Where is the Control Panel in Windows 8 for Manage Wireless Networks? I want to work with my wireless profiles.

Thanks

This is removed. Try this tool:

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/wifi-profile-manager-windows-8

Open a run box window (or press win+R) then type cmd to open Windows 8 CLI.

To see stored wireless profiles, type:

   netsh wlan show profiles

This will show a list of saved profiles of your connected WLAN devices. Then you'll need to write/save/memorize the profile name that you want to change.

To see the stored key (WPA/WEP/etc) of a specific profile:

   netsh wlan show profiles name=[profile name] key=clear

You'll find the key content under security settings.

To delete a stored profile:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name]

This will delete the stored profile of every WLAN interface. If you want to delete the profile of a specific WLAN interface, you need to use the following:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name] interface=[interface name]

This is a good alternative to perform the common actions for "Manage Wireless Network" avoiding to use third party software under Windows 8.

Hope this can come in handy!

Open a run box window (or press win+R) then type cmd to open Windows 8 CLI.

To see stored wireless profiles, type:

   netsh wlan show profiles

This will show a list of saved profiles of your connected WLAN devices. Then you'll need to write/save/memorize the profile name that you want to change.

To see the stored key (WPA/WEP/etc) of a specific profile:

   netsh wlan show profiles name=[profile name] key=clear

You'll find the key content under security settings.

To delete a stored profile:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name]

This will delete the stored profile of every WLAN interface. If you want to delete the profile of a specific WLAN interface, you need to use the following:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name] interface=[interface name]

This is a good alternative to perform the common actions for "Manage Wireless Network" avoiding to use third party software under Windows 8.

Hope this can come in handy!

• Proposed as answer by Raúl Castillo Tuesday, November 13, 2012 12:54 AM
• Marked as answer by Leo HuangMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Thursday, November 15, 2012 7:23 AM

You have got to be kidding me....

Are you trying to force the world NOT to use your operating system?  Why do you continually bury functionality commonly used in business under this kind of obfuscation?

• Access Settings and then choose the Wireless icon.
• Right-click on the network and choose Forget this Network.

I had network named "AP" - without security settings, only for some minutes for testing.

Then I set network security on router and tried to find this network again.

Yes I found it, but Windows 8 renamed it to AP2. And no GUI option to forget older "AP" network was available - was not visible.

Yes, my fault, I should first on my notebook and others "forget older AP" first  :D.

IT IS CRAZY :)

it is not gone,IN WINDOWS 8

• Access Settings and then choose the Wireless icon.
• Right-click on the network and choose Forget this Network.

it is not gone,IN WINDOWS 8

• Access Settings and then choose the Wireless icon.
• Right-click on the network and choose Forget this Network.

• Edited by John Kitterman Thursday, March 07, 2013 7:24 PM

The management of wireless networks in Windows 8 is accessed via the "Charms" bar. You get to it by hovering over the right-hand lower left area of the screen (I usually swirl my "mouse" around in the area and it pops up, or via ctrl+c it will pop up. Select Settings, then, you will see two rows of icons on the bottom of the settings app (I do anyway). The first icon (top left) is what you want, the icon looks like signal bars with the name of the connection under (for me anyway). Select this icon and you will be presented with your network profiles.

If you have wifi, it will show any available networks and any profiled hidden networks you've configured. Right-click on the connection or profile of interest and you'll be presented with a context menu; among the list of options is Forget this Network (profiled connections only). 

Hope this helps, I had to seek this out because I have two wifi-nodes, one publicly visible but locked, and one hidden (non broadcasting SSID) and locked; I wanted to switch connections but it isn't an option from the control panel...not sure why not, but at least it is not actually removed, just moved. As I do most of my computing from the desktop, your mileage may vary if using a non-PC device.

--(Darkstrumn : 130310.23

• Proposed as answer by Wlodzislaw Duch Tuesday, March 12, 2013 6:42 PM

First it only allows to forget, not to reorder priority of the network.

Second, some networks cannot be forgotten, in particular those I have no access to (neighbour's wifi) cannot be forgotten. So many useful things have been removed that I wonder who has created Windows 8, certainly not people who do any work.
No ad hoc access points that my android phone may set?
Calculators or other "modern" applications that covers all 30" of my screen?
What is the advantage of Windows 8? I really consider going back to Windows 7.

Unfortunately many of you are FAILING to understand the issue. More than that, very few of you actually understand what this, now removed, tool actually does. Many people who work in large business complexes that have very complicated networks or universities with enterprise level security NEED this function just to simply CONNECT to the wifi. Without the profiles and ability to edit the profiles, there is literally NO WAY to connect. STOP saying that "its not gone, you can remove the networks" No one important actually cares about removing the invisible network from their even more invisible list of network profiles. Instead, this thread was started because of real  issues.

Now, is there anything better than that broken tool posted above?

Unfortunately many of you are FAILING to understand the issue. More than that, very few of you actually understand what this, now removed, tool actually does. Many people who work in large business complexes that have very complicated networks or universities with enterprise level security NEED this function just to simply CONNECT to the wifi. Without the profiles and ability to edit the profiles, there is literally NO WAY to connect. STOP saying that "its not gone, you can remove the networks" No one important actually cares about removing the invisible network from their even more invisible list of network profiles. Instead, this thread was started because of real  issues.

Now, is there anything better than that broken tool posted above?

• Edited by R33F3R Friday, April 12, 2013 12:03 AM

Unfortunately many of you are FAILING to understand the issue. More than that, very few of you actually understand what this, now removed, tool actually does. Many people who work in large business complexes that have very complicated networks or universities with enterprise level security NEED this function just to simply CONNECT to the wifi. Without the profiles and ability to edit the profiles, there is literally NO WAY to connect. STOP saying that "its not gone, you can remove the networks" No one important actually cares about removing the invisible network from their even more invisible list of network profiles. Instead, this thread was started because of real  issues.

Now, is there anything better than that broken tool posted above?

Unfortunately many of you are FAILING to understand the issue. More than that, very few of you actually understand what this, now removed, tool actually does. Many people who work in large business complexes that have very complicated networks or universities with enterprise level security NEED this function just to simply CONNECT to the wifi. Without the profiles and ability to edit the profiles, there is literally NO WAY to connect. STOP saying that "its not gone, you can remove the networks" No one important actually cares about removing the invisible network from their even more invisible list of network profiles. Instead, this thread was started because of real  issues.

