How to Fix USB Wi-Fi Adapter Won’t Connect on Windows?

What Is USB Wi-Fi Adapter?

If you want to connect your computer to a network, you can use a wired Ethernet cable. You can also use a wireless Wi-Fi network connection: this is a more convenient way. However, your PC may not have a wireless adapter. In a situation like this, you will be unable to connect to network wireless.

Moreover, this issue can be solved: you can use a USB Wi-Fi adapter to get a wireless internet connection. The network you get using this way is also fluent and reliable. You can even play games via such a wireless network connection.

The size of a USB Wi-Fi adapter could be similar to a USB flash drive or smaller than a USB flash drive. You can connect a USB Wi-Fi adapter to your PC via a USB port and use it as a wireless adapter.

How to Fix USB Wi-Fi Adapter Won’t Connect on Windows?

For some reason, you may find that your USB Wi-Fi adapter is not connecting to the internet. To solve the issue, we will introduce some useful methods in this part. No matter whether you are running Windows 10 or Windows 11, these methods are available for you.

Way 1: Roll back the Driver for the Network Adapter

If your USB Wi-Fi adapter won’t connect after you update your network adapter driver, you can roll back to the previous version to have a try.

Step 1: Right-click on Start, then select Device Manager to open it.

Step 2: Expand the Network adapters option.

Step 3: Right-click the network adapter and select Properties.

Step 4: Switch to the Driver tab. Then, click the Roll Back Driver button if it is available.

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Way 2: Update the Network Adapter Driver

If the Roll Back Driver button is grayed out, it means you haven’t installed any updates recently. Then, you can go to check if there is an available update for the network adapter driver.

Step 1: Right-click on Start, then select Device Manager to open it.

Step 2: Expand the Network adapters option.

Step 3: Right-click the network adapter and select Update driver.

Step 4: Follow the on-screen instructions to update your network adapter driver to the latest version.

If this method doesn’t work, you can try the next solution.

Way 3: Check Your Wi-Fi Connection

You can go to check if your computer is successfully connected to the Wi-Fi network. You can just click the Wi-Fi icon in the taskbar and check if you have selected the right Wi-Fi and if it is connected. If not, you should make a connection to make everything go back to normal.

Way 4: Disable Airplane Mode

If your USB Wi-Fi adapter is not working after you try the above methods, you need to make sure the airplane mode is disabled on your device.

Step 1: Right-click the Network icon from the taskbar and select Network & Internet settings.

Step 2: Select Airplane mode and turn it off.

Way 5: Restart Your Router

Step 1: Unplug the power cable for your router from the power outlet.

Step 2: 30 seconds later, you can power on your router.

Step 3: When the status lights go back to normal, you can try to use the USB Wi-Fi adapter to connect to the network connection again and check if the issue is solved.

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Way 6: Run the Internet Connections Troubleshooter

Step 1: Go to Start > Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters.

Step 2: Click the Run button next to Internet Connections to run the troubleshooter to fix the internet connection issues.

Way 7: Temporarily Disable the Firewall

If your USB Wi-Fi adapter is not detected on your PC, you should consider if it is blocked by Windows Defender Firewall or a third-party firewall. To rule out this possibility, you can temporarily turn off the firewall, then check if the USB Wi-Fi adapter not detected issue is solved.

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Way 8: Reinstall the Network Adapter Driver

Step 1: Right-click on Start, then select Device Manager to open it.

Step 2: Expand the Network adapters option.

Step 3: Right-click the network adapter and select Uninstall device.

Step 4: Click the Uninstall button from the pop-up window to uninstall the network adapter.

Step 5: Restart your computer and your system will reinstall the driver for the network adapter on your device.

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Bottom Line

After reading this post, you should know what you can do when your USB Wi-Fi adapter won’t connect or is not detected. You should find a suitable solution here. Should you have other related issues, you can let us know in the comments.