A wireless (Wi-Fi) network profile contains the SSID (network name), password key, and security information to connect to a wireless network. During startup, a wireless client searches for radio signals or beacon frames originating from the nearest Instant AP. Ethernet, Wi-Fi Routers, and, lastly, Mobile broadband are the typical order in which Windows Operating System connects to networks.
The Windows OS adds and stores each new Wi-Fi network you connect to in the list of profiles. It may store the profile’s name, password, an encryption technique, SSID, and other information there. This list of profiles may grow in length over time. You might choose to delete or erase the profiles at that point or to protect your privacy.
There are many ways to erase a WiFi network profile. But, this risewindows post will guide you on how to delete wireless network profiles in Windows 11/10.
How to Delete Wireless Network Profiles using System Tray?
On Windows 11:
Step 1. Firstly, click the wireless network icon in the system tray in the bottom-right corner to open the Quick Settings menu.
Step 2. Now, click the “right caret” icon beside the Wi-Fi icon.
Step 3. Then, select a wireless network from the list that appears. Then right-click on that and select
Windows 11 will now erase the saved password for that wireless network. When you try to connect to that network, you need to enter the password.
That’s it.
Note: You can only erase that profile whose password save on your PC. After deleting them, they will still appear in available wireless networks if that is within the range.
In Windows 10/8/7:
Step 1. Firstly, click the wireless network icon in the system tray in the bottom-right corner to see a list of wireless networks.
Step 2. Now, right-click on the network you want to delete and select Forget from the pop-up menu.
Windows 10 will remove the saved password. When you try to connect to that network again, you will need to enter the password.
How to Delete Wireless Network Profile using Command Prompt?
If you love to use Command Prompt to erase a wireless network profile on a Windows PC, then use the following steps:-
Step 1. Firstly, open the Command Prompt with administrative privilege.
Step 2. In the elevated Command Prompt window, copy and paste the following line, and press
netsh wlan show profiles
Step 3. Then, note down the name of the wireless network profile you want to delete. Then type the following line in the Command Prompt window and hit Enter from the keyboard to erase:-
netsh wlan delete profile name="profile name"
Quick Note: Please replace “profile name” with the actual profile name that appeared in the above list. For instance, I want to erase “Gearupwindows” from my PC. Hence, my command should be:-
netsh wlan delete profile name="Gearupwindows"
After executing the above command, you should receive a message, “Profile … is deleted from interface “Wi-Fi.” Using the command prompt, you can delete those not currently broadcasting profiles.
In case you want to erase all the wireless network profiles at once, type the following and hit Enter from the keyboard:-
netsh wlan delete profile name=*
How to Delete Wireless Network Profile using Registry Editor?
When you connect to any Wi-Fi profile, Windows enters the registry. You need to dig into the registry key and then delete it.
Step 1. Firstly, open the Registry Editor.
Step 2. Now, when the Registry Editor window opens, navigate the following path from the left sidebar:-
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles
Step 3. Then, under the Profiles key, you may see several sub-keys. When you find the correct “Profile Name,” right-click on the sub-key and select
Step 4. So, when prompted, click the
That’s it for the article.
I hope this post will be helpful to you.
Good luck & stay healthy, friends.
Also read: How to Show Account Details on Sign-in Screen on Windows 11?
