System Tray icon for network is airplane - any idea why and how to fix

Hi folks,

Thread title says it all really. In the System Tray (Notification Area) the icon for the WiFi is the shillouette of an airplane. The normal arcs icon isn't there - yet it all works as it should.

Any idea WHY and HOW can I put it back to the more recognisable icon??

Cheers,

Art

Windows 10 (x64) 1909 (OS Build 18363.657)

Hi, in Action Centre, have a look at the 'Airplane Mode' tile ('Flight Mode' in the UK).

If this is dark, the tray icon shows a 'plane icon.
If it says 'off' and is pale, airplane mode is off- just like a mobile phone.

Here's another way in Settings:

Thanks.

Will give that a shot & report back.

Art

Couldn't find this. Could only find turning flight mode on or off (i.e. turn wireless on or off).

This is what I get



Can you give me a specific path to find this setting?

Cheers

Art

ArthurDent said:

Thanks.

Will give that a shot & report back.

Art

Couldn't find this. Could only find turning flight mode on or off (i.e. turn wireless on or off).

This is what I get



Can you give me a specific path to find this setting?

Cheers

Art

Art,

What did, "Couldn't find this", refer to? You must have already found Settings, Network & internet, Flight mode / Airplane mode.
- Did you mean Action centre? That's the icon at the right-hand end of your Windows Taskbar [but its popup description only refers to notifications, which is misleading].

You might have accidentally triggered Flight mode / Airplane mode by pressing the keyboard key that has an aerial symbol on it [this varies between computer models].

Unless you have manually altered the switches in that location to turn WiFi back on, I do not understand how you can have a WiFi connection in Flight mode / Airplane mode [ it is supposed to turn off WiFi & Bluetooth].

Denis

Can you see your top setting?

It is on.

That - it says- disables Wifi and Bluetooth. So, to be clear: this is how mine is with Wifi enabled:

Guys,

I'm still VERY puzzled.

@Try3 - Yes, I can see the setting for 'Airplane Mode' is ON - yet my wife can connect to the internet and surf the web. The only issue she had was that it would keep randomly disconnecting.

I've updated the BIOS, made sure that she has the latest Network Driver Adapter, ripped out the adapter and had Windows re-install it on restart, reset Winsocks and IP settings using the net shell command, renewed the DHCP licence from the router and flushed the DNS cache . That seems to have sorted the random disconnects however the odd 'airplane' icon remains and no, I've not manually changed anything. Like you, I don't understand why 'Airplane Mode' is on, yet she can connect to the router and web via WiFi.

@dalchina

The screenshot I posted was of the sttings on my wife's laptop and posted here in this thread using her computer.

I am loathe to turn this setting OFF since everything is working (subscribing to the old Engineer's mantra "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"). Just VERY puzzled.

Another puzzling aspect of this, she has a BOSE Bluetooth speaker for streaming Classic FM. That works yet I've just noticed that in the screenshot I posted, Bluetooth is supposed to be OFF.

I don't know what this laptop is doing *shrugs*

Art

Art,

Yes, the Flight mode might be On but the WiFi switch you can see underneath it has been manually changed back to On afterwards.

I've just done the same to mine [purely for illustration - I cannot think of any reason to have this mismash of modes deliberately.]



Just switch the Flight mode Off again and everything will look right again.
- You need not worry about turning 'Flight mode' Off. You are not actually turning anything 'Off' as such.
- 'Flight mode' is just a name given to a function that turns Off WiFi & Bluetooth.
- So turning Off 'Flight mode' is merely telling it to stop inhibiting WiFi & Bluetooth.

By the way, Flight mode & Airplane mode are just equivalent names for the same thing in different Windows Versions/Builds.
- So whereas you have written 'Airplane mode' & we have replied with 'Flight mode', we have all been referring to the same thing.
- MS has just altered the label it uses as time goes by. They'll probably change it again at the next Full moon.

Denis

The setting says:

Turn this ON to DISABLE Wifi.

Therefore if you want Wifi ON you turn that setting OFF.