Digital voice assistants are wonderful tools... until they can’t hear you anymore. There’s nothing more awkward than telling your smart speaker "Hey [insert name of AI here], turn on the lights," only to be left standing in darkness. But that’s what’s been happening to a number of Google Home users over the last few months.

Numerous reports on unofficial Facebook and Reddit user groups indicate that there may be a case of deafness spreading across Google’s smart speakers, anecdotally appearing to be afflicting the Mini, Home, and Nest Hub models.

Read This: Google Home tips & tricks



Over the last few months, multiple users have said that one day their device will be working fine but the next it can’t hear anything, even commands delivered right next to it. Shouting loudly sometimes works, according to some users, but other times no amount of voice-raising or repetition can get the AI to wake up. Whenever someone posts about the issue, responses show that other users have experienced it too.

After sifting through the reports, the common denominators for this “bug” appear to be that it will start happening all of a sudden, that the diodes will light up to indicate it has heard something but no response is taken, and that a lot of 'Unknown Voice Command' entries will appear in your voice activity log.

Some user-suggested solutions include listening back to your voice activity in the log to see if there's any static on the recordings - and if so cleaning the microphone, or hard-resetting the device.

There's another trick that worked for one reader who contacted The Ambient about the issue, and for several Reddit users who also tried it:. In the Google Home app, go to Profile > My Activity (or myactivity.google.com on the web), tap the three dots next to a recent voice command and select Details. Tap Activity Controls, scroll down to Voice & Audio Activity and switch the Toggle to Off.

This will pause all voice and audio activity, and appears to be a temporary fix for some, bringing their smart speaker's hearing right back. Let us know if it works for you. You can always go back in and turn it on if it starts causing other issues.

We reached out to Google regarding the issue and they told us they are looking into it. In the meantime, if you encounter this problem report it to Google. You could try saying “Hey Google, file feedback," although if the speaker can't hear you that's probably going to be tough to do. Another option is to submit feedback through the Home app.