• Guide

How to turn off Amazon Sidewalk

Learn how to opt-out of Amazon Sidewalk or disable the service entirely.

Sam Chandler

June 2, 2021 8:25 PM

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Amazon Sidewalk is a new initiative by Amazon that will share some aspects of your internet connect with other Sidewalk devices beyond your house limits. Understandably, consumers may want to opt out of Amazon Sidewalk or disable the feature altogether. Thankfully, Sidewalk is easy to turn off.

How to turn off Amazon Sidewalk

Turning off Amazon Sidewalk is as simple as accessing your settings via the Alexa app. Disabling or opting out of Amazon Sidewalk will mean you get to experience none of the benefits the system offers. Here’s how to turn it off:

1. Go to the Alexa app
2. Select More
3. Select Settings
4. Select Account Settings
5. Find Amazon Sidewalk
6. Choose the option to turn off Amazon Sidewalk

If you’re a bit uncertain about what all this Amazon Sidewalk malarkey is about, Amazon has a helpful page dedicated to explaining Sidewalk. Essentially, Sidewalk creates a “low-bandwidth” network using Sidewalk Bridge devices that helps your other network devices work better “beyond the front door” as well as assist other devices in the community.

The Bridge devices have a maximum bandwidth of 80Kbps, which is incredibly small by today’s standards. The monthly limit of data that Sidewalk can use is 500MB. For a lot of users that have Sidewalk devices already, this shouldn’t really affect their overall data usage.

There’s plenty of information on the Sidewalk FAQ, including important information about security and how information is shared. For starters, anyone with a Sidewalk device will be able to see they are connected to Sidewalk, but won’t have any way to know which Bridge they are connected to. Similarly, Bridge owners don’t receive information about which devices, that are owned by others, are connected to Sidewalk.

Sidewalk is a rather unique services, which some may actually want to utilize to improve connectivity among their devices. However, it’s also reasonable for some consumers to want to opt-out or turn off Amazon Sidewalk. If this is you, simply follow the above steps to disable the free service. You can always turn it back on should you so choose. For more on the latest tech that’s keeping us all connected, be sure to keep it locked to Shacknews.

Sam Chandler

Guides Editor

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as a Guides Editor. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler