Windows 10: Windows 11 Wifi missing from taskbar after resetting network adapter settings

I updated from win10 to win11 last week, and all was OK in general, but I noticed slower internet speeds on various things. Found advice regarding this on MS community, recommending resetting network adapters to factory settings. This I tried and now my taskbar shows no wifi. Network settings shows my IntelR Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz is there and recognised, as it is in device manager. Tried updating to latest driver 22.110.1.1 from Intel website, apparently tested and verified on win 11. tried the usual and always useless troubleshooters. followed a few other suggestions on here and e

:)

 

Network adapter is missing from Taskbar

On the taskbar, there is network icon only not adapter. If it is missing, you can enable it from Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Turn system icons on or Off.

 

I keep losing my WiFi adapter

I tried the Option 2 approach but kept getting the Error NetSetupDeleteObjecton Network Adapter error (0x80070005) error, even after a dozen executions of the command. That seemed like it was going nowhere so I tried Option 1.

After completing the reboot in Option 1, I never got the dialog that asked if I wanted to make the computer discoverable, even after a significant wait.

Do you have any further suggestions? I'm going to move on to "Compumind's" suggestion in the meantime and see if that helps....

- - - Updated - - -

I started working my way down the list.

1. Both the ipv4 and ipv6 resets said "access denied!". However, the mere attempt worked *briefly*, then the WiFi went down again.
2. I disabled and re-enabled the network adapter. Again, it worked *briefly*, then I lost the WiFi again.
3. I tried to disable the antivirus but couldn't find a setting for that so uninstalled it entirely. I got the WiFi back and this time it stayed on for several hours instead of a few minutes so I assumed it was fixed. Then I installed the new Avast One and the WiFi is still working so I'm assuming that all is well finally!

Thank you for this list of suggestions!!!

 

One Or More Network Protocols Are Missing


Dalchina's suggestion to use the Network Troubleshooter is where I would start

You'll restart the machine at least once.
Save any work, close open programs.
Any unsaved work will be lost.

The run command quickly gets you to Network Connections

WinKey+R ncpa.cpl
After each suggested solution, see the issue is resolved.
If one suggestions fixes the issue, you do NOT have to do any of the other suggestions.

1. Run the built-in Troubleshooter
   Right click the network icon on the Taskbar
   Pick Troubleshoot problems
   Select Identify and repair network problems
   Follow instructions in the troubleshooter
   
2. Reset networking
   Launch Command Prompt (Admin)
   Copy the lines in the code box below
   Right click in the Command Prompt window to paste
   
   Code:
   
   Code:

   netsh winsock reset  netsh int ip reset  netsh int ipv4 reset  netsh int ipv6 reset  ipconfig /renew  ipconfig /flushdns

   Restart your machine
   
3. Disable IPv6
   Open Network Connections
   Right click on the affected adapter(s) (Wifi, Ethernet, or each one of them)
   Select Properties
   Scroll down to Internet Protocol version 6 (TCP/IPv6)
   Remove the check mark
   Press OK
   
   Restart your machine
   
4. Restart Your Network Adapters
   Open Network Connections
   Right click the affected adapter(s) (Wifi, Ethernet, or each one of them)
   Pick Disable
   
   Restart your machine
   
   Open Network Connections
   Right click the affected adapter(s) (Wifi, Ethernet, or each one of them)
   Pick Enable
   
5. Uninstall and Reinstall Your Security/Antivirus Software