How To Fix Windows 11 WiFi Not Showing

Before anything else, make sure Airplane Mode is not enabled. When Airplane Mode is on, all wireless radios — WiFi and Bluetooth — are switched off, and the WiFi option disappears from the taskbar network flyout.

1. Click the network/volume/battery cluster in the bottom-right of the taskbar to open the quick settings panel.
2. Look for the Airplane Mode tile. If it’s highlighted or blue, click it to turn it off.
3. Wait 10–15 seconds for the WiFi radio to reinitialize.

On many laptops — particularly HP, Dell, Lenovo, and ASUS models — there is also a physical WiFi toggle on the side of the device, or a function key combination (commonly Fn + F2, Fn + F5, or Fn + F12) that enables or disables wireless networking. Check your laptop’s manual or look for a wireless icon on the function keys.

The wireless adapter may be present but disabled. Device Manager lets you check its status and re-enable it in seconds.

1. Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager.
2. Expand the Network adapters section by clicking the arrow beside it.
3. Look for an entry containing “Wireless”, “Wi-Fi”, “WLAN”, or your adapter brand (Intel, Qualcomm, Realtek, MediaTek).
4. If the adapter has a downward arrow icon, it is disabled. Right-click it and select Enable device.
5. If the adapter has a yellow warning icon, right-click it, choose Disable device, wait a few seconds, then right-click again and choose Enable device. This forces a reinitialization.

After enabling, return to Settings → Network & internet and check whether the WiFi toggle has returned.

WLAN AutoConfig is the core Windows service responsible for detecting wireless hardware and managing WiFi connections. If this service stops — or is set to Manual startup — the entire WiFi interface disappears, even if the adapter is perfectly healthy.

1. Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
2. Scroll down and find WLAN AutoConfig in the list.
3. Check the Status column — it should read “Running”. If it is blank or “Stopped”, proceed.
4. Right-click WLAN AutoConfig and select Properties.
5. Set Startup type to Automatic from the dropdown.
6. Click Start under Service status, then click Apply and OK.

Wait 10–15 seconds, then check Settings → Network & internet to see if the WiFi toggle has returned. For many users — especially after a recent Windows update — this single step restores WiFi immediately.

Windows 11 includes a built-in network troubleshooter that can automatically detect and repair common WiFi issues — including disabled adapters and stopped services.

1. Open Settings (Windows + I).
2. Go to System → Troubleshoot → Other troubleshooters.
3. Find Internet Connections and click Run.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions. Allow Windows to apply any repairs it suggests.

The troubleshooter often catches simple configuration issues in seconds. Even when it doesn’t fully resolve the problem, the diagnostic message it returns gives you a clearer direction for the next step.

1. Open Device Manager (right-click Start → Device Manager).
2. Expand Network adapters.
3. Right-click your wireless adapter and select Update driver.
4. Choose Search automatically for drivers.
5. If Windows finds a newer driver, it will install it. Restart when prompted.

A clean reinstall replaces whatever corrupted driver Windows is currently trying to load — often more effective than an update alone.

1. Open Device Manager, expand Network adapters.
2. Right-click your wireless adapter and choose Uninstall device.
3. Check the box “Attempt to remove the driver software for this device” if it appears.
4. Click Uninstall to confirm.
5. After uninstalling, click Action in the Device Manager toolbar and select Scan for hardware changes. Windows will attempt to reinstall the driver automatically.
6. Restart your PC.

1. Open Device Manager, expand Network adapters.
2. Double-click your wireless adapter to open its Properties.
3. Click the Power Management tab.
4. Uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”.
5. Click OK.

After making this change, the WiFi adapter will stay active through sleep and lid-close cycles instead of being powered down by Windows.

1. Press Windows + S, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.
2. Type each of the following commands and press Enter after each one:

3. Restart your PC after all commands complete.

Alternatively, you can use the built-in Network Reset in Settings: Settings → Network & internet → Advanced network settings → Network reset → Reset now. This removes and reinstalls all network adapters and resets networking components to their default state.

On some laptops and desktops, the WiFi adapter can be disabled at the BIOS/UEFI level — completely invisible to Windows regardless of any software-level fix. This is rare but worth checking if the adapter is entirely absent from Device Manager.

1. Restart your PC and press the BIOS key during startup (commonly F2, F10, Del, or Esc — check your manufacturer’s documentation).
2. Navigate to the Advanced or Wireless settings section.
3. Look for a WLAN, Wireless LAN, or WiFi setting and ensure it is set to Enabled.
4. Save changes and exit BIOS (usually F10).

After re-enabling at the BIOS level, Windows should detect the hardware on next boot and begin loading the driver automatically.