Windows 11 is leaps ahead in terms of design language and under-the-hood developments relative to Windows 10. Though WiFi works tremendously on Windows 11, however, many users reportedly have been facing issues of WiFi connections not showing up in their taskbar.

If you have also been facing the same issues, you will be able to resolve them using this guide. Still,

This issue can present itself due to a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, network adapter issues, corrupt or damaged WiFi drivers, or at times, improper Windows installation. However, since the problem seems to be software-related, it is easily resolvable by yourself from the comfort of your home.

That being said, there can be more than one issue presenting the problem on your PC, you might need to perform multiple fixes in order to completely eradicate the problem from its roots.

But then, all the methods listed here are simple to follow, straightforward, and easy to perform. Thus’ let’s first start with methods requiring the least effort from your side and move towards the methods requiring more intervention.

1. Ensure Airplane Mode is Disabled

Windows 11 has an airplane mode that lets you disable all radio-based services for your device including WiFi, Bluetooth, and Cellular connection with just a single click on the Action Center. Moreover, many modern PCs also have a hotkey to turn on the Airplane mode. Hence, make sure the Airplane mode is turned off in order to connect to the WiFi.

To do so, first, click on the WiFi icon present in the far-right section of the taskbar to reveal the flyout menu. Otherwise, press the Windows+A keys together on your keyboard to open it. Then, from the flyout, click on the ‘Airplane’ icon to disable the Airplane mode on your PC. Once disabled, the WiFi icon in the action center should be enabled and will be clickable.

Alternatively, you can also disable the WiFi from the Settings app on your Windows PC. To disable it this way, first, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ icon present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section to continue. Otherwise, type Settings in the menu to perform a search for it. Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+I keys together to open the app on your computer.

Then, in the Settings window, click on the ‘Network & internet’ tab present on the left sidebar to continue.

After that, from the right section of the window, locate the ‘Airplane Mode’ tile and click on the toggle switch present on the far right edge of the tile to bring it to the ‘Off’ position.

2. Enable the WiFi Adapter from Control Panel

There is a possibility that your WiFi adapter has been turned off and that is the main culprit behind the WiFi connection not showing up on your Windows PC. Fortunately, it is very simple to re-enable it.

To do so, first head to the Start Menu and type Control Panel to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Control Panel’ tile to continue.

Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+R keys on your keyboard to bring up the Run command utility on your screen. Then, enter Control in the textbox present on the window and hit Enter on your keyboard to open the Control Panel window to continue.

Then, from the Control Panel window, click on the drop-down menu present in the top right corner of the window and select the ‘large icons’ category to reveal the grid of options.

After that, locate and click on the ‘Network and Sharing Center’ tile to proceed.

Now, on the next screen, click on the ‘Change adapter settings’ option present in the left sidebar of the window to continue. This will open a separate window on your screen.

After that, on the separately opened window, locate the ‘WiFi’ adapter and right-click on it to reveal the context menu. Then, click on the ‘Enable’ option from the list to continue.

You should now be able to see and select incoming WiFi connections from the Action Center of your PC.

3. Run the Network Adapter Troubleshooter

One of the most elementary fixes is running the Windows troubleshooter, the troubleshooter can identify a majority of issues without any intervention from your side and pinpoint and in some cases resolve the issue for your ease of convenience.

To do so, first, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ tile icon present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section to continue. Otherwise, type Settings in the menu to perform a search for it. Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+I keys together on your keyboard to open the app.

After that, on the Settings window, make sure you have selected the ‘System’ tab situated on the left sidebar to proceed.

Then, from the right section of the window, scroll down to locate and click on the ‘Troubleshoot’ tile to continue.

After that, on the next screen, locate and click on the ‘Other troubleshooter’ tile to proceed.

Now, on the next screen, scroll down to locate the ‘Network Adapter’ tile present under the ‘Other’ section and click on the ‘Run’ button present on the far right edge of the tile to continue. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Then, from the separately opened window, click to select the ‘WiFi’ option from the list and click on the ‘Next’ button to proceed and find issues on your computer.

Windows will now detect the problem and give out details of the issue on the same window.

