Network and Internet Reset Network Adapters in Windows 11

  • Thread starter Thread starter Brink
  • Start date Published: Start date Updated Updated:

Network_adapters_banner.png

This tutorial will show you how to reset network adapters in Windows 11.

A network adapter (aka: Network Interface Controller (NIC) ) is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to the Internet or local area network.

A network reset will remove and reinstall all your network adapters, and set other networking components back to their original factory settings.

You might need to reinstall other networking software afterwards, such as VPN client software or virtual switches.

Resetting your network adapters may help fix network connection issues if restarting the network adapter didn't help.

References:

Fix Ethernet connection problems in Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn about different things you can try to fix Ethernet network connection problems in Windows
support.microsoft.com support.microsoft.com

Fix Wi-Fi connection issues in Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn about different things you can try to fix network connection problems in Windows.
support.microsoft.com support.microsoft.com

You must be signed in as an administrator to reset network adapters.




Contents





Option One

Reset All Network Adapters in Settings


1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on Network & internet on the left side, and click/tap on Advanced network settings on the right side. (see screenshot below)


Reset_network_adapters_Settings-1.png

3 Click/tap on Network reset. (see screenshot below)

Reset_network_adapters_Settings-2.png

4 Click/tap on Reset now. (see screenshot below)

Reset_network_adapters_Settings-3.png

5 Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

Reset_network_adapters_Settings-4.png

6 You will now be notified that the PC will automatically restart in 5 minutes. (see screenshot below)

Save and close anything open before the computer restarts.


You can manually restart the computer now if you do not want to wait 5 minutes before it automatically restarts.

If you want to abort this scheduled restart so you can restart when you are able to later, then run the shutdown /a command in an elevated command prompt before the scheduled restart time is up.


Reset_network_adapters_Settings-5.png




Option Two

Reset All Network Adapters using Command


1 Open Windows Terminal (Admin), and select either Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell.

2 Copy and paste the netcfg -d command into Windows Terminal (Admin), and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3 When finished, restart the computer to apply.

Reset_network_adapters_command.png



That's it,
Shawn Brink


Related Tutorials

 
Last edited:
Click to expand...
... failed. Error code: 0x0.
My network adapter won't reset in both way. This error cannot be fixed by a recovery install. So, I need some help.🥺
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
xiaomantou said:
... failed. Error code: 0x0.
My network adapter won't reset in both way. This error cannot be fixed by a recovery install. So, I need some help.🥺
Click to expand...
Hello, and welcome. :alien:

Double check to make sure you have the latest network adapter drivers installed for your device. If you do, reinstall it to see if it may allow you to reset the adapter afterwards.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Brink said:
Hello, and welcome. :alien:

Double check to make sure you have the latest network adapter drivers installed for your device. If you do, reinstall it to see if it may allow you to reset the adapter afterwards.
Click to expand...
Still won't allow me to reset network adapter, I guess a clean installation is required to repair the damage. Sooner or later.:(
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
xiaomantou said:
Still won't allow me to reset network adapter, I guess a clean installation is required to repair the damage. Sooner or later.:(
Click to expand...
Just FYI - this feature is completely broken on Windows 11. I had a similar issue so decided to do a complete reinstall of Windows using Intel Driver & Support Assistant for network drivers just to receive the same error. No need to clean install!
 

My Computer

System One

Is there a difference between Reset Network Adapter and Restart Network Adapter? When my Wifi connection troubles me, the troubleshooter shows Restart Network Adapter as first choice, and clicking on it fixes the connection without rebooting the computer...
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 25H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Tower Plus EBT2250
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 265
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 6GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Dell U2419H
    Hard Drives
    NVMe Phison 521GB SSD
    Seagate 2TB HDD
    (Dell installed them RAID enabled using Intel VMD)
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-1334U
    Motherboard
    HP 8DD7 - Intel Alder Lake-P PCH
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Raptor Lake-U - Integrated Graphics
    Hard Drives
    512 GB
mta3006 said:
Is there a difference between Reset Network Adapter and Restart Network Adapter? When my Wifi connection troubles me, the troubleshooter shows Restart Network Adapter as first choice, and clicking on it fixes the connection without rebooting the computer...
Click to expand...

