How to Fix Laptop Wi-Fi Not Working on Windows 10 and 11 — Step by Step (2026 Guide)

Few things are more annoying than a laptop that refuses to connect to Wi-Fi — especially when your phone is connected to the same router without any problem. The good news is that the cause is usually something small: a switched-off radio, a stuck driver, or a forgotten setting, not broken hardware. Work through this guide from the top. Each step takes only a minute or two, and most people are back online before the later, stronger steps. You will need your Wi-Fi password for one step, so keep it nearby.

1. Check the basics: airplane mode, Wi-Fi switch and other devices

First, click the network icon in the bottom-right corner of the taskbar. Make sure Wi-Fi is switched on and Airplane mode is off — airplane mode silently kills Wi-Fi and is easy to tap by accident. Some laptops also have a physical switch on the side or a function key (often Fn + F2 or a key with a small antenna symbol) that turns the wireless radio off; check that too. Then confirm the internet itself is working: if your phone also cannot load anything on the same Wi-Fi, the problem is the connection, not your laptop, so skip to the router restart below.

2. Restart in the right order: router first, then laptop

Restarting clears temporary faults, but the order matters. Switch the router off at the plug, wait a full thirty seconds, and switch it back on. Give it two or three minutes until its lights settle and your phone reconnects. Only then restart the laptop with Start → Power → Restart (use Restart, not Shut down, because Windows fast start-up can preserve the very fault you are trying to clear). This simple sequence fixes a surprising share of Wi-Fi problems, so do not skip it even if you have 'already restarted' the laptop alone.

3. Forget the network and connect again

If Wi-Fi networks appear but yours fails or says it cannot connect, make Windows forget the saved copy of the network and start fresh. Go to Settings → Network & internet → Wi-Fi → Manage known networks, find your home network, and click Forget. Then click the Wi-Fi icon in the taskbar, choose your network, click Connect and type the password carefully — one wrong character is a very common cause. A forgotten or changed router password will fail exactly like this, so double-check the password printed on the router or ask whoever changed it.

4. Run the built-in network troubleshooter

Windows has an automatic repair tool that resets small things you would otherwise hunt for manually. On Windows 11, go to Settings → System → Troubleshoot → Other troubleshooters and run Network and Internet. On Windows 10, go to Settings → Update & Security → Troubleshoot → Additional troubleshooters and run Internet Connections and Network Adapter. Follow what it suggests and let it apply fixes. It does not solve everything, but it takes two minutes and sometimes spots a disabled service or a wrong setting straight away.

5. Update or roll back the Wi-Fi driver

If Wi-Fi stopped working right after a Windows update, the wireless driver is the prime suspect. Right-click the Start button and open Device Manager. Expand Network adapters, right-click your wireless adapter (its name usually contains Wireless, Wi-Fi, 802.11 or the maker, such as Intel, Realtek or Qualcomm), and choose Update driver → Search automatically. If it was working before a recent update and updating does not help, open the adapter's Properties → Driver tab and use Roll Back Driver if the button is available. If the adapter shows a yellow warning triangle, or is missing entirely, download the correct driver from the laptop maker's official website using another device — never from random 'driver booster' tools, which often install junk.

6. Last resort: network reset

If nothing above worked, a network reset returns all network settings to their defaults. On Windows 11: Settings → Network & internet → Advanced network settings → Network reset → Reset now. On Windows 10: Settings → Network & Internet → Status → Network reset. The laptop restarts and usually reconnects to a clean setup. Warning — understand this before you click: a network reset removes every saved Wi-Fi network and password, and also forgets Bluetooth pairings and any VPN or proxy settings, so you will need to enter your Wi-Fi passwords again and re-pair Bluetooth devices. It does not delete your files or apps. If Wi-Fi still fails after a reset on every network you try, the laptop's wireless card itself may be faulty, and a repair shop is the honest next step — a USB Wi-Fi adapter is a cheap temporary workaround in the meantime.

To recap the order that solves most cases: check airplane mode, restart the router and then the laptop, forget and rejoin the network, run the troubleshooter, fix the driver, and only then reset. Nine times out of ten, one of the early steps does it.