audio. Over years this becomes a log of your home: when you are in, what you ask about, and fragments of conversations nobody meant to record.

Before you start

Time: about 20 to 30 minutes for each assistant you use.
You need: the phone app for your speaker (Amazon Alexa, Google Home, or Apple Home) signed in to the speaker's account, or a browser signed in to it.
Checked on 15 October 2026 against Amazon's, Google's and Apple's own help pages. Amazon's labels vary by Alexa app version and between classic Alexa and Alexa+. Where they differ, both are given.

Steps

1 Listen to your Alexa recordings

Open the Amazon Alexa app on iPhone or Android and tap More at the bottom.
Tap Alexa Privacy. In some app versions you first tap Settings > Alexa Privacy.
Tap Review Voice History. Some versions call it Review Alexa History or Voice History.
Change the date filter to All History and look at the full list. You can also filter by device or by profile.
Tap an entry and tap the play icon to hear the recording. Entries with no transcript, or marked as not meant for Alexa, are usually accidental wake-ups.

You should see a list of requests with dates, the device name and a transcript. On a computer, use amazon.com/alexaprivacy. On an Echo Show without the app, go to Settings > Privacy & Permissions > Alexa Privacy > Verify Account.

2 Delete your Alexa history

In the same voice history screen, keep the filter on All History.
Tap Delete all of my recordings (or Delete all History, depending on the version), then confirm.
To delete only some entries, choose a narrower date range or a single entry and delete that instead.

You should see the list empty out. If the "all history" option is missing, use amazon.com/alexaprivacy.