Troubleshooting Hidden WiFi Networks: How to Reconnect After Changing Settings

If you have recently changed your WiFi setting to hidden and now find yourself unable to connect to your WiFi network, this article is for you. This guide will walk you through troubleshooting common issues and help you reconnect to your network.

What is a Hidden WiFi Network?

Changing your WiFi settings to hidden means that your router will not advertise your network name/SSID (Service Set Identifier). This means your client devices (mobiles, laptops) need to initiate a request to connect to the network, which we call a probe request. This can be done manually by entering the SSID and password.

Steps to Reconnect to a Hidden WiFi Network

Here are the steps you can follow to reconnect to your hidden WiFi network:

Step 1: Check Previously Saved WiFi Profiles

First, check if your laptop has previously saved the WiFi profile of your network. You can do this by opening a command prompt:

Press Win R, type cmd, and press Enter. Enter the command: netsh wlan show profiles. This will display all the profiles your laptop has previously connected to. Note the one that matches your network's SSID.

Capture the name of this profile in a text document for further steps.

Step 2: Manually Connect to the WiFi Network

Now, manually connect to your hidden WiFi network by following these steps:

Go to the Network and Internet settings in your laptop. Select Wi-Fi and click on Manage known networks. Click on Add a new network. Enter the WiFi SSID (network name) you noted earlier.
Select the security type as WPA2-Personal. Save the network settings.

If everything has been done correctly, your laptop should now be able to connect to your hidden WiFi network. If it still doesn't work, proceed to the next troubleshooting step.

Troubleshooting Common WiFi Connection Issues

Before performing any advanced steps, it is important to troubleshoot for the issue. Identify whether the problem lies at the computer end or the WiFi router: