As it turns out, the new Windows 11 has been officially out for a few days now and more users are upgrading to Windows 11 every day. While some users are choosing to upgrade to the new operating system, others are performing a clean install of Windows 11 on their systems. Even though this is the official public release which means this is the first stable build, there are still some problems with it that need to be addressed. The WiFi icon missing is an issue that is usually on your end and doesn’t have anything to do with Microsoft. In such cases, the problem is easy to resolve and that’s what we will be taking you through today. So, with that said, let us get started without any further ado.
Run the Network Troubleshooter
The first thing that you should do when you are facing this problem is to run the network troubleshooter. Windows comes with a list of built-in troubleshooters that can sometimes help you fix basic problems. While the troubleshooters are not good for issues that are a bit complicated, however, for a problem like this, the Windows Network Troubleshooter is a perfect fit and it can often locate why you are facing this. Thus, running the network troubleshooter would be just the first step you should take. To run the troubleshooter, follow the instructions given down below:
Check WiFi Adapter
As it turns out, one of the reasons that you may encounter the problem is when the WiFi adapter on your system is disabled. The WiFi adapter is essentially responsible for establishing a connection to your network through the wireless card or dongle. If the adapter is disabled from the settings menu, you will not be shown the WiFi icon on the taskbar. Therefore, go ahead and check if the adapter is enabled. To do this, follow the instructions given down below:
Reinstall WiFi Drivers
As we have mentioned above earlier, one of the reasons you might be missing the WiFi icon is when you do not have the required drivers installed on your computer. In addition to that, if the WiFi drivers installed aren’t functioning properly, you won’t be seeing a WiFi icon on your taskbar. To resolve this issue, you will have to reinstall the WiFi drivers on your computer. As it turns out, there are actually two ways you can go around this. First, you can uninstall the drivers and then have Windows install the required drivers automatically. While that is an easy process because it is automatically done by Windows, there’s a catch however. The caveat being, in some cases, the drivers installed by Windows may not be appropriate for your wireless dongle/card which can cause compatibility issues and thus the WiFi will not work on your system. This is where the second method comes in. The second way of installing the WiFi drivers would be to head to your manufacturer’s website and download the latest version available for your device. This certainly is a more manual approach, however, this eliminates any possibilities of there being any compatibility issues with the drivers which is why we recommend going with the second approach. With that said, let us get started and show you how to do this:
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