4. Update the WiFi Driver

Usually, Windows itself manages the driver updates on your PC, however, there can be a scenario where either Windows misses the update entirely or has marked the update as non-critical and left it in the ‘Optional Updates’ section, in both the cases, updating the driver could be all that you need to connect your computer back to the vast Internet again.

Update the WiFi Driver from the Optional Updates

As mentioned earlier, Windows can mark some of the updates as non-critical or requires your intervention to install them on the computer. Such updates end up in the ‘Optional Updates’ section and only require a click of a button to be installed on your PC.

First, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ icon present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section to continue. Otherwise, type ‘Settings’ in the menu to perform a search for it. Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+I keys together on your keyboard to open the app.

After that, from the Settings window, click on the ‘Windows update’ tab present on the left sidebar to proceed.

Next, from the right section of the window, click on the ‘Advanced options’ tile present under the ‘More options’ section to continue.

Then, on the next screen, scroll down to locate and click on the ‘Optional updates’ tile present under the ‘Additional options’ section to proceed.

Now, on the ‘Option updates’ screen, click on the ‘Drivers’ tile to expand the section. After that, locate the ‘WiFi’ item from the list and click on the preceding checkbox to select it. Finally, click on the ‘Download & install’ button present at the bottom right corner of the section to initiate the download.

Update the WiFi Driver from the Device Manager

In case you are not able to find the update for the WiFi driver in the optional updates section, you can always update it from the Device Manager which along with finding and downloading the latest available driver automatically, allows you to also install the driver using a locally stored installer package.

To do so, first, head to the Start Menu and type Device Manager to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Device Manager’ tile to open it.

Alternatively, you can press the Windows+R keys together on your keyboard to bring up the Run Command utility. Then, type devmgmt.msc and hit Enter on your keyboard to open a Device Manager window on your screen.

After that, from the Device Manager window, locate and double-click on the ‘Network Adapters’ option to expand the section. Then, from the expanded section, locate the ‘WiFi’ option in the list and right-click on it to reveal the context menu. Next, from the context menu, locate and click on the ‘Update driver’ option to proceed. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Now, from the separately opened window, click on the ‘Search automatically for a driver’ to let the Windows search for the latest available driver and download and install it on your computer. Otherwise, if you have already downloaded a driver package, click on the ‘Browse my computer for drivers’ option to open a File Explorer window and select the driver package to update.

Once you have successfully updated the driver package manually, restart your PC and your WiFi should work perfectly if an outdated driver was the issue.

5. Make Sure the WLAN Service is Turned On

When your device boots up, several services start along with it. Hence, if the WiFi option suddenly disappeared or is greyed out on your device, it is worth ensuring that the service responsible for WiFi is working properly and is scheduled to turn on along with windows.

To open the list of services, first, head to the Start Menu and type Services to perform a search. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Services’ tile to open it.

Alternatively, you can also open Services using the Run command. To do so, press the Windows+R keys together on your keyboard to bring the Run command utility. Then, type services.msc in the text box present in the window and hit Enter on your keyboard to open it.

Then, on the Services window, scroll down to locate and double-click on the ‘WLAN AutoConfig’ service to open its properties. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Tip: Once on the services window, press the ‘W’ letter on your keyboard to directly jump to the services starting with the alphabet. Then keep pressing repeatedly to move to the next service till you find ‘WLAN AutoConfig’ service.

Now, from the separately opened window, on the ‘General’ tab, navigate to the ‘service status’ option, and make sure it displays ‘Running’. Otherwise, click on the ‘Start’ button present in the bottom section of the window to start the service.

After that, navigate to the ‘Startup type’ option and click on the drop-down menu following it. Then, select the ‘Automatic’ option to start the service automatically when the Windows starts. After that, click on the ‘Apply’ button to save the changes and click on the ‘OK’ button to close the window.

If the service was stopped and you have manually turned it on, restart your PC from the Start Menu to let the service start along with the Windows and resolve the WiFi issue you have been facing on your computer.

