We can all agree that Alexa devices are great additions to our homes with the convenience they bring, as they make it possible to perform a considerable number of tasks, whether it’s setting a timer or listening to music, to name a few, without even having to pick up a device.
On the other hand, just like any piece of technology, Alexa can also make things more complicated than they should be in some cases, with some of its features creating scenarios that can lead users to think the process would’ve been more straightforward without Alexa in the equation.
In today’s article, our topic will be the explicit filter on Alexa, in particular, which is a feature that can be as annoying as it can be helpful depending on the scenario, and how to turn it off, as it can practically make it impossible to listen to your favorite songs while it’s active.
So, how can you turn off the explicit filter on Alexa?
The most straightforward way to turn off your Alexa’s explicit filter is to launch the Alexa app, press the following buttons in order: More -> Settings -> Music & Podcasts -> Explicit Language Filter, and finally, bring the Explicit Filter switch you see on the screen to the off position.
In the following sections, we will dive deeper into the process of turning the explicit filter on Alexa, find out what to do in cases where you cannot get the profanity filter to turn off, learn more about the compatibility between music services and Alexa’s explicit filter, and finally, discuss how the Alexa explicit filter operates.
How to Turn Off Explicit Filter on Alexa?
While there are many cases where the explicit filter of Alexa can come in extremely handy, especially for families with small children, the feature can also quickly become very aggravating when the music you’re trying to enjoy gets blocked constantly.
Below, you can find a step-by-step guide that you can follow to turn off the explicit filter feature on Alexa quickly:
- Launch the Alexa app on your mobile device.
- Press the More button.
- Navigate to the Settings section.
- Navigate to the Music & Podcasts section.
- Navigate to the Explicit Language Filter (Profanity Filter) section.
- Bring the Explicit Filter (Profanity Filter) slider to the off position.
Alternatively, if you have the Voice Deactivation setting active for the explicit filter feature, you can also turn your Alexa’s explicit filter off by issuing a voice command, such as “Alexa, turn off the explicit filter.”, and get back to listening to your favorite songs without issues.
On the other hand, if you don’t have the Voice Deactivation feature on but would like to activate it, you can follow the steps below:
- Launch the Alexa app on your mobile device.
- Press the More button.
- Navigate to the Settings section.
- Navigate to the Music & Podcasts section.
- Navigate to the Explicit Language Filter (Profanity Filter) section.
- Bring the Voice Deactivation slider to the on position.
With the Voice Deactivation feature active, you can quickly toggle your Alexa’s explicit filter with voice commands whenever necessary, which is, without a doubt, a whole lot more convenient than having to pick up your mobile device and go through the menus every single time.
Alexa Profanity Filter Won’t Turn Off – What to Do?
Even though the process of turning Alexa’s profanity (explicit) filter is pretty straightforward, there can be scenarios where the filter does not turn off despite following the deactivation procedure correctly, primarily due to software bugs.
If you’re also experiencing a scenario where the Alexa profanity filter remains active even when it’s disabled, our first recommendation is to power cycle your Echo devices by following the steps below:
- Power all of your Echo devices off.
- Unplug the Echo devices from power.
- Wait for a minute or two with the devices still unplugged.
- Plug the Echo devices back into power.
- Power your Echo devices on.
Once you have power cycled your Echo devices, ensure that the explicit filter feature is indeed off by navigating to the appropriate section in the Alexa application, and turn it off if it isn’t.
On the other hand, in cases where the issue persists after power cycling your Echo devices, our following recommendation would be to look for an explicit filter setting on the music service you’re using and disable it.
For instance, if you’re playing music on your Alexa devices through Spotify, you will find Spotify’s dedicated explicit content switch in the Settings section of the Spotify application, which you will also need to disable alongside the Alexa explicit filter.
Is Alexa Explicit Filter Compatible with All Music Services?
As there are many different music services you can utilize on your Alexa devices, one question that immediately comes to mind is whether the explicit filter is compatible with all such services or only with Amazon Music.
Alexa’s explicit filter feature is currently compatible with Amazon Music, Pandora, and TuneIn, meaning that your Alexa devices will completely block the explicit songs that are played through these services while allowing the non-explicit songs to play without issues when the explicit filter is active.
On the other hand, the explicit filter feature not being compatible with other popular music services, such as Spotify, does not mean that you can listen to explicit songs through these services, as Alexa will refuse to play any songs through services that don’t support explicit filtering as long as the feature is active.
How Does the Alexa Explicit Filter Feature Work?
If you have ever encountered a scenario where a song that you don’t really think is explicit has been blocked by Alexa’s explicit filter feature or vice versa, you may naturally wonder how exactly this feature decides whether a song is explicit or not.
Alexa’s explicit filter feature prevents songs tagged as “explicit” from being played completely, with the information of whether the song is explicit or not originally coming from the copyright owner who publishes the song on the particular music service you’re using.
With this in consideration, it’s worth mentioning that the explicit filter may naturally not always be accurate, with some non-explicit songs tagged as explicit by mistake, or vice versa, which can explain the inconsistencies you come across now and then when you use the explicit filter feature.
Conclusion
While Alexa’s explicit filter can easily create a frustrating experience for those who don’t really need this feature to be active, the process of deactivating it is a rather straightforward one that you can go through within a few minutes at most.
To summarize, you can find the setting that allows you to turn your Alexa’s explicit filter on or off in the Explicit Language Filter section of the Alexa app, which you can access by pressing the More button, opening the Settings menu, and navigating to the Music & Podcasts section.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a more convenient method that will allow you to quickly toggle the status of your Alexa’s explicit filter whenever necessary, our recommendation would be to utilize the Voice Deactivation feature instead, which removes the necessity to use your mobile device.
Mark’s first real encounter with tech was when he had to format his computer with Windows 98 around the age of 6 to quickly get back to playing Heroes of Might and Magic III without having to send the computer in for a repair, which he strangely found to be rather enjoyable since it was a new challenge for him at the time.
While he has always been particularly interested in the software side of things, which eventually led to him becoming a software developer, he enjoys keeping up with the advancements in consumer electronics and smart home technology when he’s not busy coding.