How to remove a WiFi network on Windows 10

Windows 10 remembers all WiFi networks that you’ve ever connected to. The WiFi networks panel that opens when you click the WiFi icon in the system tray will only list those networks that are in range so you may not see all the networks you’ve connected to, but they are there...

You can view a complete list of these networks from the Setting app. Any time you’re in range of one of these networks, it will appear in the list of available networks and auto-connect to them. If you’d  like to trim this list down, you can remove a WiFi network easily.

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Forget a WiFi network on Windows 10

There are four different methods you can use to remove a WiFi network on Windows 10. They all perform the same function but some methods are easier than others to use.

1. WiFi networks panel

This will only work if the network you want to connect to is in range.

1. Click the WiFi icon in the system tray.
2. In the networks panel that opens, look for the network you want to remove. You do not need to be
3. Right-click the network you want to remove and select ‘Forget’ from the context menu.
4. The network will be forgotten. It will continue to appear in the panel until you’re out of range.

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2. Forget WiFi network – Settings app

This method allows you to remove a WiFi network that you’ve connected to in the past regardless if it’s in range or not.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to Network & Internet.
3. Select the WiFi tab.
4. Click Manage known networks.
5. Select the network you want to remove and click the ‘Forget’ button.

3. Forget WiFi network – PowerShell

You can remove a WiFi network from PowerShell by following these steps.

1. Open PowerShell with admin rights.
2. Run the following command to view all saved WiFi networks.

netsh wlan show profiles

3. Use the following command to forget a network.

netsh wlan delete profile name="WiFi network name"

4. Forget WiFi network – Command Prompt

The Command Prompt, like PowerShell, can also be used to forget a WiFi network. The commands are the same.

1. Open Command Prompt with admin rights.
2. Run the following command to get a list of all networks saved on your Windows 10 system.

netsh wlan show profiles

3. Run the following command to remove a network.

netsh wlan delete profile name="WiFi network name"

Conclusion

If you want to stop your Windows 10 system from automatically connecting to a known network when it’s in range, you can disable the option to do so. You don’t necessarily need to forget the WiFi network. Forgetting a network will trim the list of known networks down and reduce clutter.