Fix Ubuntu WiFi Not Showing | Generated by AI

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The issue “WiFi doesn’t show” in Ubuntu (no networks listed in settings, no WiFi icon in the top bar, or “No WiFi adapter found”) is very common. It can come from:

• Hardware/rfkill switch turned off
• Driver/firmware not loading properly
• NetworkManager service glitch (very frequent after updates/reboots in 24.04+)
• Interface down or unmanaged
• Kernel/driver mismatch after upgrade

Follow these troubleshooting steps in order from the terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T to open it). Run them one by one and check after each if WiFi appears in Settings → Wi-Fi or in the top bar dropdown.

1. Quick restarts (fixes ~50–60% of cases)

# Restart NetworkManager service
sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

# Or full stop/start
sudo nmcli networking off
sudo nmcli networking on

# Force WiFi rescan
nmcli device wifi rescan
nmcli device wifi list

After this, open Settings (or run gnome-control-center wifi) and check if networks appear. If not → next.

2. Check if WiFi is blocked (hardware switch / soft block – very common)

rfkill list all

Look for Wireless LAN lines.

• If you see Soft blocked: yes → fix with:

  rfkill unblock wifi
  rfkill unblock all
  

• If Hard blocked: yes → this is usually a physical switch or Fn + F-key (airplane mode key) on your laptop. Press it to toggle (look for a WiFi/antenna icon on your function keys).

Run rfkill list again to confirm both are no.

3. Check if the WiFi adapter is detected at all

# Best command – shows interface name (usually wlpXs0 or wlan0)
ip link show | grep -i wl

# Or more detailed
sudo lshw -C network | grep -i wireless -A 12

# Alternative
lspci | grep -i network  # or grep -i wireless
# For USB WiFi adapters: lsusb | grep -i wireless

• If you see your WiFi card (e.g., Intel, Realtek, Qualcomm Atheros) → good, proceed.
• If nothing or “UNCLAIMED” next to it → driver issue (jump to step 7).
• Note the interface name (e.g., wlp2s0) for later.

4. Bring the interface up manually

Replace wlp2s0 with your interface name from step 3.

sudo ip link set wlp2s0 up
nmcli device wifi rescan
nmcli device wifi list

5. Reinstall NetworkManager (fixes many GUI/icon disappearance cases after updates)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --reinstall network-manager network-manager-gnome
sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

Then log out and log back in (or reboot).

6. If still nothing – check kernel messages for clues

dmesg | grep -i -E 'wlan|wifi|iwlwifi|rtl|ath|brcm|firm|error'

Common errors:

• “firmware load failed” → missing firmware (e.g., for Intel):

  sudo apt install linux-firmware
  sudo update-initramfs -u
  sudo reboot
  

• iwlwifi or Realtek issues → sometimes unloading/reloading helps:

  sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi    # or rtl8723be / whatever your driver is
  sudo modprobe iwlwifi
  

7. If adapter is detected but still no networks / “No WiFi adapter found”

• Try airplane mode toggle in settings (or nmcli radio wifi off && nmcli radio wifi on)
• Boot an older kernel if you recently updated (hold Shift during boot → Advanced → choose older kernel)
• In rare cases (broken upgrade), boot into recovery mode (hold Shift → Advanced → Recovery):
  • Choose “network” to enable networking
  • Choose “dpkg” to repair broken packages
  • Resume normal boot

Next steps if nothing works

Run these and paste the output back here (copy-paste the full results):

rfkill list all
ip link show
sudo lshw -C network
lspci | grep -i network
nmcli device status
nmcli radio

Also tell me:

• Your Ubuntu version (lsb_release -a)
• Laptop brand/model (or WiFi card if you know)
• Did it work before / after update / fresh install?

Most cases get fixed by steps 1–5. Let me know what you see!

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