Now, is there anything better than that broken tool posted above?

• Proposed as answer by steve_web Friday, September 27, 2013 4:26 AM

Open a run box window (or press win+R) then type cmd to open Windows 8 CLI.

To see stored wireless profiles, type:

   netsh wlan show profiles

This will show a list of saved profiles of your connected WLAN devices. Then you'll need to write/save/memorize the profile name that you want to change.

To see the stored key (WPA/WEP/etc) of a specific profile:

   netsh wlan show profiles name=[profile name] key=clear

You'll find the key content under security settings.

To delete a stored profile:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name]

This will delete the stored profile of every WLAN interface. If you want to delete the profile of a specific WLAN interface, you need to use the following:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name] interface=[interface name]

This is a good alternative to perform the common actions for "Manage Wireless Network" avoiding to use third party software under Windows 8.

Hope this can come in handy!

Good start.

To set priorities, use:

netsh wlan set profileorder name="network_name" interface="interface_name" priority=1

Where the network name is the name of the wireless network, the interface name is the name of the adapter (you can find this through netsh wlan show profiles), and the priority is the order in the list (note that when you set priority=1 you "push" the current first priority network down to #2).

There are also other functions through netsh wlan, just type netsh wlan /? to see them all.

Open a run box window (or press win+R) then type cmd to open Windows 8 CLI.

To see stored wireless profiles, type:

   netsh wlan show profiles

This will show a list of saved profiles of your connected WLAN devices. Then you'll need to write/save/memorize the profile name that you want to change.

To see the stored key (WPA/WEP/etc) of a specific profile:

   netsh wlan show profiles name=[profile name] key=clear

You'll find the key content under security settings.

To delete a stored profile:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name]

This will delete the stored profile of every WLAN interface. If you want to delete the profile of a specific WLAN interface, you need to use the following:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name] interface=[interface name]

This is a good alternative to perform the common actions for "Manage Wireless Network" avoiding to use third party software under Windows 8.

Hope this can come in handy!

Good start.

To set priorities, use:

netsh wlan set profileorder name="network_name" interface="interface_name" priority=1

Where the network name is the name of the wireless network, the interface name is the name of the adapter (you can find this through netsh wlan show profiles), and the priority is the order in the list (note that when you set priority=1 you "push" the current first priority network down to #2).

There are also other functions through netsh wlan, just type netsh wlan /? to see them all.

• Proposed as answer by Albert Xing Thursday, May 09, 2013 11:03 PM

Ok, its WINDOW-C , not CTL-C

and i do not get any context menu when I mouse over a profile in the list. or right click , or anything else i have tried. 

This IS the place anybody w/ any intent on providing useful software would have put the context menu. 

Maybe its a permission thing? Maybe you have to turn Account control off? Just thinking outloud...

Cannot BELIEVE I had to use command line options -- I'm a dos freak, but NOT for wifi... WTF?  So, I set up a hidden network and forget to check the 'connect even if not broadcasting option'... so the network wasn't connecting and wouldn't show up in list... so I can't say 'forget network' or get to the settings.  Going to re-add the network is NOT an option because the name is specific and windows complains that the network already exists (no @#$@ Sherlock) and won't let me overwrite only add new one with different name.

I usually defend Windows 8 as, for the most part, once you find out how you can do everything you did in Windows 7 with some tablet crap available too... but the decision to remove this is HORRID.  HOOORRRIIID.  Hopefully they put this back in a future patch -- it's arguably a bug 2/2 oversight.  Not much justification otherwise.

it is not gone,IN WINDOWS 8

• Access Settings and then choose the Wireless icon.
• Right-click on the network and choose Forget this Network.

This statement is 100% not accurate. I ran into a similar problem demonstrating my new surface pro to an associate. A network setting was miss-typed, still not used to the SP's tiny keyboard, and there was no GUI option to remove it. Every attempt to redo the non broadcasting SSID stated it was already configured. Since it was not connected or visible by Windows 8, the connection was not displayed via that wireless icon. The only method I've found since was the CLI provided by Ral Castillo earlier in this thread. Now, it's now completely deleted and I was able to connect to it without issues. If I had such a difficult time resolving this problem, I can only imagine the problems a non-technical user would have trouble shooting this problem. 

moyarich is right. If the stored wireless network settings do not match the current settings and the red "x" appears on the wireless network, you can right-click it (or however you do that on a touch screen...long-press?) and tell it to forget the network. That still means you have no GUI method to remove networks that aren't currently in-range. Apple iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch) also don't have a way to "forget network" when you're not in-range. However, when stored settings mismatch, iOS devices will automatically recognize this and replace the stored settings with the updated settings. The fact that Windows doesn't do this is not user-friendly and drives me insane because I have to provide support to people who can't figure it out. This is not new with Windows 8. I help Windows 7 users every day when they get the message that the stored settings do not match. At least it's slightly easier in Windows 8 to find "forget network," but your average user still doesn't even attempt to right-click anything.

Cannot BELIEVE I had to use command line options -- I'm a dos freak, but NOT for wifi... WTF?  So, I set up a hidden network and forget to check the 'connect even if not broadcasting option'... so the network wasn't connecting and wouldn't show up in list... so I can't say 'forget network' or get to the settings.  Going to re-add the network is NOT an option because the name is specific and windows complains that the network already exists (no @#$@ Sherlock) and won't let me overwrite only add new one with different name.

I usually defend Windows 8 as, for the most part, once you find out how you can do everything you did in Windows 7 with some tablet crap available too... but the decision to remove this is HORRID.  HOOORRRIIID.  Hopefully they put this back in a future patch -- it's arguably a bug 2/2 oversight.  Not much justification otherwise.

Damn it Microsoft, what the hell. Whenever you do crap like this the image of Ballmer running around on stage screaming like a sweaty idiot comes to mind and I ask myself: Why am i so patient with you? Linux is looking better and better by the day.

Furthermore, how about USER SPECIFIC abilities that were possible before. How do I do that? What's the twenty step command line procedure for that?

 it Microsoft, what the hell. Whenever you do crap like this the image of Ballmer running around on stage screaming like a sweaty idiot comes to mind and I ask myself: Why am i so patient with you? Linux is looking better and better by the day.

Furthermore, how about USER SPECIFIC abilities that were possible before. How do I do that? What's the twenty step command line procedure for that?

