Echo smart speakers and displays helpfully alert you to doorstep packages, even revealing what's inside. This feature shines year-round, but during holidays, it can unintentionally spoil gift surprises.
Don't play the Grinch this season—customize your Amazon shopping notifications in the Alexa app to preserve the magic. The app's notifications settings let you fine-tune what Alexa shares about your purchases. Here are key adjustments for the holidays, based on years of testing smart home devices.
How to turn off package notifications on Alexa
Screenshots by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
After this change, you'll still get delivery alerts on Echo speakers and on-screen notices on Echo Shows, but gift-marked items (or those Alexa flags as potential gifts) won't reveal contents.
Perfect for announcing toilet paper arrivals without exposing that new Nintendo Switch. Always select "Send as a gift" in your Amazon cart for best results.
For extra caution, disable all options under "Say or show item titles." You'll hear only that a package is arriving or delivered—no details. (Note: These apply only to Echo announcements; push notifications and emails remain unaffected.)
While in these settings, fix another annoyance: Alexa nagging for reviews on past buys, like that cheese grater from months ago (it interrupted my Audible book at 9:30 p.m. once).
Scroll down and toggle off "Ask for reviews of products you've purchased."
Also disable "Recommendations and Offers" to silence pitches for your usual laundry detergent.
Explore further if your Echo flashes yellow for attention. For Subscribe & Save users, toggle Order Updates to control out-of-stock alerts.
Use this screen to halt personalized recommendations, offers, or Audible updates (like new credits) too.
