Enabling and then disabling Airplane mode is the first troubleshooting idea that most Windows users think of when something is wrong with the network on the system. Or when you work on a project that needs complete isolation from the connectivity, you make sure to turn on the Airplane mode.
These days we are getting many reports that say several windows users are facing an issue where they are not able to enable or disable the Airplane mode on their system because the Airplane mode option is greyed out and nothing could be done. A few users also reported that the Airplane mode automatically gets enabled on the system and some said, the Airplane mode option is fluctuating itself.
After researching all these problems and finding the factors which might be responsible for this are listed below.
- Outdated network adapters.
- Change in the Power Management settings for the Network adapter.
- Some problematic Services on the system.
- Change in bandwidth set for your wireless adapter.
- Radio management service
If you are also having such issues related to the Airplane mode, we are here to guide you with many fixes explained thoroughly in this article below.
Workaround – Check for the physical key on your keyboard which is dedicated to enabling or disabling the Airplane mode for your system. Sometimes, if the physical key meant for the Airplane mode is damaged, it might cause such an issue.
Fix 1 – Perform Network troubleshooter
If there is any problem related to the network adapter or connectivity which is causing this issue with the Airplane mode, then running the built-in troubleshooter in Windows might resolve this issue.
Here are the steps on how to perform a network troubleshooter on your system.
Step 1: Press the Win+R keys together on your keyboard.
Step 2: This opens the run command box.
Step 3: Next type control.exe /name Microsoft.Troubleshooting and then press Enter key.
Step 4: After the troubleshoot page opens, click the Other troubleshooters option from the page as shown in the below image.
Step 5: Scroll down the page to the Network adapter option from the list and click its Run button as shown below.
Step 6: Please follow any on-screen instructions as it starts the troubleshooter window and detects any faults related to the network and tries to fix them.
Step 7: Once done, you can close the window.
See if this helped you. Otherwise, check the other fixes listed below in this article.
Fix 2 – Check the Radio Management Service
This method is directly linked to the service which might be responsible for causing this issue and that is the radio management service. We recommend checking this service in the services window whether it is started or not. Even if it is running, it is better to restart it once.
Follow the steps below on how to restart the radio management service via the services window.
Step 1: First of all, press the Windows key and type services on your keyboard.
Step 2: Then select the Services app from the search results as shown in the below image.
Step 3: Once the Services window opens, locate the Radio Management Service from the list of services.
Step 4: Double-click on the radio management service to open its properties window.
Step 5: Once it opens, see if the service is running or stopped which is under the General tab.
NOTE – You also need to make sure the Startup type is selected as Automatic from its dropdown list.
Step 6: If it is running, click the Stop button and after the service is stopped, click Start again, followed by Apply and OK.
Step 7: If it is stopped, just click Start which then starts the service and finally click Apply and OK to close the properties window.
Step 8: After it is done, close the services window.
Fix 3 – Update the Network adapter driver
If the network adapter driver is outdated or not updated with the latest version, these types of issues tend to occur on the system. So let us see how we can update the network adapter driver on the system using the steps below.
Step 1: Press the Windows+X keys together and then press the M key on the keyboard.
Step 2: This directly launches the Device Manager window on the system.
Step 3: In the device manager, look for the Network adapters option from the list of devices.
Step 4: Double-click on the Network adapters to expand it.
Step 5: Next, right-click on the wireless network adapter and tap on Update driver from the context menu as shown below.
Step 6: Then select Search automatically for drivers option and it starts searching for the latest version of the network adapter driver online and installs it.
Step 7: After it is done, you can close the device manager.
Step 8: Reboot your system once and check if the issue got resolved.
If not, reinstall the network adapter
Step 1: Just right-click on the wireless network adapter as explained before and then select Uninstall device from its context menu as shown below.
Step 2: This will uninstall the network adapter from the system.
Step 3: For reinstalling the wireless network adapter again, simply restart the system once and the system will detect the missing driver and installs the appropriate one on the system.
Fix 4 – Change the Network adapter’s bandwidth
Some windows users were able to fix this problem by changing the network adapter’s bandwidth. so we recommend our users try changing your wireless network adapter’s bandwidth and see if this works for you also.
Here are the steps on how to change the bandwidth.
Step 1: Open the Device Manager by pressing the Windows key and typing device manager and then pressing the Enter key.
Step 2: Then search for the Network adapters option and expand it by double-clicking on it.
Step 3: Now right-click on the Wireless network adapter and select Properties from the context menu as shown below.
Step 4: In the Properties window, go to the Advanced tab and select the Bandwith option from the list of properties under the Property section.
Step 5: Click the dropdown menu of Value on the right side and select 20MHz Only from the list.
Step 6: After doing these changes, click OK.
Step 7: Close the device manager and restart the system.
Fix 5 – Try re-enabling or re-disabling the Wireless Network connection
Some users find that the Airplane mode is fluctuating on their system and they fixed it by enabling and disabling the wireless network connection since the problem might have been with the connection instead and not with the system. So let us try enabling and then disabling the wireless network connection as explained below.
Step 1: Press the Windows + R keys together and type ncpa.cpl and press Enter key.
Step 2: This opens the Network connections page on the system.
Step 3: Just right-click on the wireless network connection.
Step 4: If the connection is already enabled, then select Disable from its context menu.
Step 5: Then wait for some time and enable it again by right-clicking on the connection and selecting Enable from the menu.
Step 6: You need to enable the connection if it is disabled by right-clicking on it and clicking Enable from the context menu as shown above.
Step 7: Similarly you should wait for some time and then disable it once by selecting Disable from the menu after right-clicking on the connection as shown in the screenshots above.
Step 8: Once done, see if the problem is resolved.
Fix 6 – Change the RadioEnable value in the Registry file
Before proceeding with this method, we recommend our users export the registry file for backup in case something goes wrong while editing.
We are going to show you how to change the radioenable value in the registry file using the Registry Editor as shown in the below steps.
Step 1: Press the Windows key and type registry editor on your keyboard.
Step 2: Select the Registry Editor app from the search results as shown below.
NOTE- You should accept the UAC that is prompted on the screen to continue.
Step 3: Next, clear the address bar and copy-paste the below path in the address bar and press Enter key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\000101
Step 4: Once you reach the 0001 registry key on the left side, make sure it is selected and on the right side, locate the RadioEnable Dword value.
Step 5: If it is missing, you can create it by right-clicking on the 0001 registry key and navigating through New > DWORD (32-bit) Value from the context menu and then renaming it as RadioEnable as shown below.
Step 6: Now double-click on the RadioEnable to open its edit window.
Step 7: Enter 1 in its Value Data textbox and click OK.
Step 8: now close the registry editor and restart the system.