• Edited by negroplasty Saturday, June 29, 2013 7:50 PM add more
• Edited by Jessica_DeenMVP, Moderator Friday, December 27, 2013 9:55 PM removed profanity

Unfortunately many of you are FAILING to understand the issue. More than that, very few of you actually understand what this, now removed, tool actually does. Many people who work in large business complexes that have very complicated networks or universities with enterprise level security NEED this function just to simply CONNECT to the wifi. Without the profiles and ability to edit the profiles, there is literally NO WAY to connect. STOP saying that "its not gone, you can remove the networks" No one important actually cares about removing the invisible network from their even more invisible list of network profiles. Instead, this thread was started because of real  issues.

Now, is there anything better than that broken tool posted above?

It is a fact that the former 'Manage Wireless Networks' has been removed, but the components to configure a wireless network are still there, just in a different place. If you go to the Charms Bar, and then to the wireless networks, one can right-click (long-tap) any wireless network within range. At this point there are several options. Among them are 'Forgot This Network' and 'View Connection Properties.'  Under 'View Connection Properties' you should find most all of the settings you will need to configure an Enterprise level Wifi network, I know I have. Hope this helps.

--

Tyler W

Hello.

I found another way to do this. Don't know if it what you are looking for. In network and sharing centre, click (touch I am on tablet) set up a new connection or network. Then click on  Manually connect to a wireless network. You can then enter the details manually, including all enterprise security settings like you used to Windows 7. I don't know if this has any issues with saving settings etc or all the stuff mentioned above, but it is working and saving enterprise settings for my Win 8 RT tablet on my workplace wifi network. I didn't have to go anywhere near the charms bar apart from to start control panel.

Si

Open a run box window (or press win+R) then type cmd to open Windows 8 CLI.

To see stored wireless profiles, type:

   netsh wlan show profiles

This will show a list of saved profiles of your connected WLAN devices. Then you'll need to write/save/memorize the profile name that you want to change.

To see the stored key (WPA/WEP/etc) of a specific profile:

   netsh wlan show profiles name=[profile name] key=clear

You'll find the key content under security settings.

To delete a stored profile:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name]

This will delete the stored profile of every WLAN interface. If you want to delete the profile of a specific WLAN interface, you need to use the following:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name] interface=[interface name]

This is a good alternative to perform the common actions for "Manage Wireless Network" avoiding to use third party software under Windows 8.

Hope this can come in handy!

I think people on this thread need to reread the posts by Davidoo, R33F3R, and VictorTWilcox.  The problem many are having is NOT that they cannot figure out how to delete a network that they are in range of.  It's that they need to:

1. Set the ORDER of priority of those networks they occasionally use and do NOT wish to delete.  For example office buildings that have multiple networks, many of which the user's laptop will pass through, but not all of which will provide the best signal and/or bandwidth at all times.  In such a case, PRIORITY and "default network" become the essential issues, not how to "forget" a network that you don't need today but certainly will need again next week.  The headache here is that Win8 is choosing to unthinkingly connect to the last network that was added, rather than choosing better networks that only the user will know and understand fully.

2. Delete totally, or modify settings/priority, of networks "not in range," which therefore do not appear in the Win8 connection list precisely BECAUSE they are "not in range."  For example, Davidoo's "Hyatt hotel" network -- a rarely used and presently inaccessible network.

3. Set up access to complex networks that have enterprise security or other special requirements.  Face it folks, not all networks are named "home" with dead-simple connection procedures and less than 10 users.  The essential issue here is that Win8 is saving network logon info but not allowing access to it, at least not without umpteen command line headaches. 

Win8 has created a nightmare by taking away this utility and I will be finding an aftermarket solution just like I did for the missing Start button.

Ok, this works great for wireless networks. How about wired Ethernet connections I have made. I have many of them too, Network 1, 2, 3, 4, etc and it keeps adding anytime I plug in. How can I get rid of all of these?

Ok, this works great for wireless networks. How about wired Ethernet connections I have made. I have many of them too, Network 1, 2, 3, 4, etc and it keeps adding anytime I plug in. How can I get rid of all of these?

• Edited by Andrew Barton Thursday, July 04, 2013 8:33 AM added quote

I think people on this thread need to reread the posts by Davidoo, R33F3R, and VictorTWilcox.  The problem many are having is NOT that they cannot figure out how to delete a network that they are in range of.  It's that they need to:

1. Set the ORDER of priority of those networks they occasionally use and do NOT wish to delete.  For example office buildings that have multiple networks, many of which the user's laptop will pass through, but not all of which will provide the best signal and/or bandwidth at all times.  In such a case, PRIORITY and "default network" become the essential issues, not how to "forget" a network that you don't need today but certainly will need again next week.  The headache here is that Win8 is choosing to unthinkingly connect to the last network that was added, rather than choosing better networks that only the user will know and understand fully.

2. Delete totally, or modify settings/priority, of networks "not in range," which therefore do not appear in the Win8 connection list precisely BECAUSE they are "not in range."  For example, Davidoo's "Hyatt hotel" network -- a rarely used and presently inaccessible network.

3. Set up access to complex networks that have enterprise security or other special requirements.  Face it folks, not all networks are named "home" with dead-simple connection procedures and less than 10 users.  The essential issue here is that Win8 is saving network logon info but not allowing access to it, at least not without umpteen command line headaches. 

Win8 has created a nightmare by taking away this utility and I will be finding an aftermarket solution just like I did for the missing Start button.

I've been a systems engineer for 15 years and the disconnect between Microsoft and it's consumer customer base seems to be at an all time high. Look. I understand about command lines and third party apps. But I don't want to have to do that to simply manage my available wireless connections. It's a regular function of computing. More so now than ever. So they remove it???

I'm on Windows 8.1. You know the one where they sort-of put back the bloody start button. And right clicking on the, what's it called, charm, does nothing. I've spent over an hour trying to figure out how to 'forget' a wireless connection. That's just unacceptable. 

Even if you delete all the existing profiles using netsh, I still see the dreaded " 2" added added to the network name in Network and Sharing Center when you connect to the wireless network again. 

Let me just give you a quick example to illustrate this: When you change the security settings for a wireless network "MYWLAN", and then use the "Forget this network" feature to connect to the same WLAN with its new settings, you will see the network as "MYWLAN 2" in Network and sharing Center. There's no way to change this new automatically named entry, even if you use "netsh wlan show profiles".

