How to Enable and Use Alexa Skills (Step by Step)
To enable an Alexa Skill, open the More (or menu) area in the Alexa app, go to Skills & Games, search for the skill you want, and tap Enable to Use. Many skills then ask you to sign in to a linked account before they work. Once enabled, you trigger a skill by voice — usually with a phrase like “Alexa, ask [skill name]…” — and you can disable any skill the same way you turned it on. The rest of this guide walks through each step, explains why account linking and invocation names matter, and covers the problems people most often hit.
What an Alexa Skill actually is
A Skill is a voice app that adds new abilities to Alexa, similar to how an app adds features to a phone. Amazon builds the core assistant (timers, weather, music, smart-home control); third parties build skills on top of it for everything from meditation and trivia to controlling a specific brand of lights or checking your bank balance.
There are two broad kinds, and the difference explains a lot of confusion:
- Custom skills have an invocation name and usually need it. You say “Alexa, open Jeopardy” or “Alexa, ask AnyCompany for my balance.”
- Smart Home skills are different — once linked, you don’t say the skill name at all. You just say “Alexa, turn on the kitchen light,” because the skill registers your devices directly with Alexa. If you’re connecting lights, plugs, or a hub, this is the type you’ll be enabling. Our guide to adding a smart plug to Alexa shows that flow in practice.
Before you start
A few things make this go smoothly:
If you haven’t set up your speaker yet, start with setting up an Amazon Echo for the first time — skills assume a working device and account.
How to enable a skill in the Alexa app
This is the most reliable method because you can read what each skill does and what permissions it asks for.
- 1Open the Alexa app and go to More → Skills & Games
- 2Search or browse categories, then open the skill’s detail page
- 3Tap Enable to Use, then sign in / grant permissions if prompted
- 4Confirm it works by speaking the skill’s sample phrase
- Open the Alexa app and tap More (the menu). Look for Skills & Games. Amazon moves things around periodically, so if it’s not where you expect, use the in-app search.
- Search by name or browse categories. Tap a skill to open its detail page, where you’ll see a description, sample phrases (“Try saying…”), the permissions it requests, and user reviews. Read the sample phrases — they tell you the exact invocation name.
- Tap Enable to Use. If the skill needs an account, you’ll be sent to a sign-in screen (this is account linking, explained below). For smart-home skills, you’ll usually be asked to Discover Devices afterward.
- Test it. Say the sample phrase out loud to your Echo, or use the app’s built-in voice button.
How to enable a skill by voice
You can often skip the app entirely. If you say “Alexa, open [skill name]” or ask for something a known skill provides, Alexa may enable it automatically and start it. This is convenient but has a catch: you can’t review permissions first, and Alexa occasionally guesses the wrong skill when names are similar. For anything that touches payments, personal data, or your smart home, enable it in the app where you can see what you’re agreeing to.
Account linking: the step people miss
Many skills are just a voice front-end for a service you already have an account with — a music service, a thermostat brand, a delivery app. Account linking is the one-time step where you sign in to that service so Alexa is allowed to act on your behalf. If a skill “doesn’t do anything” after you enable it, an unfinished or expired link is the usual reason.
Links can break later — if you change your password on the other service, the connection often needs re-authorizing. To fix it, open the skill’s page in the app, tap Settings, and choose Link Account (or disable and re-enable the skill).
Managing, updating, and removing skills
Everything you’ve turned on lives under Skills & Games → Your Skills. From there you can:
- Open a skill’s settings to adjust preferences or re-link an account.
- Disable a skill you no longer use — tap the skill, then Disable Skill. This is good housekeeping; fewer enabled skills means fewer chances of name collisions when you speak.
- Let updates happen automatically. Unlike phone apps, skills run on the developer’s servers, so you don’t manually update them. New features simply appear.
If you build voice shortcuts, skills pair naturally with Alexa Routines — a routine can trigger a skill action as part of a sequence — and with device groups for tidy smart-home control.
Custom skills vs. smart-home skills at a glance
| Custom skill | Smart Home skill | |
|---|---|---|
| How you trigger it | By name: “Alexa, ask [skill]…” | By action: “Alexa, turn on the lamp” |
| Account linking | Sometimes | Almost always |
| After enabling | Ready to use | Run device discovery |
| Typical use | Games, info, services | Lights, plugs, thermostats, hubs |
Common problems and quick fixes
- “I don’t know that one.” The invocation name you said doesn’t match. Check the exact “Try saying…” phrase on the skill’s page.
- Skill enabled but nothing happens. Account isn’t linked, or the link expired. Re-link it in the skill’s settings.
- Smart-home devices won’t appear or respond. Run device discovery, and confirm the device works in its own manufacturer app first. If Alexa control is broadly flaky, see Alexa stopped responding to smart home devices.
- Wrong skill keeps answering. Two skills have similar names. Disable the one you don’t want under Your Skills.
Frequently asked questions
Do Alexa Skills cost money?
Most are free to enable. Some offer paid subscriptions or in-skill purchases (premium content, extra features), which you authorize separately. Enabling a skill never charges you on its own — any cost is disclosed before you buy.
Why does a skill ask me to sign in?
That’s account linking. The skill connects to a service where you already have an account — a music app, a smart-device brand, a retailer — so Alexa can act for you. Without it, the skill has nothing to act on, which is why an unlinked skill appears to do nothing.
How many skills can I enable?
There’s no practical limit you’re likely to reach. That said, enabling dozens you don’t use makes voice matches less predictable, so it’s worth disabling ones you’ve stopped using.
Are skills safe to enable?
Skills are reviewed before they’re published, but it’s still smart to check the permissions a skill requests and skim reviews on its detail page. Be especially deliberate with skills that handle payments, personal data, or your home’s devices, and enable those in the app rather than by voice so you can see what you’re granting.