Wi-Fi completely disappeared from computer in Windows 10. How to fix?

Question

Hello,

(Apologies in advance if pictures are too big, I'm not sure how to resize them in this platform)

I turned on my laptop and it couldn't detect any Wi-Fi network anymore.

Here is what it looks like:

• Taskbar connections bar
• No "Wi-Fi" option in Network & Internet settings:

Here are the steps I have taken so far in chronological order:

• Step: I have run different Windows troubleshooters Conclusion: None find anything
• Step: I have tried to enable IPv6 for Wi-Fi in Network and Sharing Centre -> Change Adapter settings: Conclusion: Didn't work, since in the center to see the networks, Wi-Fi doesn't show up as an option Picture:

• Step: I have tried setting the WLAN AutoConfig to Automatic in the CTRL+R -> services.msc window Conclusion: This was already set to automatic and didn't do anything: Picture:

• Step: I have tried using the Network reset option in the settings Conclusion: Didn't seem to change anything
• Step: I had a VPN which I removed. However, this was a university VPN, which appeared in the connections bar, so not a commercial VPN through an app, just a VPN that was set up through the Windows VPN settings. Conclusion: Didn't seem to change anything

I would really appreciate it if someone could provide a solution on how to fix this issue.

Answer 1

Hi Calvo Peiro, Nicolas.

Sorry for the delay, Go back to Device Manager, right click on the network adapters node, select Scan for hardware changes. See if the WiFi adapter reappears in the list. If it still doesn't appear, click on View> Show hidden devices, see if your WiFi adapter is there, possibly uninstall it and then restart the laptop. Do you know the exact model of your WiFi adapter?

Answer 2

I had this problem after trying to update windows. The update kept failing to install & eventually began crashing my pc*. It wouldn’t load past the main windows screen & if it did it would often crash. I did a factory reset & tried all the steps above & nothing worked.

solution: added my home wifi under networks manually. Disabled all drivers & then enabled them. Connected to my phone’s hotspot & checked for updates on drivers & it worked! I installed the new driver & my network finally appeared!

I had no clue as to what I was doing but it could be something so simple. Hopefully this helps someone in the future. Because I for one, was ready to toss my pc.

Answer 3

Solution for me - Start - services - search WLAN Autoconfig - if it is turned off, turn it on and set it to launch automatically

Answer 4

Had this happen when I took my computer for a short weekend trip. After getting to our destination my wifi was no longer registering as being on my system - tried most of the things above and when I tried the one about going into BIOS I noticed a setting for LAN wake on AC power only - SOOO I plugged in my computer to power charger and low and behold my wi-fi came back! Hope this helps someone else as it was several hours of me trying all sorts of things and this simple plugging in the battery charger fixed it!