Trust me: This is extremely confusing and annoying for final users. Some even suspect there's a hacker messing around with their home-based network. What would you tell them? "Hey, don't worry, it's just the way things are now under Windows 8. Get over it and move on!" Well, I tried. And you don't want to know the answer I got. Not to mention how scared I was by the way some reacted when I suggested to use the CLI to manage their network profiles!

Any other suggestion?

Really?  How do I prioritize my WiFi networks if I am in an area with more than 1 available networks for fail over situation but I want to connect to 1 particular network unless it drops the connection?

In Windows 7 I can order the WiFi profiles in order of preference.  How do I do this in Windows 8?

Carl

You expect the average user to know and start using Command line interface?

lol

Repeating the same useless drivel everyone above already said.

Still missing the UI that will allow prioritizing WiFi networks easily without CLI.

I agree completely. It was a HUGE mistake to remove this feature. I have found this little program and will be using it on all my W8 wireless computers. WiFi Profile Manager It's a real shame, how many 3rd-party programs I have to install on all my W8 computers just to force them to work properly.........

Thank you.  At least someone thought to attempt to repair Microsoft's latest blunder.

Carl.

Yes, it IS gone and no, he is not scaring people unnecessarily.

The Windows team has screwed up by removing a ton of tools that were extremely useful and either replacing them with new tools that are only logical or useful on a tablet (e.g. the start button) or - even worse - with no tools other than command lines (such is the case for the wifi networks manager).

What you can do through the GUI on the "annoying" charm bar is only a fraction of what you could do in Win 7 with the Wifi manager tool (2 huge things missing are access to wifi networks not currently broadcasting and prioritizing networks...)

I actually cannot believe they have removed this extremely useful functionality from the GUI.

Some of the best features for me in W7 were the advances in management of wireless networks compared to XP.  Now they've made it more difficult again. Idiotic.

With CMD window delete all WLAN connections with this line:

netsh wlan delete profile name=* i=*

Then just add them back in.  We the help of the page below I'm thinking I should just create a WSH for it. What were these Microsoft people thinking when they created this metro monster...ah they were not thinking!

With CMD window delete all WLAN connections with this line:

netsh wlan delete profile name=* i=*

Then just add them back in.  We the help of the page below I'm thinking I should just create a WSH for it. What were these Microsoft people thinking when they created this metro monster...ah they were not thinking!

This thread is crazy, I just bought a new laptop with windows-8 and I was to use this laptop at work.

What a nightmare to modify the WIFI configuration of hidden SSID.

MS you've made the interface so simple that it's just impossible to use it except maybe if I was to connect at a Starbucks, great.

Lost half a day, super.

Netsh to delete profiles, seriously ... Why can't we use intel proset connection manager or any decent windows connection manager.

I came across this thread tonight searching for a simple solution to manage my wireless profiles. A very basic task that I have been doing since Windows 2000 802.11B, except with that OS I used a 3rd party piece of software.  Having trying to avoid Windows 8 because I see a major lack of IT professional tools be ripped out. I don't mean moved to a charms bar, but actual GUI tools gone. Managing the wireless network profiles seems quite basic, except yet again Microsoft has taken a nice simple tool as part of the OS, removed it, and instead would like end users to drop to a command prompt and execute NETSH commands.

Seriously Microsoft, have you ever attempted to do remote support on a phone call and not able to remote into your customers PC? Try having a phone call with 70 year old and telling them to drop to a command prompt and type in NETSH etc.... Seriously?  I think the team at Microsoft who developed Windows 8 took no thought into the real world. I can see the sign on their white boards, simply the OS and hide everything you can, if you can't, remove it and make it only accessible via command prompt or PowerShell, or via a registry editor.

I am a Microsoft Gold partner for several years now. Windows 8 has got to be one of the worse OS's ever released, sitting right next to Windows ME. No it is not worse because of stability, it is the entire UI and removal of features. Not to get off topic here, but remember how cool it was in Windows 7 that you could click the start bar and in the search type in a name, or subject and not only would the nice search service look at the index of the HDD, but also had the entire Outlook indexed, showing you that email in seconds. Try that in Windows 8, and wait a second, it doesn't search Outlook anymore? Seriously Microsoft.

I guess for now I will revert back to Intel's Proset software, except it doesn't work like it use to, to manage the order of Wireless networks for example. In fact Intel removed that because of pressure from Microsoft to want Windows to manage those.... Intel should have not listened to Microsoft.

OK this is absolutely infuriating!!!!!! I'm an IT pro and I can't figure out how to "forget" a wireless network that for whatever reason isn't working on my Windows 8 device.

The Wireless N network is:

* In range,

* WPA2

Which means that there is NO FLIPPING RIGHT CLICK MENU when you hover over, right click on, shift click on, ctrl click on, double click on, dual click on the darn network!!!!

There is no profile stored so attempting the command line action is useless because it doesn't show up in the list!!!

This is a major bug as many people above have noted yet Microsoft has not posted a single response on this thread to provide a solution or indicate that this might actually be fixed in 8.1.

Currently my Windows 8 device in range of my current network is absolutely useless even though every other (I have about 17 devices) can connect without issue, and they can all FORGET the network with a GUI interface that ALWAYS shows up under ANY condition.

I'm sorry Microsoft but on this one, this time, you absolutely ****ed up.

I connect to a wide variety of WiFi networks with my Surface Pro, from home to university to work (and once in a while to the nearby Timmies). Due to this, I have a higher probability of having duplicate SSIDs in my network connections list, this result in Windows adding an incremental number in front of the SSID, which is noticed in the tooltip of the Network notification area icon.

In Windows 7, we had the ability to remove these duplicates, thanks to the "Customize Network" GUI. For whatever stupid reason, Microsoft dumped this GUI from Windows 8. So, I'm now looking for a way to manage these, any suggestions? Or Microsoft that desperate to share network connection history with the NSA (for whatever nonsense "security" reasons) that they've totally done away with the ability to delete these?

Open a run box window (or press win+R) then type cmd to open Windows 8 CLI.

To see stored wireless profiles, type:

   netsh wlan show profiles

This will show a list of saved profiles of your connected WLAN devices. Then you'll need to write/save/memorize the profile name that you want to change.