Hello mate, :alien:

There is indeed a difference.

Restart will basically just toggle them off and on.

Reset will remove and reinstall all your network adapters, and set other networking components back to their original factory settings. A reset is good to try when a restart doesn't help.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Many thanks, @Brink! Is there a command to restart the WiFi network adapter? Is the network adapter stopped and restarted when one turns off WiFi from the systray icon, then turns it back on?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 25H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Tower Plus EBT2250
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 265
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 6GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Dell U2419H
    Hard Drives
    NVMe Phison 521GB SSD
    Seagate 2TB HDD
    (Dell installed them RAID enabled using Intel VMD)
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-1334U
    Motherboard
    HP 8DD7 - Intel Alder Lake-P PCH
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Raptor Lake-U - Integrated Graphics
    Hard Drives
    512 GB
mta3006 said:
Many thanks, @Brink! Is there a command to restart the WiFi network adapter? Is the network adapter stopped and restarted when one turns off WiFi from the systray icon, then turns it back on?
Click to expand...

Hmm, I'll have to create a tutorial for that one. Should be useful.

Turning it off and on will restart the adapter.

In addition, here's a PowerShell command to restart:

Restart-NetAdapter -Name "Ethernet 2"

Substitute Ethernet 2 in the command above with the name of your network adapter you want to restart instead.

learn.microsoft.com

Restart-NetAdapter (NetAdapter)

Use this topic to help manage Windows and Windows Server technologies with Windows PowerShell.
learn.microsoft.com

www.elevenforum.com

Restart Network Adapter in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to restart a network adapter in Windows 11. A network adapter (aka: Network Interface Controller (NIC) ) is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to the Internet or local area network. When you restart a network adapter, it will disable and then...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com
 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
:-)(y)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 25H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Tower Plus EBT2250
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 265
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 6GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Dell U2419H
    Hard Drives
    NVMe Phison 521GB SSD
    Seagate 2TB HDD
    (Dell installed them RAID enabled using Intel VMD)
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-1334U
    Motherboard
    HP 8DD7 - Intel Alder Lake-P PCH
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Raptor Lake-U - Integrated Graphics
    Hard Drives
    512 GB
Brink,

In the hope of helping things along with the tutorial you mentioned writing, this is the batch script that I use to disable then re-enable my WiFi adapter. It needs to be run as Admin; no reboot is required afterwards. It works in Windows 10 & 11.
I wrote this a few years ago when I had dodgy WiFi adapters on a couple of computers and the script worked i.e. the WiFi adapters started working correctly again afterwards.

The script finds the name of the WiFi adapter and uses that in the final two active lines, the netsh interface lines.
[The setting of variables & the For cmd merely reflect my template script for finding text within cmd responses. I copy & paste those early lines in every batch script using such a function.]
I run all such scripts minimised so I never bother with any echo off cmds which helps if I find any need to debug a script [without having to alter it then re-run it].

DisableEnableWiFiCard.bat

:: The WiFi must be turned on for this script to have any effect
:: A single WiFi adapter is assumed

prompt $g
Set /a Found=0
set FindString=Name
Set UseExpresssion=netsh wlan show interfaces

for /F "tokens=*" %%X IN ('%UseExpresssion% ^| find /i "%FindString%"') do Call :Interfaces "%%X"
GoTo EndGetWiFi

:Interfaces
Set ThisLine=%~1
Set AdapterName=%ThisLine:*: =%
GoTo :EOF

:EndGetWiFi

:: Do the disabling-enabling
netsh interface set interface "%AdapterName%" disabled
netsh interface set interface "%AdapterName%" enabled
::Pause to check outcome during testing


All the best,
Denis
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 25H2 Build 26200.8037
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