Fix Wi-Fi connection issues in Windows – Microsoft Support

Connection problems can be due to a variety of reasons—problems with the website, your device, the Wi-Fi router, modem, or your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Try the following steps to help narrow down the source of the problem.

1. If the “Wi-Fi connected” icon  appears on the right side of the taskbar, visit a different website. If the website opens, there might be a problem with the specific website. If you can’t connect to another website, go to the next step.
2. On another laptop or phone, try to connect to the same network. If you can connect, the source of the problem is likely due to your device—go to the section Network troubleshooting on your device. If you can’t connect to the network on any device, continue to the next step.
3. Check to see if there is a problem with the connection to your Wi-Fi router. Do this by using a ping test.
   1. Select Search  on the taskbar, and type command prompt. The Command Prompt button will appear. To the right of it, select Run as administrator > Yes.
   2. At the command prompt, type ipconfig, and then select Enter. Look for the name of your Wi-Fi network within the results, and then find the IP address listed next to Default gateway for that Wi-Fi network.  Write down that address if you need to. For example:  192.168.1.1
   3. At the prompt, type ping <DefaultGateway> and then select Enter.  For example, type ping 192.168.1.1 and select Enter.  The results should be something like this:

• Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
• Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
• Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
• Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
• Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:  Minimum = 4ms, Maximum = 5ms, Average = 4ms

If you see results like this and are getting a reply, then you have a connection to your Wi-Fi router, so there might be a problem with your modem or ISP. Contact your ISP or check online on another device (if you can) to see if there’s a service outage.

If the results of the ping test indicate that you are not getting a reply from the router, try connecting your PC directly to your modem by using an Ethernet cable (if you can). If you can connect to the internet using an Ethernet cable, it confirms the connection problem is due to the Wi-Fi router. Make sure you’ve installed the latest firmware and see the documentation for your router.

Run network commands

Try running these network commands to manually reset the TCP/IP stack, release and renew the IP address, and flush and reset the DNS client resolver cache:

1. Select Search  on the taskbar, and type command prompt. The Command Prompt button will appear. To the right of it, select Run as administrator > Yes.
2. At the command prompt, run the following commands in the listed order, and then check to see if that fixes your connection problem:
   • Type netsh winsock reset and selectEnter.
   • Type netsh int ip reset and select Enter.
   • Type ipconfig /release and select Enter.
   • Type ipconfig /renew and select Enter.
   • Type ipconfig /flushdns and select Enter.

Uninstall the network adapter driver and restart

If the previous steps didn’t work, try to uninstall the network adapter driver, and then restart your computer. Windows will automatically install the latest driver. Consider this approach if your network connection stopped working properly after a recent update.

Before uninstalling, make sure you have drivers available as a backup. Visit the PC manufacturer’s website and download the latest network adapter driver from there. If your PC can’t connect to the internet, you’ll need to download a driver on a different PC and save it to a USB flash drive so you can install the driver on your PC. You’ll need to know the PC manufacturer and model name or number.

1. Select Search  on the taskbar, type device manager, and then select Device Manager from the list of results.
2. Expand Network adapters, and locate the network adapter for your device.
3. Select the network adapter, press and hold (or right-click), and then select Uninstall device > check the Attempt to remove the driver for this device check box > Uninstall.
4. After uninstalling the driver, select Start  > Power  > Restart .

After your PC restarts, Windows will automatically look for and install the network adapter driver. Check to see if that fixes your connection problem. If Windows doesn’t automatically install a driver, try to install the backup driver you saved before uninstalling.

Check if your network adapter is compatible with the latest Windows Update

If you lost your network connection immediately after upgrading to or updating Windows 11, it’s possible that the current driver for your network adapter was designed for a previous version of Windows. To check, try temporarily uninstalling the recent Windows Update:

1. Select Start  > Settings  >Windows Update  > Update history  > Uninstall updates .
2. Select the most recent update, then select Uninstall.