To see the stored key (WPA/WEP/etc) of a specific profile:

   netsh wlan show profiles name=[profile name] key=clear

You'll find the key content under security settings.

To delete a stored profile:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name]

This will delete the stored profile of every WLAN interface. If you want to delete the profile of a specific WLAN interface, you need to use the following:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name] interface=[interface name]

This is a good alternative to perform the common actions for "Manage Wireless Network" avoiding to use third party software under Windows 8.

Hope this can come in handy!

This is a solution for advanced users and IT Professionals. Now we need a user-friendly GUI-based solution for the average user, which is what most of us are waiting for since this thread was started. I don't agree on marking Ral's post as an answer. Do we really want to give up and ask today's average user to use a CLI to manage wireless networks? Or, do we want Microsoft to understand and comply with our expectations to restore the features offered by the GUI-based solution that was already available in Windows 7?

OK, now they've made it worse in Windows 8.1  The manageability from the Modern UI side bar is gone.  AND, they now store the profiles in your cloud storage under your Microsoft account.   As I've been playing with the prerelease over the past 2 months, I've now found that I've got about 30 of the same SSID stored in my information.  Each subsequent one has a number after it.  Such as "router", then "router 2" then "router 2 3" then "router 2 3 4" etc etc.  If I delete any one of them locally with the nice little tool from The Windows Club, it will eventually show back up.  And all of them showed up on a fresh installation of Windows 8.1 release that I just installed on a laptop.  I don't know how to delete these cloud based profiles.  Can anyone help?

Hahahaha, just as I anticipated, fukn Microsoft has made Windows 8.1 more NSA friendly.

Now I have even more reasons to stay away from 8.1; b4 it was just due to them disposing of the Windows Image backup GUI. I heard they replaced it with a NSA SkyDrive backup tool...keep shooting yourself in the foot Micr

Many posts may have been answered: To remove all WiFi profiles in one go use fuzzy matching -

Warning: If you have forgotten your wireless password do not proceed!!

netsh wlan delete profile name=*

Then proceed to fill up the list again :-)

====================================

Step by step:

Windows 8 start menu

Right click desktop and choose All apps

Under Window System right click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator

Confirm by clicking Yes

Type: netsh wlan delete profile name=*

Press <ENTER>

This will disconnect the current wireless session, so re-connect and enter your password.

Cheers

• Edited by Barry Morris Friday, October 11, 2013 7:01 PM

Thanks Barry but there's still 3 major issues that are not being addressed.

1.) Having to run a "Command Line Tool" to "forget" a network is not acceptable in 2013.

2.) The Metro right panel overlay that pops up from the charms bar does not have the "long-touch" menu to "forget" networks that it ***CAN*** find.  When you have an issue with a network it doesn't matter what the reason is, or whether the OS can find it... Just simply provide the option to forget ***ANY*** wireless network!

3.) The Command Line tool only lets you delete profiles that are "active" (or whatever the term is that they use) which means if you are trying to "forget" a network that isn't active... because IT ISN'T F#$@#$%(@! WORKING... then you can't forget it!

In all previous versions of Windows (or any 3rd party wireless GUI (e.g. Lenovo)) you can FORGET ANY NETWORK (regardless of its state)!

This is what we all want and need. Nothing less.

For anyone else jumping on this thread to indicate the problem is solvable with the current scenario please re-read the list above several times until it is painfully clear.

There absolutely needs to be an option (a GUI option!) to delete/forget ANY wireless network, regardless of its state.  We don't care if it is up, down, fast, slow, connects to the router but not to the Internet, or streaming 10GB/s of data... WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO FORGET/DELETE ANY WIFI NETWORK!

I'm sorry for screaming here but I've sadly learned that that is the only time that Microsoft tends to pay attention to these issues.

3.) The Command Line tool only lets you delete profiles that are "active" (or whatever the term is that they use) which means if you are trying to "forget" a network that isn't active... because IT ISN'T F#$@#$%(@! WORKING... then you can't forget it!

What do you mean active? My Windows 7 netbook had many wireless profiles from all over the country and Europe, going back years, and they were all removed by the command line. Do you mean there are more networks configured on my PC that I cannot remove? How do I find them?

I do get your reasoning and agree there should be GUI's for this kind of thing, but I am not sure if your point 3 is entirely accurate, I am hoping to eat humble pie in this case.

98 - good, ME -bad, XP - good, Vista -bad, 7 - good, 8 - bad

I think 8.1 will also be bad so the pattern is broken.

Cheers

• Edited by Barry Morris Saturday, October 12, 2013 10:06 AM

Yes, check out my post above (or this thread in particular) regarding the list that shows up in Task Scheduler. Those are historical networks that are no longer active, and attempting to delete them via the commandline only outputs an error message stating that "There is no such wireless interface on the system".

In windows 7, you have the GUI to manage those networks; click on the network location icon in Network and Sharing Center, then click the merge/delete network locations link (can't recall what exactly it was named). A window will pop-up and show you a list of ALL SSIDs you've ever connected to and from there you can merge/delete the duplicates/historical ones. For whatever stupid reason, Microsoft disposed of this GUI (along with several others) in Windows 8.

Regarding 8.1, that's just a service pack update with a new name, the pattern still remains unless Windows 9 is als

That is the exact same stuff that has already been offered here. As stated by steve_web, there's still three major issues that are not being addressed by that methodology! Any NEW suggestions are welcome.

If you just want to delete those network, you can find them in registry in

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Signatures\Unmanaged

There is also HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Nla\Cache but I don't fully understand if this can be messed with

• Proposed as answer by MrElectrifyer Saturday, October 26, 2013 2:51 AM

it is not gone,IN WINDOWS 8

• Access Settings and then choose the Wireless icon.
• Right-click on the network and choose Forget this Network.

Weel, all those forum entries point to the same real nuisance. Here my own contribution.
I just migrated from 8.0 to 8.1 and could not succeed to connect yesterday downtown to a hidden SSID. Using the charm bar does NOT provide any context menu to either forget a wrong configured network profile or reconfigure it.

Coming back home I could not even display the subject profile because the network was out of range. Of course I managed to do it with the CLI and the netsh command.

It is already shameful for Microsoft to drop former useful GUI utillities in favor of cryptic CLI interfaces.

Plse note that the provided third party utility, Wifi_Profile_Manager which I tried, does provide GUI management interface but shows all network profiles as unavailable, at least unde 8.1. What a mess. 

