Sometimes there is an urge to connect to an unknown Wi-Fi network simply because it is an open network without a security key. In this article, I will show you How to Hide or Block Wi-Fi Networks on Windows. Please see how to Enable Find My Device on Windows 11, How to Unblock Microsoft Store on Windows 11, learn “The differences between Private and Public networks in Windows to VPN?“, and How to fix DISM Error 87: The package is unknown.
But due to security reasons, it is very important to hide or block any unknown Wi-Fi network from getting to your computer simply because someone using your computer may inadvertently connect to any Wi-Fi network found on your computer and expose your computer to attack.
Depending on what you want to achieve you can either block a single Wi-Fi Network or all unknown Wi-Fi Networks on your computer. You can also read more on how to Prevent Users from Seeing Wi-Fi Password on Windows, Reveal the WiFi password of the Network you are connected to in Windows, Fix Wi-Fi not connecting on Windows 11
Steps to Hide or Block Wi-Fi Networks on Windows
1. Search for Command Prompt and run as Administrator.
2. These are the current Wi-Fi Network Connections my computer is detecting. I will be trying to block the Wi-Fi Connection with the name Infinix NOTE 7.
3. On Command Prompt screen, type netsh wlan add filter permission=block ssid=”Name of Wi-Fi Network” networktype=infrastructure and press the Enter key on the keyboard of your computer.
Parameters:
4. In the above command, confirm you type the correct Wi-Fi Network Name or SSID that you want to block from appearing on your computer.
The below image shows when the command is executed successfully, you will see this message Filter is added on the system successfully and the Wi-Fi Network will be blocked from appearing on your computer.
If you check the Wi-Fi Connections you will not see SSID Infinix NOTE 7 again.
The negative part to the above command is that it can only block Wi-Fi Networks using the Network Name or SSID. If the Owner of the Wi-Fi Network rename it, you will see the new name appearing on your computer again.
Unblock
5. Just the way it was easy to block Wi-Fi Network, it is equally easy to unblock by running this command netsh wlan delete filter permission=block ssid=”Name of WiFi Network” networktype=infrastructure
Immediately you run the above command the SSID will start showing again.
Block All Unknown Wi-Fi Networks
6. Instead of blocking Wi-Fi networks one after the other, you can just add the Wi-Fi Network to the Allow list and block any other Wi-Fi network not on the list.
Whitelist your Wi-Fi Network by running this command: netsh wlan add filter permission=allow ssid=”Name of WIFI Network” networktype=infrastructure
7. In case you have other Wi-Fi Networks you want to whitelist you can just add the SSID and run the command.
So after doing this the next step is to block all other Wi-Fi Networks on your computer by using the below command:
netsh wlan add filter permission=denyall networktype=infrastructure
List of Unblocked and Blocked Wi-Fi Networks
8. You can view all the Wi-Fi Networks by running this command netsh wlan show filters.
The image below show the list of all the Allow and Block Wi-Fi Networks list on your computer.
You can remove this filter anytime and allow other Wi-Fi Networks to show by running this command:
netsh wlan delete filter permission=denyall networktype=infrastructure
FAQs
You can do this inside the router’s settings by disabling the SSID broadcast option. This stops the router from spreading or broadcasting the network name to nearby devices. Even when the SSID is hidden it can still be accessible by people who know the SSID and can manually entered it.
You will need to constantly change the password and limit those who have access to the password, though the password can be compromised by those that have it and they can share to others. The best option is to block the MAC address of their devices on the router via the access control or a Wi-Fi management feature.
I hope you found this blog post on How to Hide or Block Wi-Fi Networks on Windows Interesting and helpful. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask in the comment section.