If uninstalling the most recent update restores your network connection, check to see if an updated driver is available:

1. Select Search  on the taskbar, type device manager, and then select Device Manager from the list of results.
2. Expand Network adapters, and locate the network adapter for your device.
3. Select the network adapter, press and hold (or right-click), then select Update driver > Search automatically for updated driver software, and then follow the instructions.
4. After installing the updated driver, select Start  > Power  > Restart  if you’re asked to restart, and see if that fixes the connection issue.

If Windows can’t find a new driver for your network adapter, visit the PC manufacturer’s website and download the latest network adapter driver from there. You’ll need to know the PC manufacturer and model name or number.

Do one of the following:

• If you couldn’t download and install a newer network adapter driver, hide the update that’s causing you to lose your network connection. To learn how to hide updates, see Hide Windows Updates or driver updates.
• If you could successfully install updated drivers for your network adapter, then reinstall the latest updates. To do this, select Start  > Settings  > Windows Update  > Check for updates.

Use network reset

Using network reset should be the last step you try. Consider using it if the steps above don’t help to get you connected.

This can help solve connection problems you might have after upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11. It can also help to fix the problem where you can connect to the internet, but can’t connect to shared network drives. Network reset removes any network adapters you have installed and the settings for them. After your PC restarts, any network adapters are reinstalled, and the settings for them are set to the defaults.

1. Select Start  > Settings  > Network & internet  > Advanced network settings > Network reset.
   Open Network & Internet Status settings
2. On the Network reset screen, select Reset now > Yes to confirm.

Wait for your PC to restart, and see if that fixes the problem.

Notes: 

• After using network reset, you might need to reinstall and set up other networking software you might be using, such as VPN client software or virtual switches from Hyper‑V (if you’re using that or other network virtualization software).
• Network reset might set each one of your known network connections to a public network profile. In a public network profile, your PC is not discoverable to other PCs and devices on the network, which can help make your PC more secure. However, if your PC is used for file or printer sharing, you’ll need to make your PC discoverable again by setting it to use a private network profile. To do this, select Start  > Settings  > Network & internet  > Wi-Fi  . On the Wi-Fi screen, select Manage known networks > the network connection you want to change. Under Network profile type, select Private.

Check your Wi-Fi settings

Wi-Fi adapter manufacturers might have different advanced settings you can change based on your network environment or connection preferences.

Check the Wireless Mode setting for your network adapter and make sure it matches the capabilities of the network you’re trying to connect to. If it doesn’t match, you won’t be able to connect, and the network might not appear in the list of available networks. The Wireless Mode will often be set to Auto or something similar by default, which enables connection for every kind of network that’s supported.

To find the wireless mode setting

1. In Device Manager, select Network adapters, and then double-click the network adapter name.
2. Select the Advanced tab and look for a Wireless Mode setting. Make sure it’s set to the mode your network is using.

Wi-Fi profile settings

Windows uses the Wi-Fi profile to save the settings that are needed to connect to a Wi-Fi network. These settings include the network security type, key, network name (SSID), and so on. If you can’t connect to a Wi-Fi network that you could connect to before, it’s possible that the network settings might have changed or the profile is corrupted.

To fix this, remove (or “forget”) the network connection, then reconnect to the network. When you forget a network connection, it removes the Wi-Fi network profile from your PC.

To forget a network

1. Select Start  > Settings  > Network & internet .
2. Select Wi-Fi , then select Manage known networks.
3. Select the network you want to forget, then select Forget.

Afterwards, select the Wi-Fi icon on the taskbar and try to reconnect to the network to renew the network connection.

Check your home layout

Your Wi-Fi network might be affected by the network’s frequency band, channel congestion, and/or signal strength.  For more info, see Wi-Fi problems and your home layout.

Check for additional symptoms for the “No internet connection” icon.

There may be additional troubleshooting steps you can try, depending on which symptoms you’re having. To view these steps, check out Wi-Fi connection icons and what they mean.