Can’t figure out why your Windows machine is connecting to the Wi-Fi automatically? All the Wi-Fi hotspots are not the same one. You may not want your Windows device to connect to a metered or open network on its own. This not only poses as a security threat for all the confidential files onboard, connecting to a metered connection may drain out all the bandwidths with just a simple Windows Update in the background. There are multiple ways of doing this. Feel free to choose from the list of the solutions we have provided.
Fix 1 – Stop the automatic connection from Settings
You can put a stop to the automatic connection from the Settings page on your device.
Step 1 – Load up the Settings page.
Step 2 – Next, go to the “Network & internet” on the left-hand tab.
Step 3 – Later, open up the “Wi-Fi” option.
Step 4 – Expand the “Show available networks” panel.
Step 5 – Tap the Wi-Fi network that you don’t want to connect automatically. Next, uncheck the “Connect automatically” option below that.
Step 6 – Repeat the same steps for all the other networks there.
Once you are done, the Wi-Fi won’t auto connect itself to the device.
Fix 2 – Block the connection from the command line
Apart from the graphical unit, you may use the command line to block the connection.
Step 1 – Hit the Windows button and type “cmd” there.
Step 2 – Next, right-click the “Command Prompt” there and click “Run as administrator”.
Step 3 – Use the netsh command to scan for all saved network profiles on your system. Just put this code there and hit Enter.
netsh wlan show profiles
Step 4 – Get the profile name of the Wi-Fi that you don’t want to auto connect.
Step 5 – Later, paste this code there, replace the “profile name” and hit Enter to pass the command to make the connection mode to manual.
netsh wlan set profileparameter name="profile name" connectionmode=manual
[Change the “profile name” with exactly the same name that you have seen under netsh fetch code.
In our case, the ‘profile name’ of the Wi-Fi is “Anonymous“. So, the code will be –
netsh wlan set profileparameter name= Anonymous connectionmode=manual
]
Once you have executed the command, your computer won’t reconnect to the network again. Check if this works out for you!
Fix 3 – Restrict the auto connection from Control Panel
You can do this entire thing from the Control Panel page as well.
Step 1 – Press the Win+R buttons together.
Step 2 – Paste the code there, and, click “OK“.
ncpa.cpl
Step 3 – Double-click the adapter that you are using there.
Step 4 – Once you are there, tap the “Wireless Properties” option.
Step 5 – Uncheck the “Connect automatically when this network is in range” mode.
Step 6 – Tap “OK“.
This will put a stop to the autoconnect feature. This way, it won’t connect automatically. Check if this works.