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My laptop's WiFi button is not working.
Is there any command in Windows to turn on WiFi ?

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    Sometimes the button is built in by the manufacturer and disconnects power to the WIFI via hardware and works without OS interaction, Other times it is just a windows notification button that relies on OEM software. If you can identify the laptop model it may be possible to tell if there is a software solution.
    – horatio
    Jan 2, 2014 at 21:45

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
25

To do this using netsh:

Get the Interface Name:

netsh interface show interface

Enable the interface:

netsh interface set interface "Interface Name" enabled

To complete the solution to your problem, you could create a shortcut, and make it run on the startup of Windows. For example, if the name of your wireless adapter in netsh is Wi-Fi, the shortcut would look like this (one line):

C:\Windows\System32\runas.exe /savecred /user:administrator "C:\Windows\System32\netsh.exe interface set interface \"Wi-Fi\" enabled"

The runas command ensures that the command is ran as administrator, which is required to bring the interface up or down. The /savecred switch will save the credentials, which might be asked the first time, but usually not after that.

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    I'm getting "This network connection does not exist"
    – CodyBugstein
    Jul 11, 2016 at 22:00
  • Hi @CodyBugstein make sure that you write the Interface Name using the correct case. This is one of the gotchas...hope it helps
    – Ezra A.Mosomi
    Jan 4, 2017 at 5:04
  • The runas command doesn't help because you don't get read admin permissions.
    – dan1st is on strike
    Oct 9, 2019 at 13:16
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Get NIC list and index number:

wmic nic get name, index

Enable NIC with index number: (eg: 7)

wmic path win32_networkadapter where index=7 call enable

Disable NIC with index number: (eg: 7)

wmic path win32_networkadapter where index=7 call disable
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    The above strongly suggests to have come from this link verbatim - please next time cite your sources: answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/…
    – dyslexicanaboko
    Jan 18, 2017 at 17:03
  • In one line of code. For a batch file use %% - WMIC PATH Win32_NetworkAdapter WHERE "Name LIKE '%%Wireless%%'" CALL enable . For typing in the console - WMIC PATH Win32_NetworkAdapter WHERE "Name LIKE '%Wireless%'" CALL enable
    – it3xl
    Mar 24, 2018 at 11:24
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You could use DevCon to disable the device from the commandline. Think of DevCon.exe as a commandline device manager, but that would just turn the adaptor on and off.

You're prolly better off using netsh commands.

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