6. Tweak Power Management Settings

If you tend to use a laptop computer, Windows offers multiple power plans to efficiently use the available power of your device and turns off some features to reduce the battery drain. Though it is a very useful feature, at times the power plan can also turn off the WiFi service when not used actively. Thus, it is quite possible all this mayhem is created by a simple feature and can save you a ton of time by simply turning off the feature from the Control Panel.

To change the power plan settings, first, head to the Start Menu and type Control Panel to perform a search. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Control Panel’ tile to open it.

Alternatively, you can press the Windows+R keys together on your keyboard to bring up the Run command utility. Then, type Control in the text box present in the window and hit Enter on your keyboard to open the Control Panel window on your computer.

Now, from the Control Panel window, click on the dropdown menu following the ‘View by’ option and select the ‘Large icons’ option to reveal the grid of each sub-setting.

After that, locate and click on the ‘Power Options’ tile to proceed.

Then, on the ‘Power Management’ screen, click on the ‘Change plan settings’ button present in the ‘Choose or customize a power plan’ section.

On the next, screen, click on the ‘Change advanced power settings’ option present right underneath the ‘Put the computer to sleep’ and ‘Turn off display after’ columns to proceed. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Now from the separately opened window on your screen, locate and double-click on the ‘Wireless adapter settings’ to expand the section. Then, click on the ‘Power Saving Mode’ option to expand the section further. After that, click on the dropdown menu following the ‘On battery’ option and select the ‘Maximum performance’ item from the list.

Repeat the same with the dropdown menu following the ‘On plugged’ option. Once done, click on the ‘Apply’ to save the changes and then click on the ‘OK’ button to close the window.

7. Reset Network Settings on your PC

If anything until now has not worked in your favor, you should now consider completely resetting your network settings. Resetting the network drivers will clear out any bugs and issues that have been interfering in the background and preventing the normal use of WiFi on your computer.

To reset the network settings, first, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ icon tile present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section to continue. Otherwise, type Settings in the menu to perform a search for it. Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+I keys together on your keyboard to open the app.

After that, on the Settings window, click on the ‘Network & internet’ tab present on the left sidebar to proceed.

Next, from the right section of the window, scroll down to locate and click on the ‘Advanced network settings’ tile to continue.

Then, from the ‘Advanced network settings’ screen, scroll to locate and click on the ‘Network reset’ tile present under the ‘More settings’ section.

Finally, on the next screen, locate the ‘Network reset’ tile and click on the ‘Reset now’ button to initiate the process. This will reconfigure all the network settings to factory state and will also remove all of the saved networks from your Windows PC.

Once the process is complete, restart your PC from the Start Menu to check if you are able to view the WiFi option on your Windows PC.

8. Reset TCP/IP, Firewall Settings, and More Using the Command Prompt

Resetting all network components like TCP/IP settings, flushing DNS, resetting Firewall settings, renewing the IP configuration lease along resetting the windows socket will definitely help you receive incoming WiFi transmissions on your Windows PC.

To do so, head to the Start Menu and type Terminal to perform a search. Then, from the search results, right-click on the ‘Terminal’ tile and click on the ‘Run as administrator’ option, This will bring up a prompt on your screen.

Now, a UAC (User Account Control) prompt will appear on your screen. If you are not logged in with an admin account, enter credentials for one, otherwise, click on the ‘Yes’ button present on the window to continue.

Next, on the Terminal window, click on the chevron (Download arrow) present on the tab bar and click on the ‘Command Prompt’ option to open a Command Prompt tab. Alternatively, you can also press Ctrl+Shift+2 keys together on your keyboard to open it.

Now, on the Command Prompt tab, type or copy+paste the below-mentioned command and press Enter on your keyboard to execute it.

netsh int ip reset

Similarly, type or copy+paste the below-mentioned command one by one and press Enter on your keyboard after entering each of them to execute them individually.

netsh advfirewall reset
netsh winsock reset
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /release
ip config /renew

Once executed, restart your PC from the Start Menu. After the restart, check if you can connect to the WiFi now.

9. Adjust WiFi Adapter Properties from Device Manager

If you are using a laptop computer, the Windows device manager has a setting that can turn off devices to save power if and when needed. Hence, it is worth ensuring the feature is turned off on your computer since it will only take minutes to do so.

