Quick fix: restart your router and PC first. If that fails, open Command Prompt as administrator and run ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew, then ipconfig /flushdns. Still stuck? Run the Windows Network Reset (Settings › Network & Internet › Advanced network settings › Network reset) and reboot.

When Windows says you are connected to Wi-Fi but no web page loads, the connection between your PC and the router is working — the break is somewhere between the router and the wider internet, or in how your PC is getting its network address. That is good news: it narrows the problem to a short list of causes you can check yourself.

Why “Wi-Fi connected but no internet” happens

The most common reasons, roughly in order of how often they are the cause:

  • The router or modem has lost its internet link — an outage, or the modem needs a restart. Your PC still connects to the router, so Wi-Fi looks fine.
  • A bad IP address lease — your PC did not get a valid address from the router (you may see an address starting 169.254).
  • DNS is not resolving — the connection works but your PC cannot turn website names into addresses.
  • A stale network stack on the PC — Winsock or TCP/IP settings are in a bad state and need resetting.
  • VPN or security software left the network in a broken state after disconnecting or updating.
  • An outdated or glitchy Wi-Fi adapter driver.
  • Incorrect date and time, which breaks the secure handshake many sites need.
Quick test: on your phone, turn off mobile data and use the same Wi-Fi. If your phone also has no internet, the problem is the router or the internet service, not your PC — skip to the router section.

Step-by-step fix

1. Restart the modem, router and PC

  1. Power the modem and router downUnplug both from power. If they are one combined unit, unplug that. Wait 30 seconds.
  2. Power the modem back firstPlug in the modem, wait until its lights are steady (about a minute), then plug in the router and wait another minute.
  3. Restart WindowsA full restart clears temporary network state. Use Start › Power › Restart rather than Shut down, which on Windows 10/11 does not fully reset the network stack by default.

This alone fixes a large share of cases. If the internet light on the modem is off or red after it restarts, the issue is with the line or the provider — contact them before troubleshooting Windows further.

2. Renew your IP address and flush DNS

Open Command Prompt as administrator: press the Start button, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator. Run these one at a time:

  1. ipconfig /release — gives up the current address.
  2. ipconfig /renew — requests a fresh one from the router.
  3. ipconfig /flushdns — clears the local DNS cache.
  4. netsh winsock reset — resets the Winsock catalog (a common cause of ‘connected, no internet’).
  5. netsh int ip reset — resets the TCP/IP stack.
The last two commands require a restart to take effect, and they will remove any custom network settings you added manually (such as a fixed IP or custom DNS). Note those down first if you use them.

Restart the PC and test again.

3. Check your date, time and time zone

An incorrect clock breaks the certificate check that secure sites rely on, which can look like ‘no internet’ in the browser even though other things work. In Windows 11 go to Settings › Time & language › Date & time; in Windows 10, Settings › Time & Language › Date & time. Turn on Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically, then click Sync now.

4. Try a different DNS server

If pages by name will not load but you can reach a numeric address, DNS is the problem. Switch to a public resolver:

  1. Open network adapter settingsWindows 11: Settings › Network & Internet › Wi-Fi › Hardware properties. Windows 10: Settings › Network & Internet › Status › Change adapter options, then right-click your Wi-Fi › Properties.
  2. Edit the DNS settingsWindows 11: next to ‘DNS server assignment’ choose Edit › Manual, turn on IPv4. Windows 10: select ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’ › Properties › ‘Use the following DNS server addresses’.
  3. Enter two addressesPreferred 1.1.1.1 and Alternate 1.0.0.1 (Cloudflare), or 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 (Google). Save, then run ipconfig /flushdns again.

For the full walkthrough see our guide on how to change DNS settings.

5. Run the Windows Network Reset

This removes and reinstalls every network adapter and returns networking components to defaults. It is the reliable ‘reset everything’ option.

  • Windows 11: Settings › Network & Internet › Advanced network settings › Network reset › Reset now.
  • Windows 10: Settings › Network & Internet › Status › Network reset › Reset now.

Windows restarts after about five minutes. You will need to reconnect to Wi-Fi and re-enter the password. Our dedicated guide covers this in detail: reset network settings on Windows 10 and 11.

6. Update or reinstall the Wi-Fi adapter driver

  1. Open Device ManagerRight-click Start › Device Manager › expand ‘Network adapters’.
  2. Update the driverRight-click your wireless adapter › Update driver › Search automatically. If Windows finds nothing, download the latest driver from your laptop maker’s support page using another device or a phone hotspot.
  3. If still broken, reinstallRight-click the adapter › Uninstall device (do not tick ‘delete the driver software’) › restart. Windows reinstalls a fresh copy on boot.

If the first fixes did not work

  • Disable IPv6 temporarily. In the adapter’s Properties, untick ‘Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)’, click OK, and test. Some routers handle IPv6 poorly.
  • Turn off any VPN and its ‘kill switch’, then reboot. A VPN that crashed can leave routing broken.
  • Boot into Safe Mode with Networking. If the internet works there, a startup program or third-party security tool is interfering — uninstall recently added network or ‘optimizer’ software.
  • Check the router’s admin page (usually 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1). If its status page shows no WAN/internet connection, the problem is upstream of your PC entirely.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Running only ipconfig /renew without /release first — the renew often returns the same bad lease.
  • Setting a manual IP address to ‘fix’ it and forgetting about it later, which then breaks the connection on a different network.
  • Installing a third-party ‘driver updater’ or ‘network booster’ tool — these rarely help and often add the very software that caused the problem.
  • Skipping the phone test, then spending an hour on Windows when the router was the issue.