That sucks, but continues to satisfy my speculation of 8.1 just being a tighter relationship with the NSA, similar to OS X Mavericks (both free). Guess I'll be skipping Windows 8.1...'cause Microsoft seems to just be getting more and more stupid. Holding off until the next odd version...like Windows Se7en, 9 is being preceded by a moronic OS.

@Kapela1 Clearing the first two registry directories seem to do the trick! Thanks for the suggestion :)

Open a run box window (or press win+R) then type cmd to open Windows 8 CLI.

To see stored wireless profiles, type:

   netsh wlan show profiles

This will show a list of saved profiles of your connected WLAN devices. Then you'll need to write/save/memorize the profile name that you want to change.

To see the stored key (WPA/WEP/etc) of a specific profile:

   netsh wlan show profiles name=[profile name] key=clear

You'll find the key content under security settings.

To delete a stored profile:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name]

This will delete the stored profile of every WLAN interface. If you want to delete the profile of a specific WLAN interface, you need to use the following:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name] interface=[interface name]

This is a good alternative to perform the common actions for "Manage Wireless Network" avoiding to use third party software under Windows 8.

Hope this can come in handy!

Hi!

OK, thanks for this fine reply, which was very helpful for me!

Please, following there is a completion for it with the solution for the thing I originally was searching for.

On my newly upgraded Win8.1 laptop, for technical reasons, I  sometimes do have in use 3 different WLAN interfaces, the internal one and 2 USB connected ones.

To recognize which is which of them I needed to get them named by their own name-identification on the Network list appearing on the left.

First they were all named as WLAN and I did try to rename them on the Registry keys HKLM\SYSTEM\CCS\Control\Network\...\Connection, but the names were changed just on some places but not on the Network list ...

After having this hint for netsh command, I found the right way to do the renaming in full simply with this command, one by one

netsh interface set interface name=WLAN newname=WLAN1 (and 2 and 3)

and then by a second round giving for each of them an indivudual name

netsh interface set interface name=WLAN1 newname="WLAN Atheros" (and WLAN2 -> "WLAN D-Link" and WLAN3 -> "WLAN Gigabyte")

Best regards,

Pete V.

CLI to manage WiFi in Win8....

What will MS come up with next? Maybe I can learn programming code to change the time zone, or they could make it so you have to enter your static IP info via binary....

MS, you are retarded.  

Serioulsy.....retarded

• Edited by Win8 no worky so good Wednesday, October 30, 2013 2:46 AM

CLI to manage WiFi in Win8....

What will MS come up with next? Maybe I can learn programming code to change the time zone, or they could make it so you have to enter your static IP info via binary....

MS, you are retarded.  

Serioulsy.....retarded

Hi!

OK, yes, I agree!

It took almost 2 hours for me to get the solution above first to be found and finally tested and checked that it really works, heh-heh ... 

Best regards,

Pete V.

I think I have a work-around that may help some people...please let me know if it works. Try to connect to one of your saved networks, and wait while it doesn't connect (e.g. in my case because the password has changed). Then head back to charms bar settings, and where the wi-fi icon is (in my case it had a star and said available, but obviously was not connected), I right-clicked on the icon and it gave me the option to forget the network. I presume it means the one I failed to connect to. Once that's done, I opened the networks charms bar menu again and clicked the network I wanted to join. It prompted me for the password and allowed me to join.

Complicated, but less so than using command prompt.

I cannot right click on the networks

No, you can't right click on the networks anymore. That feature was removed in 8.1

If you're referring to what I posted above, don't right-click on the networks themselves, right-click on the little wifi bars at the bottom left on the main charms bar settings menu, AFTER you've tried to connect to the network and it didn't work. I'm connected now so I can't reproduce it on my device at this point -- hopefully it works for someone else and it wasn't just a random success. 

Based on what I have stored in my device, the description above worked to connect to a network in range that had the wrong stored password. Another saved network that is not in range gave me a message that says "can't connect to network" and gave me option to forget the network. So it seems the options change depending on the situation.

This answer should be proof enough that removing the "Manage wireless networks" feature was a serious failure. Why would anyone who wanted to make something better, eliminate a feature that took four or five clicks to see a solution (right click wireless icon in lower right of task bar, click open network and sharing center, left click Manage wireless networks, right click wireless profile), and replace it with a DOS process?

I almost returned my new Windows 8 laptop today because of this and many other ridiculous process regressions, and I still might return it, or smash it.  My first 48 hours with this pathetic excuse for an operating system had me alternating between thinking I was on candid camera, or wondering if someone had slipped me drugs - I couldn't believe anyone could be so stupid as to ship a worthless but expensive paperweight, or I was dying of stupidity.

If I can't get Windows 7 machines that meet our specs next year then for the first time ever I'll seriously consider MacBooks. There is no way I can justify the thousands of hours of lost productivity if I treat them like dirt and give them Windows 8/8.1 machines.

What the &*!! ?  Who was the __________ who thought removing this feature was a good idea?  Probably the same guy who figured that moving the Shut Down and Restart function to "Settings" was smart.  The ability to delete, edit, and reprioritize network profiles FROM WINDOWS and without memorizing DOS commands is a pretty basic and necessary function.  No, you cannot do all this from the right sidebar.  I had several profiles that did not show up in the sidebar.  The only way to delete them was to go to the command prompt. 

Fix this, Microsoft.  Fix it now. 

I have spend a few hours reading this thread.

I recently installed 8.1 on my laptop once I learned the start button had been replaced.

I can connect to most wifi networks fine, but the hidden SSID i setup at work will not work with my 8.1 and it stinks of!

I also like to re-order the priority of networks depending on where I am working.

I am slightly concearned with the wifi profiles being stored in your 'roaming' windows live user profile.

Clealy Microsoft where part of the NSA's 10 year cyber domination plan...................

LETS STOP ALL THIS CLI NONSCENCE - IT WORKS BUT LETS FACE IT IF PEOPLE WHERE HAPPY FOR THAT WE WOULD BE RUNNING MS-DOS V22 BY NOW!!

BRING BACK THIS FEATURE SO I CAN PERFORM ROUTINE OS TASKS WITHOUT GOOGLING NETSH COMMANDS YOU BUNCH OF GOONS.

WHOEVER SIGNED OFF THE REMOVAL OF THIS FEATURE WAS CLEARLY ON APPLES PAYROLL. 