First, head to the Start Menu and type Device Manager to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Device Manager’ tile to proceed.

Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+R keys together to bring up the Run command utility on your screen. Next, type devmgmt.msc in the textbox present on the utility pane and hit Enter on your keyboard to open it.

Now, from the Device Manager screen, locate the ‘Network adapters’ option and double-click on it to expand the section. Then, from the expanded list of items, locate and right-click on the ‘WiFi’ item to reveal the context menu. Finally, click on the ‘Properties’ option from the menu to proceed. This will opens a separate window on your screen.

Then, from the properties window, click on the ‘Power Management’ tab to proceed. After that, locate the ‘Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power’ and click on the preceding checkbox to disable the feature on your PC.

10. Broadcast the SSID of your WiFi Router

If your computer is not catching a particular WiFi connection but is able to display and receive a transmission from every other network, the problem might not be in your computer. The SSID (network name) of your router is not discoverable to new devices and hence, you will need to tweak the setting from the Router control panel.

To change this setting, head to 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 web address using any of your preferred browsers, using a device that is already connected to the network. Please note the website will not load if you are not connected to the same WiFi router that you wish to connect either wirelessly or wired. Then, as the website loads up, you will be asked for a login credential to access it. If you have never logged in to router control, you can log in with the default username and password written on the base part of the router.

Note: There are various router manufacturers and all of them have a different interface for the settings. The method showcased here is for TP-LINK routers.

Then, once the router control panel is loaded, locate and click on the ‘Wireless’ option often located in the left sidebar of the webpage.

Then, from the right section of the webpage, locate the ‘Wireless settings’ section and then navigate to the ‘Hide SSID’ option. After that, click on the checkbox preceding the option to disable the option. Finally, click on the ‘Save’ button to

Your router will now restart. Once restarted, check again if the WiFi connection is now visible on your computer to connect.

11. Reset your PC

In case nothing has worked for you, the only resort left is to reset your computer. However, do note, that resetting the PC doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have to do part with your data. You can also reset your PC without impacting your personal files and folders but at the same time restore the computer settings to factory state.

To factory reset your Windows 11 PC, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ tile to continue. Alternatively, type Settings in the menu to perform a search for it. Otherwise, press the Windows+I keys together on your keyboard to open the app.

Now, make sure you have selected the ‘System’ tab present on the left sidebar of the Settings window.

After that, from the right section of the window scroll down to locate and click on the ‘Recovery’ tile to proceed.

Then, on the ‘Recovery’ settings screen, locate the ‘Reset this PC’ tile and click on the ‘Reset PC’ button present on the far right edge of the tile to proceed. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Now, from the separately opened window, click on the ‘Keep my files’ tile to proceed. In case you wish to remove all your personal files as well when resetting, click on the ‘Remove everything’ option.

On the next screen, you will need to choose a method for reinstalling the operating system on your machine. Since there could be an issue with the copy already present on your system, it is recommended that you click on the ‘Cloud download’ route.

Note: ‘Cloud download’ will require an active internet connection and will consume upwards of 4 GB of data.

After that, Windows will list the settings that you have chosen. In case you wish to change any of it, click on the ‘Change settings’ option to continue.

If you chose to change the settings, on the next screen, can choose to not restore the apps and settings, by clicking on the toggle switch present under the ‘Restore preinstalled apps?’ option to bring it to the ‘No’ position. You can even switch from the Cloud download to local install by clicking on the toggle switch present under the ‘Download Windows?’ option to change the install method. Once adjusted according to your preference, click on the ‘Confirm’ button to proceed.

After that, from the main window, click on the ‘next’ button to continue.

In case your PC was updated recently, you will receive a message on the screen stating that you will not be able to roll back once you reset the PC. To continue, click on the ‘Next’ button.

After that, Windows will list out all the impacts resetting your PC will have on your system. Read them carefully and click on the ‘Reset’ to commence the resetting process.

There you go people, hopefully, using this guide you will be able to resolve the WiFi-not-showing-up issue on your Windows 11 computer.