Windows won't forget WiFi network

Hi Kerynn

Welcome to Ten Forums.

After reading your post again, I decided to move things around in my reply.


If you're looking to tidy things up and remove all of your neighbors ssid's that you see on all your PCs, that's easy. I've filtered my neighbor's wifi's so my list displays only my networks.

You will require to run this command on each of your PCs.


From an elevated Command Prompt, type or copy & paste the following to block a wlan network from appearing;

Code:

netsh wlan add filter permission=block ssid="WIFI NAME" networktype=infrastructure

Or to remove the filter;

Code:

netsh wlan add filter permission=allow ssid="WIFI NAME" networktype=infrastructure

You may also remove extraneous wifi profiles that are no longer required following this procedure. These networks only appear when you explore Manage known networks (a local coffee shop, friend's house or airport wifi).

From an elevated Command Prompt, type or copy & paste the following;

Code:

netsh wlan show profiles

This will produce a list of wlan profiles saved on your PC.

Review the results and then use the following to delete the profiles not required any more.

Code:

netsh wlan delete profile name="OldWlanName"

Command line above corrected. OOPs

See if this tutorial can help you get things sorted. Please ask if you have any further questions.

Delete Wireless Network Profile in Windows 10


Try the following;

From an elevated Command Prompt, type or copy & paste the following;

Code:

netsh wlan delete profile name="OldWifiName"

Include " on both ends of the profile name.


If the name is still showing in your available networks, that's because the wifi signal is still being received. If that's the case, you will have to block the name using the Command listed in my post #2.


Command line above corrected.

Kerynn said:

I ran your command and they're not on the list for my laptop anymore. Thanks! But they still show on all other devices like mobile and smart tvs. So i have a bigger or different problem. I can't connect to that network but they act like they are still active. How do I get rid of them completely so they don't show up at all anywhere?
Thanks again

Hi Kerynn

Which command line did you use to clear the list on your laptop? Please copy & paste your answer so I know which one you used.

If you're choosing to filter your neighbor's wifi network ssid from appearing when you click the wifi icon, this Command line action will be required on each PC.
If all of the devices in your home are still showing the old ssid as an available network, that sounds like the ssid is still active.
You may have added a new ssid name on your router, however; the old ssid might still be transmitting and being received by your devices.

Kerynn said:

Thanks for replying!

The ones I want to remove -- anything Blackwellhome -- are old ones we had with an older router. When we upgraded, we changed names. They show up anywhere it lists available networks.

I used the command you gave me -- netsh wlan show profiles -- and it only shows the BLKNET networks, our current wifi. It didn't show the old ones.

When you click the wifi icon next to the clock on your taskbar, it displays the wifi signals currently received by your Wireless card.
These networks could be from your neighbors & may or may not have ever been connected to your PC.
Only active networks are displayed, any routers that have been removed or disabled, should not appear on this list.

Old routers with new names will appear but only listed with the new name (ssid) unless the old ssid is still active.
Some routers will allow you to set more than one ssid.

When you select an active wifi network by clicking on it and then click the connect button, after entering the correct password, a profile is created and saved on your PC.
These network profiles are displayed in Networks/wifi/Manage known Networks.

You may choose to select one of these networks & click [Forget], this will remove the network profile from your PC and you will require to enter the password again should you decide to connect.
If the network is still being received by the WLAN card, the ssid name will still appear when you click the wifi icon next to the clock.


Does that make sense? That is lots of information to absorb, feel free to ask more questions.