How to Group Sonos Speakers With Alexa - Online Home Theater Resource

Despite being an AI bot, Alexa is gradually becoming an integral member of many households where smart systems are prioritized. Alexa allows users to issue voice commands to their smart devices and have their requests granted instantly through the AI’s interactive features. If you own a Sonos device, let’s say a speaker, you can remotely control the speaker with your voice by instructing Alexa to play music for you or turn down your music’s volume for you. You can also merge two or more Sonos’ speakers together as a group and let Alexa control all the speakers at the same time with just a single voice command from you.

Grouping the speakers this way allows you and Alexa to identify specific speakers easily when interacting. So how do you group the Sonos speakers with Alexa? You can group Sonos speakers with Alexa by creating a group on the Alexa app and adding selected speakers to the group. After adding the Sonos speakers to the group, you can use an Alexa device like the Echo to control all the speakers in the group.

Before you group the Sonos speakers with Alexa, you will have to set up the Alexa device and also set up a Sonos system for your speakers.

In this article, I will be describing the steps that you will have to go through in order to successfully group your Sonos speakers with Alexa. The process will involve setting up the devices, grouping them, and applying a few fixes in case of voice commands for Alexa refuse to work. So read on for more information if you want to know how to group your Sonos speakers with Alexa.

Setting Up the Devices Before Grouping the Speakers With Alexa

Sonos speakers are compatible with Amazon’s Alexa. If you want to control Sonos speakers with Alexa AI, you will have to do so through Alexa-enabled devices such as the Echo or Echo Dot.

Some Sonos speakers have voice command features that allow you to directly issue voice commands to the Sonos speaker via Alexa. However, such services are only available in the USA at the moment and the majority of Sonos users will have to use the Alexa-enabled device for their commands.

Before you use the Alexa device to control Sonos, you should set it up first. After setting it up with the Alexa app, you should enable the Sonos Skill feature on the Alexa app.

You should also set up the Sonos system, which will include all the speakers that you are likely to include in the Alexa group.

How to Set Up Alexa Device to Control Sonos Speakers

You can set up your Amazon Echo or Echo Dot to control Sonos products by using the following steps:

Turn on your Echo by plugging it into the power supply.
Download and install the Alexa app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store on your smartphone.

Sign in to your Amazon account or sign up for an account if you do not have an account.
Go to More at the bottom of the app and choose Add Device.
Choose Amazon Echo and then Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus, and more.

Go through the simple on-screen instructions in order to set up your Echo device.

How to Set Up Sonos System

If you want to set up your Sonos system of Sonos devices, you can use these steps:

Turn on your Sonos speakers.

Download and install the Sonos app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store on your smartphone.
Launch the Sonos app and go to Set Up New System.
Sign in to your Sonos account or create one if you don’t have any.

The Sonos app will begin to search for nearby Sonos products. Select all the Sonos devices that were found by the app. Since you are looking to group your speakers, you should select all of your speakers and then tap the Add button.
After that hit the Continue button.
Go to Set Up Product and follow the on-screen instructions to successfully set up the Sonos system.

How to Enable the Sonos Skill

It is very important for you to enable the Sonos Skill on the Alexa app. After enabling the skill on the Alexa app, you will be able to control the Sonos devices or speakers with the Alexa device.

To enable the Sonos Skill, follow these steps:

Launch the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet.

Go to Settings and select Services and Voice.
Choose Add a Service and then select Amazon Alexa.
Tap on the Add Amazon Alexa button and then the app will redirect you to the Alexa app.

On the Alexa app, go to More at the bottom of the app.
Choose Skills and Games and then select Your Skills.
Choose Sonos and select Enable Skill.

Once you enable the Sonos Skill on your Alexa app and you set up both the Sonos speakers and the Alexa device, you will be ready to group your Sonos speakers with Alexa.

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How to Group Sonos Speakers With Alexa Device

With all devices set up, you can begin to group the Sonos speakers with Alexa. To do this, you will have to create a group on the Alexa app, name it and add Sonos speakers to that group.

