Mac Wi-Fi keeps disconnecting? How to find the cause

How do I find out why my Mac’s Wi-Fi drops?

macOS has two built-in tools for this: Wi-Fi Recommendations and Wireless Diagnostics.

1. Click Wi-Fi in the menu bar or in Control Center. If you see Wi-Fi Recommendations in the menu, choose it: your Mac has detected an issue and has suggestions. It isn’t available for personal hotspots or some enterprise networks.
2. Quit your open apps, and join the Wi-Fi network that keeps dropping.
3. Hold down the Option key, click Wi-Fi in the menu bar, then choose Open Wireless Diagnostics.

4. Follow the onscreen instructions. For a connection that drops now and then, choose to monitor it. Monitoring continues as long as the Monitor pane stays open and you don’t change Wi-Fi networks. When it finds an issue, it describes it.
5. In the Summary, click the Info buttons to read about each item.

Wireless Diagnostics doesn’t change your network settings. It also saves a report in /var/tmp, with a name starting WirelessDiagnostics, that you can send to your internet provider or IT support.

Is the signal too weak where I sit?

Distance, walls and other radio sources weaken Wi-Fi, and Apple lists dropped connections among the symptoms. To see how strong your signal is, hold Option and click Wi-Fi: RSSI is the signal strength in dBm, where numbers closer to zero are stronger. Apple says a Mac starts looking for a stronger access point when the signal falls to −75 dBm. What’s a good Wi-Fi signal? dBm explained explains the numbers.

To get a cleaner signal, Apple suggests:

1. Bring your Mac closer to the router.
2. Keep away from power cables, microwave ovens, fluorescent lights, wireless video cameras and cordless phones.
3. Move USB 3 or Thunderbolt 3 devices and hubs farther from your Mac, and don’t put them on top of it.
4. Connect to the 5 GHz band where you can: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi share the 2.4 GHz band.

What sits between your Mac and the router matters too. Apple rates materials like this:

Does forgetting the network help?

Forgetting a network and joining it again gives your Mac a fresh start with it. Apple suggests it after a router’s settings change.

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Wi-Fi in the sidebar.
2. Click Details next to the network you’re connected to.
3. Click Forget This Network, then click Remove to confirm.
4. Join the network again from the Wi-Fi menu, and enter its password.

Could the private Wi-Fi address cause it?

Sometimes. Your Mac uses a private Wi-Fi address for each network to reduce tracking. Apple notes that when a Mac can’t connect or loses access to network resources, a private address may be interfering with a network that identifies devices by their address, such as at work or school.

In the same Details sheet, the Private Wi-Fi address pop-up menu offers Off, Fixed and Rotating. A Rotating address changes every two weeks. If the drops started on a network that identifies devices, ask its administrator which setting to use.

Why does my Mac’s Wi-Fi drop when it sleeps?

Sleep settings decide what your Mac does on the network while it sleeps. On a Mac laptop:

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Battery.
2. Click Options.
3. Wake for network access wakes your Mac to provide shared resources, such as shared printers or Music playlists. Choose always, on power adapter only, or never.
4. To keep a plugged-in Mac awake while its display is off, turn on “Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off”.

On a Mac desktop, both settings are in System Settings > Energy. Apple notes that keeping a Mac awake uses more power.

Does my Mac keep switching networks?

It might be. A Mac decides when to move to another access point from the signal strength, and from other networks it has joined before that are set to auto-join. If it keeps hopping to a weaker network, such as a neighbor’s or a café’s, stop that network from joining by itself:

1. In System Settings > Wi-Fi, click the More button next to that network under Known Networks.
2. Choose Auto-Join to turn it off.

What else should I check?

• The router. Restart it, install its latest firmware, and use Apple’s recommended settings, such as one network name for every band.
• macOS. Update it, from another network if you have to.
• VPN or security software. Software that monitors your network can affect the connection.
• Location Services. In System Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, click Details next to System Services and turn on Networking and wireless. Apple says it helps Wi-Fi work well.
• Another network. If your Mac stays connected elsewhere, the problem is with the first network, not the Mac.

Questions people also ask

Why does my MacBook drop Wi-Fi when my phone doesn’t?

Each device hears the router differently: Apple notes that antennas vary from model to model. Run Wireless Diagnostics on the Mac, and compare its signal where you sit.

Does Wireless Diagnostics change my settings?

No. It analyzes the connection and suggests changes, and you decide what to change.

Is it my Wi-Fi or my internet?

If your Mac stays on the Wi-Fi network but websites stop loading, the internet connection is the likely cause. How to test internet speed on a Mac shows how to check it.