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MacBook Won't Connect to Wi-Fi: How to Fix It

Your Mac can't join a Wi-Fi network, or joins and immediately drops. Work through these steps from quickest to most thorough.

Your MacBook won't join your Wi-Fi network: it rejects the password, times out, or the network doesn't appear.

  • “The Wi-Fi network couldn't be joined” or a repeated password prompt.
  • The network doesn't appear in the list.
  • Wi-Fi is greyed out or shows “No hardware installed”.

Quick fix

Turn Wi-Fi off and on from the menu bar, then restart the Mac. If that fails: System Settings › Wi-Fi › ⋯ next to the network › Forget This Network, and join again with the password.

Why it happens

Saved network settings or password are stale.Most likely
Router glitch or overloaded router.Most likely
Incompatible security setting (WPA3-only, old WEP) or band (6 GHz on older Macs).Sometimes
MAC filtering or the router's device limit.Sometimes
macOS network configuration corrupted.Rarely
Wi-Fi hardware fault.Rarely

Fixes

  1. Restart Wi-Fi, the Mac and the router

    1. Toggle Wi-Fi from the menu bar; restart the Mac; restart the router.

  2. Forget the network and rejoin

    1. System Settings › Wi-Fi › ⋯ › Forget This Network. Rejoin and type the password carefully.
    2. Also remove the network's old entries in Keychain Access (search the network name) if the password keeps failing.

  3. Check router compatibility

    1. Use WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode rather than WPA3-only for older Macs.
    2. If the router has separate 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz names, try the other one.

  4. Check MAC filtering

    1. Set Private Wi-Fi Address to Fixed or Off for this network (in its Details), or add the Mac to the router's allow-list.

  5. Run Wireless Diagnostics

    1. Hold Option and click the Wi-Fi icon › Open Wireless Diagnostics, and follow its recommendations.

  6. Reset the network configuration

    1. System Settings › Network › Wi-Fi › ⋯ › Delete Service, then ⋯ › Add Service › Wi-Fi.
    2. As a last resort, create a new network location (⋯ › Locations › Edit Locations).

Still not working?

If Wi-Fi shows “No hardware installed” or the Mac can't see any networks while other devices can, test in Safe Mode and with another user account. If it still fails, the Wi-Fi hardware may need service from Apple.

See it in the app

Once connected, LightAtom's connections view shows your apps reconnecting, and its Map whether traffic flows normally.

Frequently asked questions

Why won't my MacBook connect to Wi-Fi when other devices do?

Usually stale saved settings or a compatibility issue: forget the network and rejoin, check the router's security mode, and turn off MAC filtering or set a fixed Private Wi-Fi Address.

How do I reset Wi-Fi on a Mac?

Forget the network, delete and re-add the Wi-Fi service in System Settings › Network, and restart. A new network location gives a completely fresh configuration.

Can a macOS update break Wi-Fi?

Occasionally. Install the latest point update, which often contains Wi-Fi fixes, and update the router's firmware too.

Related

LightAtom team

The people who build LightAtom, a network monitor for macOS.