You will then use the Alexa device to control all of the speakers in the group. You can choose which speaker or speakers should play audio or music when you tell Alexa to play music in that particular group.

You should however note that the Alexa device will not play music when the Sonos speakers are playing. The Alexa device will only play music when you do not select any Sonos speaker in the group to play the music.

To group the Sonos speakers with Alexa, follow these steps:

Open the Alexa app on your smartphone and navigate to Devices.

Search for the plus (+) icon and tap on it.
Tap on Add group and choose Create a Room or Device group.
Hit on the Next button and go through the in-app instructions. You will be required to name the group and choose which devices you want to add to the group. Choose the Sonos speakers you want to add and also select the Alexa device you want to include in the group.

After creating the group, if you wish to specify which speakers in the group should play music when you ask Alexa to, you should go to Device and then choose Choose Speakers. From there you can select the speakers that should respond to Alexa when you instruct Alexa.

Alexa also supports some music services so you can add these services in the Alexa app in order for you to control the playback of the music with Alexa when the music is being played on your Sonos system.

To add music services to the Alexa app, follow these steps:

Open the Alexa app and go to Settings.
Navigate to Music and select Link New Service.
A list of music services will be displayed on your screen. Tap on your preferred service or services to add them to Alexa.

Alexa Commands not Working on Sonos Speakers? How to Fix It

If Alexa is unable to execute voice commands for your Sonos system, it could be that the Sonos Skill on your Alexa app may have been deactivated or there is an issue with your Amazon account.

First of all, only one Sonos system can be linked to an Amazon account. This means that if you have two different Sonos systems in different homes, you can not use Alexa on your single Amazon account for those two systems.

You will have to create another Amazon account for the second Sonos system before Alexa will work on its devices.

If the Sonos Skill is the cause of your problem, you should disable it and deregister the Sonos speaker or speakers from your Amazon account. You can register it again and then enable the Sonos skill to see if that works.

To disable the Sonos Skill on your app, use these skills:

Open the Sonos app on your smartphone or tablet.

Go to More at the bottom of the app.
Choose Skills and Games and then select Your Skills.
Choose Sonos and select Disable Skill.

After disabling the Sonos Skill, deregister your Sonos speaker by following these steps:

Go Amazon’s website and sign in to your account with your credentials.
Go to Manage your Content and Device and choose Devices.

Select your Sonos speaker or speakers and click on Deregister.

After the deregistration, you can register your Sonos speakers with a different Amazon account and then re-enable the Sonos Skill using the steps I have described earlier.

Alexa voice commands, hopefully, should work on your Sonos speakers if you go through these steps.

Sometimes, Alex commands may not be working on Sonos devices only because there is a poor internet connection or the mic on your Alexa device faulty.

In such cases, check your internet connection status. If it is bad you should restart your modem or router. You can use the Ethernet cable for uninterrupted internet access if you want to.

Also, check to ensure that there is no voice interference with your voice commands. Voices around you may get Alexa confused when it can not hear your voice properly. So, ensure that your space is serene enough for uninterrupted voice commands.

If your Alexa device, especially the microphone has broken down get it fixed or replaced as soon as possible.

Final Thoughts

Alexa is an Al voice assistant that has been well embraced in so many smart homes across the globe. With it, you can remotely control your supported devices such as the Sonos speakers with only voice commands.

Sometimes, you may wish to combine several of the Sonos speakers together and control them all at once with a single command. In such instances, Alexa is one bot you can rely on to execute the task.

With the Alexa app, you can group your Sonos speakers and use an Alexa device such as the Amazon Echo to control their functionalities.

You can also ask Alexa to play music from your favorite music service to the grouped speakers. After reading this article, you should find it easier to group your Sonos speakers with Alexa.

You can always use the steps that I discussed above as your guide whenever you want to group your Sonos speakers with the Alexa device.

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Josephine

Josephine is a home theater and tech enthusiast who is curious about electronics and how they are interconnected to produce beautiful sound and images. Beside coding, I also write about technology.