Solved Wifi Symbol Gone

After the last update (KB5086672), that I installed yesterday, I no longer see the WiFi symbol in the taskbar (bottom right). I searched around but didn't find anything on this. It's really not a big deal because, the symbol that is there, shows me that I am connected to the internet. And, everything seems to be working correctly. I'm just wondering what happened to the old symbol. If there was something previously posted on this issue, could someone point me to it.

K7MEM said:

After the last update (KB5086672), that I installed yesterday, I no longer see the WiFi symbol in the taskbar (bottom right). I searched around but didn't find anything on this. It's really not a big deal because, the symbol that is there, shows me that I am connected to the internet. And, everything seems to be working correctly. I'm just wondering what happened to the old symbol. If there was something previously posted on this issue, could someone point me to it.

View attachment 167561

Click to expand...

So your showing an Ethernet cable plugged in with no cable? That's interesting. I use Ethernet on one machine but when I also enable Wi-Fi for file sharing the cable will still show with both Ethernet and Wi-Fi listed under the symbol.

Might not have anything to do with your setup, but I see that same symbol when my PC is connected to my iphone's hotspot if I have my iphone connected via usb rather than BT.

Seems to me that since the Ethernet symbol is there and you are running on Ethernet then the WiFi symbol wouldn't be showing. My ASUS desktop has both WiFi and Ethernet but I always run it on Ethernet and only that symbol shows. My laptop shows the WiFi symbol when that function is employed (like always) but if I plug in an Ethernet cable it changes to the Ethernet symbol.

Since your My Computers identify 2 computers, one a laptop and one a desktop, which machine are you posting about?

starchase said:

Seems to me that since the Ethernet symbol is there and you are running on Ethernet then the WiFi symbol wouldn't be showing.

Click to expand...

I was assuming he was on Wi-Fi only and showing the Ethernet symbol. If he's on Ethernet as well then that indeed is normal.

FrancoDT said:

I was assuming he was on Wi-Fi only and showing the Ethernet symbol. If he's on Ethernet as well then that indeed is normal.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the OP could have been much more explicit concerning the details of the issue.

I understood what he was talking about.

User is typically on WiFi and he sees this



Since yesterday, he's still typically on WiFi but now he only sees the ethernet symbol while he's still in WiFi like you see in post #1.

No more alluvial fan. Correct?

starchase said:

Seems to me that since the Ethernet symbol is there and you are running on Ethernet then the WiFi symbol wouldn't be showing. My ASUS desktop has both WiFi and Ethernet but I always run it on Ethernet and only that symbol shows. My laptop shows the WiFi symbol when that function is employed (like always) but if I plug in an Ethernet cable it changes to the Ethernet symbol.

Since your My Computers identify 2 computers, one a laptop and one a desktop, which machine are you posting about?

Click to expand...

Seems to me, that my Laptop does not have a Ethernet connection and only connects with WiFi. Seems to me, the WiFi symbol should be showing. The WiFi symbol was there up until the update yesterday. I have been running Windows 11 on this laptop since December 2021 and have never seen the current Ethernet symbol.

Since I am posting in the Elevenforum, I am posting about the Windows 11 laptop in My Computers. The other machine is a Windows 10 desktop, doesn't have WiFi, only uses Ethernet, and hasn't had an update since March 11, 2026. The Windows 10 desktop does have the Ethernet symbol.

FrancoDT said:

So your showing an Ethernet cable plugged in with no cable? That's interesting. I use Ethernet on one machine but when I also enable Wi-Fi for file sharing the cable will still show with both Ethernet and Wi-Fi listed under the symbol.

Click to expand...

I do not use WiFi file sharing. So, yes, I am showing the Ethernet cable plugged in, with no cable. My Windows 10 Desktop does use ethernet, but I don't use file sharing. Under the symbol, on my Windows 11 laptop, I only see WiFi, BT, and Airplane mode.

glasskuter said:

Might not have anything to do with your setup, but I see that same symbol when my PC is connected to my iphone's hotspot if I have my iphone connected via usb rather than BT.

Click to expand...

I have no idea whether it has anything to do with my setup. That is why I am asking. I do not have a iphone. I only have a old Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (2018). Occasionally I connect via USB, to offload pictures, but have never used a hotspot or BT with the phone.

