7 Ways to Fix Wi-Fi Greyed Out on Mac

Let’s check the solutions to fix the Wi-Fi greyed out issue on your Mac. 

Fix 1: Restart Mac and Enable Wi-Fi

Restarting your Mac is an effective way to fix glitches like high memory usage, Mac display not working after waking up, Wi-Fi greyed out, and more. It’s a tried and tested method to troubleshoot network problems. Once done, you can try enabling Wi-Fi again.

Fix 2: Start macOS in Safe Mode

When you start your Mac in Safe Mode, the system disables all the apps and services launching in the background. It helps you identify whether the Mac issues you’re experiencing are caused by software that loads as your Mac starts up.

First, check whether your Mac has an Intel CPU or the in-house M-series.

Step 1: Click the Apple logo at the top-left corner of the Menu bar and select About This Mac.

Step 2: Check your Mac chip from the following menu and move to the steps below based on your chip.

Macs With M-Series CPU

Step 1: Click the Apple logo at the top-left corner and select Shut Down.

Step 2: Press and hold the power button until you see Loading startup options.

Step 3: Select a volume.

Step 4: Keep pressing the Shift key and click Continue in Safe Mode.

Macs With Intel CPU

The steps to start an Intel-based Mac in safe mode differs. Go through the steps below.

Step 1: Reboot your Mac (check the steps above) and quickly press and hold the Shift key.

Step 2: Log in to your Mac.

Step 3: Login again to your Mac. You will see Safe Boot in the menu bar on the first or second login window.

If Wi-Fi is running fine, disable or uninstall apps automatically launching at startup.

Fix 3: Create a New User in macOS

You can create a new user in macOS and use another profile for a while. If the Wi-Fi network runs fine on another account, the problem lies with corrupted user settings.

Step 1: Click the Apple logo at the top-left corner and select System Settings.

Step 2: Select Users & Groups from the left sidebar and click Add Account in the right pane.

Step 3: Enter relevant details to create a new account and click on Create User.

Step 4: Now, restart your Mac (check the steps above) and log in to another account.

If Wi-Fi works fine after doing this, you need to reinstall macOS. You can check a dedicated guide from Apple to reinstall macOS.

Fix 4: Re-Activate Wi-Fi on Mac

Did you accidentally deactivate Wi-Fi on your Mac? If yes, this is why the Wi-Fi icon is greyed out. Follow the steps to fix it.

Step 1: Click on the Apple logo at the top-left corner and select System Settings.

Step 2: Select Network from the left sidebar. Then right-click on Wi-Fi and select Make Service active.

Step 3: Now, click on Wi-Fi and turn on the Wi-Fi toggle.

Fix 6: Add Wi-Fi Service Again

You can delete the Wi-Fi service and add it again to fix network glitches like Wi-Fi greyed out on Mac. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Open System Settings on your Mac and click on Network (check steps above).

Step 2: From the right pane, right-click on Wi-Fi and select Delete Service.

Step 3: Now, click the down arrow icon and select Add Service.

Step 4: Select Wi-Fi under Interface, name it, and hit Create.

Fix 6: Delete Network PLIST Files

You can delete old network files and fix Wi-Fi not showing up on Mac.

Step 1: Open Finder, click on Go at the top menu bar, and select Go To Folder.

Step 2: Enter the following path and hit the Return key.

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/

Step 3: Search and right-click the following file names in the list and select Move to Bin.

• apple.airport.preferences.plist
• apple.network.identification.plist
• apple.wifi.message-tracer.plist

Step 4: Reboot your Mac and check if Wi-Fi is running as expected.

These solutions will help restore the Wi-Fi function on your Mac. If the problem persists, your last resort is to contact Apple Support and get the device checked.