Windows 11 laptop suddenly can’t find any Wi‑Fi networks
Asked by
MellowCedar42
My Windows 11 laptop was connecting normally yesterday, but today the taskbar says that no networks are available. Airplane mode is off. I've already reinstalled and updated the network drivers and tried a network reset, but nothing changed. There's no physical Wi‑Fi switch on the laptop. What else should I check?
Answers
Check whether the WLAN AutoConfig service is running. Press Win+R, enter services.msc, find WLAN AutoConfig, and set it to Automatic before starting or restarting it. If the adapter is present but no networks appear, also try shutting the laptop down completely and powering it back on rather than only restarting Windows.
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Look in the laptop manufacturer’s support page for the exact wireless driver for your model and Windows 11, then install that version instead of relying only on Windows Update. If the Wi‑Fi adapter is missing from Device Manager entirely, it may be disabled in BIOS or could be experiencing a hardware failure. As a temporary workaround, a USB Wi‑Fi adapter or USB-to-Ethernet adapter can confirm whether the rest of the system can connect.
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Start by checking the Wi‑Fi adapter in Device Manager. Make sure it appears under Network adapters and isn’t disabled or showing a warning icon. Also open the adapter settings and confirm that the Wi‑Fi adapter itself is enabled. IPv6 being enabled doesn’t confirm that the wireless adapter is working; IPv4 and IPv6 are just network protocols.
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AmberPine31: It’s also worth checking whether another device can see the home Wi‑Fi. If other devices work but this laptop sees nothing, the problem is probably local to the laptop rather than the router.