• Edited by Jessica_DeenMVP, Moderator Friday, December 27, 2013 9:56 PM removed profanity

Thanks Raul

While it is a pain to be going back to the command line to worked for me.

OB

That enormous thread is all very interesting and shows that techy people just like to argue that they know how to 'get round' things that should be easy as they were there before. Non tecky people who have the misfortune to support Microsoft and buy a PC with Windows 8.1 (like me) don't need all this cody stuff we are not supposed to as we don't know what we are doing, we just want to use the dame thing !!

Will one of you clever guys give a sensible way of deleting a network at I used to be able to do in Windows 7 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I can't now even get into my home wifi  !!!!!!!

jmum

OK so this non techy person is trying to resolve the problem. Using Rauls answer I can see the list of networks but the delete command cames back with 'wlan delete profilename' despite putting 'netsh' in at the front.

What do I do now ? I am running 8.1 on an Asus tablet

thanks

To bad Windows 8 doesn't have an embedded user interface Wireless management tool.

Anyway, some additional intersting commands you can use regarding netsh wlan are:

To delete all known wireless profiles at once:

netsh wlan delete profile name=*

To see all your stored SSIDs and passwords at a glance:

netsh wlan show profile name=* key=clear | findstr /i /c:"SSID name" /c:"Key Content"

For the people who can't get it going with the right click (like me) or who want to edit networks that aren't available at the moment, I wrote a command-line utility calling the Windows API to open the connection properties dialog of an existing connection.

#ifndef UNICODE
#define UNICODE
#endif

#include <windows.h>
#include <wlanapi.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <wchar.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "wlanui.lib")

int wmain(int argc, wchar_t *argv[]) {
	if (argc < 2) {
		printf("Parameters: InterfaceGUID ProfileName\n\nInterfaces (you need the GUID field):\n");
		system("netsh wlan show interfaces");
		printf("\nProfile names (you need the ESSID):\n");
		system("netsh wlan show profiles");
		return 1;
	}

	GUID guid;
	wchar_t guidstr[100];
	WLAN_REASON_CODE* reasoncode = NULL;
	swprintf(guidstr, 100, L"{%ls}", argv[1]);
	CLSIDFromString(guidstr, &guid);
	WlanUIEditProfile(WLAN_UI_API_VERSION, argv[2], &guid, NULL, WLConnectionPage, NULL, reasoncode);
	return 0;
}

If you're not into compiling, you can download a built version here.

So this is just for editing, if you'd like to create a new conenction, create it with dummy authentication, then edit.

For deletion, there's netsh wlan delete profile name=ProfileName.

This is completely ridiculous.

Please fix this issue. I need to actually be able to edit wireless connection properties and just spent about about an hour looking for a way to edit them. What's worse is that this still existed in Windows 8, but I'm forced to use 8.1 now.

Open a run box window (or press win+R) then type cmd to open Windows 8 CLI.

To see stored wireless profiles, type:

   netsh wlan show profiles

This will show a list of saved profiles of your connected WLAN devices. Then you'll need to write/save/memorize the profile name that you want to change.

To see the stored key (WPA/WEP/etc) of a specific profile:

   netsh wlan show profiles name=[profile name] key=clear

You'll find the key content under security settings.

To delete a stored profile:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name]

This will delete the stored profile of every WLAN interface. If you want to delete the profile of a specific WLAN interface, you need to use the following:

   netsh wlan delete profile name=[profile name] interface=[interface name]

This is a good alternative to perform the common actions for "Manage Wireless Network" avoiding to use third party software under Windows 8.

Hope this can come in handy!

The saddest thing is that even when there's a topic of this activity over such a core feature missing, that is actually a step back from Win 8... even then nothing happens.

If I were a MS employee in charge, and I'd find the person who actually removed this code (or ordered it's removal), I'd have him work 48 hours a day to put it back, and go the extra mile to make it both user-friendly and expert-friendly.

Seriously, there are many features which have been removed from the WinAPI GUI, but not yet properly added in the Modern UI. Bluetooth device browsing is still very childish under Modern UI, not to mention network file browsing in it's entirety missing...

I did not understand what people meant by Win 8 is a beta version of an OS. Once they started implementing the core features (thus accessible from both Modern and the older UI) and got to roughly 10% of all the features, now I can see how many things are missing... how long till there will be Event-Log, Certification Manager and the likes under Modern UI...

Honestly, I do not understand where Win 9 could be going at this rate.

THANK YOU!!!  All I wanted to see was whether my 3 wireless networks I push onto the tablet were actually installed or not.  Not all 3 of them are active all the time and there IS a particular order I want them to connect.

The WiFi Profile Manager that you linked to was EXACTLY what I was looking for!

 I suggest calling them and complaining about this AND the other power-user features you noticed

This dose not work if their is a space in the SSID

C:\WINDOWS\system32>netsh wlan show profile name=XXXXXX XXXX key=clear
There is no such wireless interface on the system.

... really?! I'm not looking for an interface but a profile... nice QA boyz!

I'm starting to feel Vista-ish about Windows 8/8.1

There should be two flavors of Win 8... Desktop (no Metro nonsense) and Tablet.

I want to remove all my old hotel Wifi profiles and also about 20 wifi connections don't even exist anymore:

1. Using netsh only shows me the last 3 wifi networks I have connected to.

2. Following MrElectrifyer's advice to use Regedit works and I could see about 100 connections (although no passwords are shown). However, since I am currently travelling I don't want to mess around with registry just yet and also the side-effect of re-connecting to them messing up their name is a bit worrying.

BTW here is the OFFICIAL MICROSOFT solution for "Manage wireless network profiles" for Windows 8.1

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/windows-8/manage-wireless-network-profiles    --- lol they actually tell you to use Command Prompt.

• Edited by Amar33 Tuesday, December 10, 2013 7:22 PM

This dose not work if their is a space in the SSID

C:\WINDOWS\system32>netsh wlan show profile name=XXXXXX XXXX key=clear
There is no such wireless interface on the system.

... really?! I'm not looking for an interface but a profile... nice QA boyz!

I'm starting to feel Vista-ish about Windows 8/8.1

There should be two flavors of Win 8... Desktop (no Metro nonsense) and Tablet.

I agree - there should be something called Windows Metro that has NOTHING to do with Windows8 at all.. What they should have done is made Windows Metro an Application inside Windows8 and given it a shortcut like Win+Alt or something. But that's it. Fking with the primary OS is stupid.

