Does your network profile keep changing on its own on your Windows system? Windows has different network profiles for several reasons. The ‘Public’ network profile restricts you from providing any personal information, while the ‘Private’ profile offers a sense of security to the users. You will never want an Airport or train station Wi-Fi network to become ‘Private’ profile, which are more prone to breach of your sensitive credentials.
Fix 1 – Forget all saved networks
You have to forget all the saved networks from your computer and join the network afresh.
Step 1 – Load up the Settings page on your Windows device.
Step 2 – Next, go to the “Network & Internet” tab.
Step 3 – On the right-hand tab, select the “Wi-Fi” section.
Step 4 – Open up the “Manage known networks” option.
Step 5 – Tap “Forget” next to each network to remove the network from your computer.
After forgetting all the networks, you can reconnect to the network by providing password. You can later change the network profile.
Fix 2 – Change the network profile using regedit
You can take care of the network profile of a particular network using the Registry Editor tool on Windows.
Step 1 – To do this, load up the Registry Editor. Just search for “regedit” and open up the “Registry Editor“.
Step 2 – Next, get to this point –
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles
Step 3 – Here, you will get many entries under the ‘Profile’ section. Each network that you have accessed in the past has created an individual entry there in the system registry.
Step 4 – The “Description” is the SSID (visible name) of the Wi-Fi.
Step 5 – So, find the problematic Wi-Fi there from the list.
Step 6 – Once you have identified it, double-tap the “Category” DWORD value of to modify it.
Step 7 – You have to change the value to “0” or “1“.
0 is for Public network profile 1 is for Private network profile
Step 8 – Click “OK” to save the changes.
After saving this modification for the network, there is no way the network type changes automatically.
But, don’t forget to restart the device to witness the effect.
Fix 3 – Uninstall and reinstall network driver
Uninstalling and reinstalling the current network driver may do the job for you.
Step 1 – Start by starting the Win+X buttons together.
Step 2 – Next, tap to load up the “Device Manager“.
Step 3 – Once you get in, expand the “Network adapters“.
Step 4 – Later, right-click the Wi-Fi adapter that you are using. So, right-tap the driver and tap “Uninstall driver“.
Step 5 – Confirm the removal of the driver by confirming the same.
Step 6 – Once you have done that, close everything else and restart.
Windows shall reinstall the uninstalled driver during the system reboot. But, if that doesn’t happen, and you can’t find the Wi-Fi option, do this –
1. Open up the Device Manager once again and select “Network adapters“.
2. Next, tap the “Action” button and tap “Scan for hardware changes” option.
This will retrieve the missing Wi-Fi adapter driver and reinstall the same for you. Once it is reinstalled, you have to reconnect the same Wi-Fi again.
It won’t change network profile again.
Fix 4 – Refrain from using dynamic MAC address gateway
This problem may originate if the gateway server of your network adapter, keeps changing the MAC address. This is known as the dynamic MAC, can incur this problem. The router that you are using usually have the static MAC, but the external gateway server with dynamic MAC is capable of doing this.