It is very frustrating when you want to connect with your WiFi network but all of a sudden no WiFi network is showing up on your computer. Many Windows 10 users are reporting this problem. Now, there may be many reasons behind this dilemma but almost in every case, outdated WiFi driver and Corrupted WiFi driver update are the main reasons to blame. Uninstalling and further installing the WiFi driver or Updating the WiFi driver may solve your problem.
Before proceeding to the fixes you can try rebooting your computer, and check if any WiFi networks are showing up on our computer. If rebooting your computer didn’t work out then go for these fixes.
Fix-1 Rollback WiFi driver update
Recent updates to your WiFi driver may be the reason you are not seeing any WiFi network on your computer. Rolling back the last update your WiFi driver received can solve the problem.
Follow these steps to rollback the faulty update of your WiFi driver–
1. Right click on the Windows icon on the left most corner of your screen, and click on “Device Manager“. Device Manager utility will open.
2. In the Device Manager window, find “Network Adapters” from the list, click on it to expand it. Now, from the drop-down double click on the driver which you are using. Properties window will open.
3. In the Properties window, go to the “Driver” tab. Click on “Roll Back Driver“. Click on “OK”. This will rollback older updates of your WiFi driver and it will be replaced with older version of your driver.
4. Close Device Manger window. Restart your computer.
After rebooting your computer check if any WiFi network is visible on your computer. If you are still having the same problem go for the next fix.
Fix-2 Update the WiFi network driver
Your WiFi is not showing up may be because of the old/incompatible network driver may be installed. Updating your WiFi driver may solve the problem. Follow these steps to update your WiFi driver-
1. Press Windows key+ R to open Run. Now, type “devmgmt.msc” and hit Enter. Device Manager utility will open.
2. In the Device Manager window, find “Network Adapters” from the list, click on it to expand it. Now, from the drop-down select the driver which you are using . Right click on it and click on “Update driver”.
3. You will be asked “How do you want search for the drivers?“. Choose the option “Search automatically for updated driver software“.
Wait till Windows searches for compatible driver for your WiFi driver, downloads it and installs it. Close Device Manger window. Then, reboot your computer.
Check if you are able to connect with the WiFi network.
Fix-3 Uninstall and Reinstalling WiFi driver
Uninstalling and reinstalling the WiFi driver can clear any corrupt or bad files of the WiFi driver from your computer. Now, in the first step the uninstallation of the WiFi driver will be done, and in the next step we will install the WiFi driver.
Follow these steps to uninstall your WiFi driver-
1. Press Windows key+ R to open Run. Now, type “devmgmt.msc” and hit Enter. Device Manager utility will open.
2. In the Device Manager utility window, look for the “Network Adapter” option and click on it and it will be expanded to show available drivers. Right click on the WiFi driver you are using, click on “Uninstall device“. This will uninstall the driver.
In the next process we will install the WiFi driver again-
Method 1-
Just reboot your computer and Windows will install the uninstalled driver itself. You will have your WiFi driver working fine again.
Method 2–
If rebooting your computer didn’t install the driver then you have to install the driver yourself. Follow to install the driver manually-
1. In the Device manager window, click on “Action”. Again click on “Scan for hardware changes“.
2. This will find the uninstalled the driver and install the driver again.
Method 3-
If Method 2 did not install the driver then follow this next steps –
1.Click on “View” of the Device Manager. Then click on “Show hidden device“.
2. This will show the hidden drivers. Look out for your WiFi driver. Your WiFi driver will have a yellow triangle with its name (as it has no installed driver). Right Click on the WiFi driver and click on the “Update driver software“.
3.You will be asked “How do you want search for the drivers?“. Choose the option “Search automatically for updated driver software“.
4. Wait till Windows searches for compatible driver for your WiFi driver, downloads it and installs it. Close Device Manger window. Restart your computer to save the changes.
Check if you can access any WiFi network.
Fix-4 Disable any other WiFi Adapter you are not using
You can also try disabling the any other WiFi adapter ( suppose you are using an external adapter on your laptop which generally comes with an inbuilt WiFi driver) which you are not using. You can disable them by following this steps-
1. Right click on the Windows icon on the left most corner of your screen, and click on “Device Manager“. Device Manager utility will open.
2. Click on the “Network Adapter” and it will expand and show available network adapters. Right click on the network adapters you are not using and click on “Disable device“.
3. Close Device Manger window. Restart your computer.
Check if you can find WiFi networks on your computer.
Sambit is a Mechanical Engineer By qualification who loves to write about Windows 10 and solutions to weirdest possible problems.
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