Why Does My Sonos Move Keep Turning On? [It’s Not Ghosts]

When it comes to Bluetooth speakers, the Sonos Move is considerably versatile for its price point. The Sonos Move usually has great sound quality and is host to numerous features, including several different powering down modes. This is something that can come in handy, sure, but for first-time buyers, it can be downright confusing.

You might find yourself wondering “Why does my Sonos Move randomly turn on?” You did not do anything to turn it on, and you cannot figure out what is making it do this. But, as it turns out, the Sonos Move is not randomly doing anything.

Table of Contents

• Why Does My Sonos Move Keep Turning On?
• Why does my Sonos Move randomly turn on?
• Is Sonos Move always on?
• Standby and Deep Sleep Modes
• How do I turn off my Sonos Move?
• How do I stop my Sonos Roam from turning on?
• Using the App to Control Preferences
• Closing Thoughts

Why Does My Sonos Move Keep Turning On?

The Sonos Move is equipped with two power-down modes: Standby and Deep Sleep. When in Deep Sleep, the system sometimes wakes itself up in order to run updates. Standby is the default mode, but you can toggle either mode off and on using the Sonos smartphone app.

Let’s say you have the Sonos Move grouped together with two other speakers. Even when those speakers are both muted, the Sonos Move will turn itself on and start playing audio. 

This is a complaint that other Sonos Move owners have experienced shortly after buying and setting up their new Move speakers. I even had it happen to me after buying my first Sonos Move speaker. It was a confusing issue at first, but what I found was that this is entirely too common and could easily be remedied.

Why does my Sonos Move randomly turn on?

The Sonos Move will sometimes turn itself on without you expecting it to. Why is this the case? Well, there are two power-down modes equipped on the Move that can cause this issue to occur. These modes are known as Standby and Deep Sleep.

Deep Sleep resembles a powered-off state, but it will wake the system up when an IP address review or update needs to be run. 

When the Sonos Move is off of its charger, it will attempt to conserve battery life by putting the speaker into Standby mode after half an hour of inactivity.

Generally speaking, Standby is used as the system’s default mode. When the Sonos app is opened – or when the Sonos Move is put onto its charger – the speaker will turn itself on.

Is Sonos Move always on?

The Sonos Move will technically be on at all times unless you power it off yourself. This is done by design. The Sonos Move is designed to be on at all times and only consumes a minor amount of electricity when it is not playing any sort of audio. 

That way, when you want to have audio play from the speaker, you can easily get the speaker to wake up and do its job.

Standby and Deep Sleep Modes

Let’s talk about these two modes a little bit more. Standby mode will not totally power off your speaker. This is simply meant to conserve battery power and disable the touch controls on the speaker’s base while the speaker is not in use. 

Whenever the Move is off of the charger and not playing any audio, it will automatically go into Standby mode after 30 minutes of inactivity.

If you want to manually put the Sonos Move into Standby mode, you will need to press down on and release the power button located on the back of your Sonos Move speaker. The LED indicator lights will turn off, and you will hear a chime. The Sonos Move’s battery can last for up to 120 hours when you put the system into Standby mode.

How do I turn off my Sonos Move?

You can turn the Sonos Move off just by pressing down on the power button on the back of the speaker. Hold it down for about five seconds. You will see the LED indicator lights go off and hear the chime sound to indicate that the system is off.

How do I stop my Sonos Roam from turning on?

Turning the Sonos Roam off is similar to the Sonos Move. You need to locate the power button on the back of the Roam and hold it down for five seconds. 

You will see the LED indicator lights on the front of the Roam go off and hear the chime sound, letting you know the system is off.

Using the App to Control Preferences

You can use the Sonos app to control your preferences. If you do not have the app on your phone yet, you should go ahead and download it since it makes it easy to control the speaker without having to actually press its buttons. 

You will want to have this app for setting up your speaker system anyway. Here’s how to get it on your phone:

1. Download and then open up the Sonos app for iOS or Android.
2. Tap on Set up a new system, then create a new account or sign in to your existing Sonos account.
3. Tap on Add on the popup showing your Sonos product. If you are using the Sonos S1 app, then you need to tap on Continue > Set up products.
4. Make sure that you follow all of the prompts in the app, then you can add all of your voice and music playing services.

Closing Thoughts

Your Sonos Move is designed to always be in Standby mode. It consumes very little power when put into this mode, and you can easily wake it back up when you want to play music. 

Of course, the system will sometimes run updates and do other things that require it to wake itself up. 

When that happens, do not panic – the Sonos Move is indeed waking itself up for a reason and not simply just because it felt like doing so.