Fix Wi-Fi Not Detected on Windows:

Wi-Fi Vanished on Windows? Here’s What you could do to fix it.

Not gonna lie—when your Wi-Fi adapter ghosts you out of nowhere, it’s one of those “drop everything and fix this now” moments. I’ve run into this a few times, mostly on laptops running Windows 10 and 11, especially after a major update or waking from sleep. You open Network settings, expecting to see your usual SSID list, and boom—no Wi-Fi option. Just Ethernet and Bluetooth staring back like they own the place.

Why I Dug Into This

I first hit this issue on a ThinkPad X1 Carbon (32GB RAM, Hyper-V enabled) after a cumulative update. The Wi-Fi adapter was fine before the reboot, but post-update? Gone. No errors, no warnings—just missing. I’ve seen similar behavior on a few Surface devices too, so I figured it was time to document what’s worked for me across setups.

Step-by-Step Fix

1. Device Manager: The Usual Suspect

Start with Win + X → Device Manager. Expand Network Adapters and find your Wi-Fi card (mine was Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX201).

Right-click → Properties → Power Management tab.

Now here’s the kicker: Uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.”

This setting sounds harmless, but it’s notorious for messing with Wi-Fi after sleep or hibernation. I used to ignore it—until I realized it was the root cause on three different machines.

2. Restart and Recheck

After disabling that setting, restart. If the adapter reappears and stays visible after sleep, you’re probably good. But if it’s still flaky, keep going.

What Else Helped (When That Didn’t)

• Driver Update: I’ve had better luck downloading drivers directly from the laptop OEM site than using Windows Update. Lenovo’s support portal saved me more than once.
• Network Reset: Settings → Network & Internet → Advanced → Network Reset. It’s a bit of a nuke, but it works when things get weird.
• Command Line Nudge:

netsh interface set interface "Wi-Fi" admin=enabled

Handy when the adapter is present but disabled silently.

• BIOS Check: On one Dell Latitude, the wireless LAN was disabled in BIOS after a firmware update. Took me a while to catch that.

PowerShell Automation (For Admins Managing Multiple Devices)

If you’re managing a fleet—or just tired of repeating the same fix—PowerShell is your friend.

Here’s what I use to disable power saving across adapters:

powershell
$wifiAdapters = Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\wmi -Class MSNdis_DevicePowerManagementSetting
foreach ($adapter in $wifiAdapters) {
$adapter.EnableWakeOnMagicPacket = $false
$adapter.EnablePME = $false
$adapter.Put() | Out-Null
}

And to make sure the adapter is always enabled:

powershell
$adapterName = "Wi-Fi"
$adapter = Get-NetAdapter -Name $adapterName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($adapter -ne $null -and $adapter.Status -ne "Up") {
Enable-NetAdapter -Name $adapterName -Confirm:$false
}

I schedule this via Task Scheduler to run at startup and wake-from-sleep. It’s saved me from a few panicked support calls.

Odd Bugs and Fixes I’ve Seen

• Hidden Devices: In Device Manager → View → Show hidden devices. Sometimes the adapter is just grayed out.
• Registry Tweak: If you’re comfortable with regedit: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class{4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
• Set PnPCapabilities to 24. Forces Windows to keep the adapter alive.
• Fast Startup: I’ve disabled this on most of my machines. Control Panel → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do → Uncheck “Turn on fast startup.” It’s caused more issues than it solves.
• SFC Scan: sfc /scannow—basic, but it’s caught a few corrupted files that were interfering with device detection.

Final Thoughts

This isn’t one of those flashy fixes, but it’s one I’ve had to revisit more times than I’d like. Power management settings seem innocent until they quietly break your connectivity. If you’re running a mix of laptops and desktops, automating the fix is worth the effort.

Ever had a Wi-Fi adapter vanish mid-meeting or during a client call? What worked for you—and what didn’t? Drop your war stories below. I’m always curious how others tackle this one.