Android Won't Connect to Wi-Fi — Step-by-Step Fixes
Your Android phone refuses to join Wi-Fi or keeps dropping the connection. Work through these proven fixes — from the obvious to the less obvious — and you'll likely be back online in minutes.
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When an Android phone won't connect to Wi-Fi, the problem is almost always one of a handful of things: a glitchy network stack, a saved password that's gone stale, or a router hiccup. Here's how to work through them in order.
Start With the Basics
- Toggle Wi-Fi off and back on. Pull down your notification shade and tap the Wi-Fi icon twice — off, then on. Wait ten seconds between.
- Restart the phone. Hold the power button, tap Restart, and try reconnecting after it boots.
- Restart your router. Unplug it from power, wait 30 seconds, plug it back in. Give it a full minute to come back up before testing.
Forget and Rejoin the Network
A saved Wi-Fi entry can hold a wrong password or a bad IP lease. Forgetting it forces a clean start.
- Go to Settings → Network & Internet → Wi-Fi (on Samsung: Settings → Connections → Wi-Fi).
- Tap the network name, then tap Forget.
- Find the network again, tap it, and enter the password fresh.
Check the Obvious Blockers
- Wrong password. Passwords are case-sensitive. Ask someone who knows it to type it in front of you.
- Airplane mode is on. Check your quick settings panel — it turns off all radios including Wi-Fi.
- MAC address randomization. Some routers block devices with randomized MACs. Try setting it to Use device MAC under Wi-Fi → (network name) → Privacy.
Reset Network Settings
If none of the above works, resetting network settings clears all saved Wi-Fi passwords, Bluetooth pairings, and cellular settings — but leaves your apps and files alone.
- Go to Settings → General Management → Reset → Reset network settings (Samsung). On stock Android (Pixel): Settings → System → Reset options → Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth.
- Confirm the reset.
- Rejoin your Wi-Fi networks by entering passwords again.
Check for a Software Update
Network bugs are sometimes fixed in software updates. Go to Settings → Software update and install anything pending, then test Wi-Fi again.
Still stuck? Ask us and describe exactly what happens when you try to connect — the error message matters.
Frequently asked questions
My Android says 'Connected' but I still have no internet. What's going on?
This usually means the phone joined the Wi-Fi network but the router can't reach the internet — or the router issued the phone a bad IP address. Restart your router first. If that doesn't help, forget the network on your phone and reconnect. You can also try switching to a different DNS: go to Settings → Network & Internet → Private DNS and enter 'dns.google' as the hostname.
Wi-Fi works fine on every other device — why just my Android?
The issue is almost certainly with your phone's saved network entry or network settings rather than the router. Forget the network on your phone and rejoin it, then try the network settings reset described above. Also check whether a VPN app is running in the background — some VPNs block Wi-Fi connectivity unexpectedly.
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