Chromebook keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi (SOLVED)

Network issues are something no one wants on any device, but this is especially problematic if your device depends on the internet connection as much as Chromebooks do. Some users report that their Chromebook keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi repeatedly and we have a few solutions to offer. Check them out below.

Table of contents:

1. Restart your Chromebook and the router
2. Forget the network and connect again
3. Update your Chromebook
4. Disable VPN and proxies
5. Powerwash your Chromebook and set it up again

How to fix Chromebook network issues

1. Restart your Chromebook and the router

The best way to start any Wi-Fi-related troubleshooting is to simply restart the device that has connectivity issues and your router and modem. There might be a slight interference and a reboot usually solves that. Keep your Chromebook closer to the router, if possible, too.

Also, it won’t cost you to disconnect some devices and try connecting again to avoid IP conflicts and exhaustion. If that doesn’t work and your Chromebook keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi, we suggest forgetting the network.

2. Forget the network and connect again

The next troubleshooting step is to forget the network and connect again. This is usually a great fix on Android devices and Chrome OS is not all that different. Once you forget the network and connect again with the credentials, the issue should be resolved.

Here’s how to forget the network and re-connect on your Chromebook:

1. Click on the notification area in the taskbar and then on the arrow under the Wi-Fi icon.
2. Click on the cog icon to open Network settings.
3. Now, click Forget and restart your Chromebook.
4. Once it boots and you sign in, connect again and enter credentials.
5. Get back to Network settings and toggle On the Prefer this network option.

3. Update your Chromebook

Keeping your Chromebook up to date is not a hard task since this is done automatically in the background. However, you can check for updates manually. Also, if you want the most polished experience, we highly recommend sticking to the Stable update channel.

Here’s how to update your Chromebook manually:

1. Open Settings.
2. Open About Chrome OS.
3. Click or tap Check for updates.
4. Reboot your device once an update is installed.

4. Disable VPN and proxies

If you run any kind of VPN or proxy on your Chromebook, we suggest disabling them temporarily. These tools are more than handy but, on rare occasions, they can cause connectivity issues. It’s worth a try and, if you find out that the problem was in VPN or proxy, you can look for alternatives.

You can disable VPN from the app and proxy in Settings > Network > Wi-Fi > Your Network > Proxy.

5. Powerwash your Chromebook and set it up again

Finally, if none of the previous steps worked, you can Powerwash your Chromebook. Powerwashing in Chrome OS is a fancy term for factory reset. Luckily, because of the network-based nature of the platform, you won’t lose anything and almost everything can be restored from a backup.

Here’s how to Powerwash (Factory reset) your Chromebook in a few simple steps:

1. Download Google One and back up your data. Don’t forget to back up all files from the internal storage to an external storage or Google Drive.
2. Open Settings.
3. Select Advanced from the left pane.
4. Open Reset settings.
5. Tap Reset.

Hopefully, now your Chromebook won’t keep disconnecting from Wi-Fi. Thank you for reading and don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook. We look forward to hearing from you.

Editor’s note: This article was initially published in January 2022. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.