In the end, everything is working fine. I am just curious why the symbol had changed. I just thought that someone would have seen the same thing. Maybe it will go back to the old symbol on the next update.

K7MEM said:

In the end, everything is working fine. I am just curious why the symbol had changed. I just thought that someone would have seen the same thing. Maybe it will go back to the old symbol on the next update.

Click to expand...

Just curious, so what I mentioned in my post up above is incorrect?

cheaterslick said:

Just curious, so what I mentioned in my post up above is incorrect?

Click to expand...

No, you were absolutely correct. Although the time stamps show that you posted before me, I was not aware of your post until after I posted. Thanks for your support.

Since then I also did a Google search on the subject. Initially they suggest that it indicates a misconfigured driver, a stuck virtual adapter from a VPN, or a system glitch. Even Reddit goes on and on about VPN. I checked my configuration and I don't use any VPN. So it must be a system glitch. I may try the Network Troubleshooting and restarting network services tomorrow.

Have you tried disabling then enable the wifi adapter in legacy control panel?

Type this in the run box or admin command prompt: ncpa.cpl

Right-click on your wifi adapter and select disable then wait a minute or so.

Go back and enable again.

I assume you've been through these ...

My normal WiFi icon changes to an Ethernet icon if I turn on Cloudflare WARP.

KevTech said:

Have you tried disabling then enable the wifi adapter in legacy control panel?

Type this in the run box or admin command prompt: ncpa.cpl

Right-click on your wifi adapter and select disable then wait a minute or so.

Go back and enable again.

Click to expand...

That was one of the first things that I tried. If I turn off the WiFi, I see the globe symbol, which indicates no internet. When I turn WiFi back on, I only get the Ethernet symbol. Hovering over the symbol shows that I am connected to MySpectrumWiFi and I have internet access.

idgat said:

I assume you've been through these ...

ethernet symbol not wifi at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

Click to expand...

I found those suggestions some where else, but they did nothing.

BruceR said:

My normal WiFi icon changes to an Ethernet icon if I turn on Cloudflare WARP.

Click to expand...

I am not starting or stopping anything and I don't use Cloudflare WARP. I don't see the WiFi icon at any time, since the last update. Even though, my laptop does not have a ethernet connector. If I hover over the ethernet icon, I see the following:



Well, I want to thank everyone for their response, but nothing so far has changed anything. Overall, everything else still works normally. I just have an odd symbol. For now, I will just live with it. It doesn't change anything with my computer usage. If I ever actually get the issue resolved, I will hunt down this thread and let you know.

Now, I just have to figure out how to mark this thread as complete.

Well, my WiFi symbol is back. Exactly why, I am not sure.

I started to have problems viewing "Reels", while visiting Facebook. The Reels screen was blank. I tried a few times and then decided to update my browser (chrome) and reboot. During the reboot, the screen indicated that it was updating something. When the system finally came back, the WiFi symbol had returned, but I checked the update history and couldn't find anything that was actually updated.

While my WiFi symbol is back, I still can't view Reels on Facebook. Oh well, their loss, not mine.

Well, surprise, surprise. The WiFi symbol is gone again and the Ethernet symbol is back. This is after the latest reboot and installation of the latest Security Update (KB5083769) and .NET Framework Security Update (KB5082417). I guess, as long as I am actually connected via WiFi, it really doesn't matter what the symbol is.

I'm just surprised that no one else has seen this phenomena.

K7MEM said:

Well, surprise, surprise. The WiFi symbol is gone again and the Ethernet symbol is back. This is after the latest reboot and installation of the latest Security Update (KB5083769) and .NET Framework Security Update (KB5082417). I guess, as long as I am actually connected via WiFi, it really doesn't matter what the symbol is.

I'm just surprised that no one else has seen this phenomena.

Click to expand...

You aren't, unfortunately. I have this problem with my PC, and then my laptop also had this problem. I was able to connect my laptop with ethernet and run troubleshoot and it fixed it, but my PC doesn't even recognize the ethernet cable.

I've tried reinstalling drivers and every other fix I could find, but nothing has worked. It doesn't show any networks and can't even hotspot it to my phone. I thought my network adapter might be dead, but then it happened to my laptop so it must be a windows issue with the update.