How To Remove A Network Adapter In Windows 10 And Windows 11

How to Remove a Network Adapter in Windows 10 and Windows 11

Windows automatically updates the list of network adapters that are currently connected to your computer. When you add a new network connection, whether it's a new Bluetooth connection, a new Wi-Fi dongle, or a virtual network adapter, it will be listed under Network Connections in the Device Manager.

It is possible that you will want to remove an old network adapter from the list from time to time in order to keep it organized and to make it easier to keep track of your active network adapters.

Continue reading to find out how to uninstall a network adapter from Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers.

What Is a Network Adapter?

A network adapter is a piece of hardware that allows your computer to communicate with other computers and devices over a network connection. A wireless network adapter, for example, may be present on your laptop to allow for Wi-Fi connections, as may an Ethernet port, which may be present to allow for Ethernet connections. You may also have a Bluetooth network adapter, which allows you to connect to Bluetooth devices, among other things.

In order for our devices to communicate, network adapters make it simple for them to do so. They do this by largely automating the process of configuring and managing active network connections between devices, while also making it easier to troubleshoot when something goes wrong.

Although not specifically mentioned in this article, network adapters may also be referred to as Network Interface Cards (NICs), but these are typically used to refer to expansion cards that are plugged into a system, such as a PCIe Wi-Fi card.

1. Remove the network adapter from the list of available network connections

Remove a network adapter from Windows can be accomplished in a number of ways. The first is through Network Connections. This window contains a list of all of your network connections, and it is a convenient way to manage your network adapters and routers.

1. Launch the File Explorer program.

2. Paste Control PanelNetwork and InternetNetwork Connections into the address bar of the File Explorer window and press Enter.

3. Right-click the network adapter you want to remove and select Delete from the pop-up menu that appears.

The network adapter will be uninstalled, and you will have successfully removed it from your computer. Although the Delete button is always available, as you can see in the screenshot, it is not always accessible. If you find that the Delete button for the network adapter is greyed out, proceed to the next section.

2. Using the Device Manager, uninstall the network adapter from your computer

After that, you can try to uninstall the network adapter by using the Device Manager program. Using the Device Manager, which is a Windows utility, you can see and manage all of the devices that are connected to your computer. These devices include things like a mouse, keyboard, graphics card, and network adapter.

Enter Device Manager in the Start menu search bar and select the best match from the list that appears.

1. Scroll down and select Network adapters from the drop-down menu by clicking on the arrow icon.

2. Right-click the network adapter you want to uninstall and select Uninstall device from the drop-down menu.

3. Uninstall should be selected when the warning appears.

4. Continue until the task is completed.

3. Using the Command Prompt, uninstall the Network Profile that you created

If the network adapter is still refusing to cooperate, you can try removing the network adapter profile from your system using the Command Prompt as a last resort.

Run as Administrator by typing cmd into your Start menu search bar and selecting Run as Administrator.

1. To remove an Ethernet (wired) connection, enter the command netsh lan show profiles in your terminal window.

2. However, if you're attempting to disconnect from a Wi-Fi (wireless) network, enter: netsh wlan show profiles.

3. Have you received a warning that the Wired or Wireless Autoconfig Service is not functioning properly? In the Start menu search bar, type services and select the best match. Then scroll down and find Wired AutoConfig or WLAN Autoconfig, right-click on it, and select Start from the context menu.

4. If you received a warning message, you should now enter the commands from steps two or three that were previously entered.

5: Locate the network adapter from the list that you want to remove and make a note of the interface name that can be found at the top of each profile.

6. To remove a wired network adapter interface, enter the following command into the command prompt: netsh lan delete profile interface="InterfaceName" interface="InterfaceName" interface="InterfaceName" interface="InterfaceName"

7. Alternately, you can type the following command to uninstall a wireless network adapter interface: netsh wlan delete profile interface="InterfaceName" interface="InterfaceName" interface="InterfaceName" interface="InterfaceName"

Now that you've deleted the network adapter profile from Windows, you should be able to delete the network adapter from the Network Connections window or the Device Manager, whichever you prefer.

4. The Windows Registry is used to remove network adapter settings

Another option is to delete the network adapter settings from the Windows Registry, which can be done through the Control Panel. But, first, you'll want to double-check the specifics of the adapter you're planning to uninstall.

1. Open the Command Prompt and type ipconfig into the text box. Locate the network adapter you wish to uninstall, make a note of its IPv4 address, and keep the Command Prompt window open while doing so.

2. Type regedit into your Start menu search bar and select the best match from the results.

3. Head to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces.

4. Scroll through the list of interfaces, making a note of the interface DhcpIPAddress and comparing it to the IPv4 address in the Command Prompt. When you find a match, you've discovered the network adapter that corresponds to it.

5. In the Windows Registry, right-click the network adapter interface name (the long alphanumeric string) and select Delete from the context menu.

This is similar to the Command Prompt fix in that it does not completely remove the network adapter from your computer. However, you will still need to complete the removal of the network adapter by using either the Network Connections window or the Device Manager.

In Conclusion

You are not required to remove all of your old network adapters. When you upgrade or change your hardware configuration, Windows will often take care of the task for you. However, this can result in a list of outdated network adapters appearing on your computer's hard drive.

Furthermore, if the host software has not automatically cleaned up any virtual network adapters associated with old virtual machines that are no longer in use, you may want to remove those virtual network adapters. In my case, the virtual machine software generated over 20 different virtual network adapters, resulting in a cluttered window with numerous options.

Cleaning up your network adapter list should take no more than a minute of your time, and it will make it much easier to determine which connection is having problems when the need arises in the future. If there are only one or two different options in the Network Connections window, you'll be able to pinpoint exactly which connection is having difficulties.