Apart from the Mail App (Outlook 2013 totally sucks) I don't use any other Metro App at all. I've tried to, installed a couple dozen, played around with them, but there is just no use case for any of them on a business laptop (I have a touch screen too, so that's not the issue).

• Edited by Amar33 Tuesday, December 10, 2013 7:28 PM

it is not gone,IN WINDOWS 8

• Access Settings and then choose the Wireless icon.
• Right-click on the network and choose Forget this Network.

Updated in Windows 8.1: this is not possible anymore. Microsoft continues to dificult thigs to users...

Yes, right-clicking does nothing in Windows 8.1, so they removed even this small ability to manage networks.

I've read this entire thread and it is clear to me that some people are on Windows 8 whereas others are on Windows 8.1 (like me). The Windows 8 users don't understand Microsoft has changed things up again in Windows 8.1. While they brought back a "Start Button" (of sorts), they also removed right-clicking on a network to bring up a context menu.

Microsoft's official answer here is to use the Command Line for some of these things. Wasn't the introduction of the GUI in Windows suppose to make things easier for the less tech savvy? The Command Line is for advanced users, so how can they expect everyday users to be comfortable with it? It is a retrograde step IMHO.

So, please Microsoft, BRING BACK "MANAGE WIRELESS NETWORKS" IN THE CONTROL PANEL!!

• Edited by Jessica_DeenMVP, Moderator Friday, December 27, 2013 9:55 PM removed profanity

Not having an option to easily delete wireless network profiles exposes non-tech savvy users to very real security threats from hackers!

Suppose a non-tech savvy user purchases a new router and is testing it.  Many routers have a default name (SSID) such as NETGEAR or linksys, etc.  If the user clicks even just once on connect with the "connect automatically" box checked while no password is set, a profile is created that will automatically connect that computer from that time forward to any router with the same default name (SSID) that does not require a password (regardless of the MAC address: verified in Win 8.1).

Previously, a non-tech savvy user could easily delete the wireless profiles created during testing.  Not anymore!  This is where the security risk comes into play.  In the past people would run across the old profiles and delete them.  Not anymore!  How many computers out there are just waiting to connect automatically to a router with the same default router name or hotspot name that does not require a password?  If a person dares click on "connect even if not broadcasting option" this further exasperates the problem as the computer now begins to continuously transmit probe requests saying it would like to connect to a router with a specific name.

New readily available and inexpensive devices such as the WiFi Pineapple spoof probe requests with probe responses so that computers automatically connect to the WiFi Pineapple without the user being aware it has connected to a hacking device.  A person could literally drive around with this device and connect to many computers which are either sending out probe requests or simply to computers waiting to connect to common router/hotspot names (SSIDs) that do not require a password.

Microsoft bring back the option to easily delete network profiles!  This is a real security risk for non-tech savvy users who will now no longer run across their old profiles to delete and will not find any way to delete profiles they may have created while testing or even which a prior owner of the computer may have created exposing the user to very real security threats and risks!

• Edited by VLF4986 Sunday, December 29, 2013 4:18 AM

I guess for now I will revert back to Intel's Proset software, except it doesn't work like it use to, to manage the order of Wireless networks for example. In fact Intel removed that because of pressure from Microsoft to want Windows to manage those.... Intel should have not listened to Micr

Where is the Control Panel in Windows 8 for Manage Wireless Networks? I want to work with my wireless profiles.

Thanks

Here's a little batch file I created to use when I am working on computers. Just copy the text below & paste it into notepad & save it as wlan removal.bat (or anything you like as long as it has bat extension). Then run it anytime you want to view or delete network profiles.

@Echo off
:Start
netsh wlan show profile

Echo (To delete all network profiles enter A)
set /P INPUT= Enter network profile name to delete (C to cancel): %=%

If /I %INPUT%==C goto Cancel
If /I %INPUT%==A goto All

netsh wlan delete profile name=%INPUT%
set /P INPUT=Do you want to delete another profile? (Y/N): %=%

If /I %INPUT%==Y goto Start
If /I %INPUT%==N goto Cancel

:Cancel
Exit

:All
netsh wlan delete profile name=* i=*
Pause
Exit

• Edited by cjsasl Thursday, January 02, 2014 5:04 PM

Thanks - that was neat - except it still doesn't show all of my wifi profiles. I must have about 50 by now and it only shows 8.

I think what someone wrote above is happening for me, it isn't showing any profiles that have a space in their name.

Anyone else have this problem?

it is not gone,IN WINDOWS 8

• Access Settings and then choose the Wireless icon.
• Right-click on the network and choose Forget this Network.

Updated in Windows 8.1: this is not possible anymore. Microsoft continues to dificult thigs to users...

Yes, right-clicking does nothing in Windows 8.1, so they removed even this small ability to manage networks.

I've read this entire thread and it is clear to me that some people are on Windows 8 whereas others are on Windows 8.1 (like me). The Windows 8 users don't understand Microsoft has changed things up again in Windows 8.1. While they brought back a "Start Button" (of sorts), they also removed right-clicking on a network to bring up a context menu.

Microsoft's official answer here is to use the Command Line for some of these things. Wasn't the introduction of the GUI in Windows suppose to make things easier for the less tech savvy? The Command Line is for advanced users, so how can they expect everyday users to be comfortable with it? It is a retrograde step IMHO.

So, please Microsoft, BRING BACK "MANAGE WIRELESS NETWORKS" IN THE CONTROL PANEL!!

The fact that you have to use command line on this or use a third party tool is sad.

My next PC will be Google Chrome.

• Proposed as answer by dradmin 22 hours 23 minutes ago

You can remove the profiles with the numerals only by deleting them from the registry or by using Intel PROSet. The command prompt as well as 3rd party utility didn't work--they would delete the profile, but the next time I would connect, I would get the little numbers re-appended (e.g., "linksys 2 3").

When you have multiple APs with the same name but different numbers indicating which AP you're using (e.g., "mywifi1" for first floor and "mywifi2" for second floor), having Microsoft also decide to add their own numbers creates confusion. The user hovers over the WiFi icon and sees "mywifi 2" and thinks they're connected to the second floor AP and get irritated with you because they've got one or two bars instead of the five bars they should expect to see if connected to "mywifi2.