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How to Disable Wi-Fi Sense on Windows 10 & 11 (Registry)

Disable WiFi Sense Windows 10 11 registry editor tutorial security privacy settings

To disable Wi-Fi Sense in Windows 10 and 11, open Registry Editor (Windows + R, type regedit), navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WcmSvc\wifinetworkmanager\config, and set the AutoConnectAllowedOEM DWORD to 0. Then create the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\WiFi\AllowAutoConnectToWiFiSenseHotspots with a DWORD named value set to 0. Restart your PC and Windows will stop auto-connecting to open hotspots and stop reporting Wi-Fi data to Microsoft’s hotspot service.

Applies to: Windows 10 (22H2) and Windows 11 (23H2, 24H2, 25H2) | Last updated: May 18, 2026

How to Disable Wi-Fi Sense in Windows 10 & 11 Using Registry Editor

Key Takeaways

  • Wi-Fi Sense is mostly deprecated. Microsoft removed the original “share Wi-Fi with contacts” feature back in Windows 10 build 14342 (May 2016). What remains today are two related auto-connect behaviors that you can still control.
  • This tweak still controls real settings in 2026. It disables Windows automatically connecting to open hotspots suggested by Microsoft, and it stops reporting your detected Wi-Fi networks back to the Microsoft hotspot/paid Wi-Fi service.
  • Two methods work. The Settings UI toggle covers the everyday user-facing switch (“Connect to suggested open hotspots”). The Registry method enforces both that toggle and the OEM-level auto-connect behavior at machine level so it cannot be flipped back on by Windows updates or OEM provisioning.
  • It does not break your saved networks. Your home, work, and any manually-connected Wi-Fi networks continue to work exactly as before. Only the automatic-connect-to-strangers behavior is turned off.
  • The change is fully reversible. Flip the same DWORD values back to 1 (or delete the policy key) and restart to re-enable the auto-connect features.

Quick Steps:

  1. Open Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi and turn off Connect to suggested open hotspots (if present).
  2. Press Windows + R, type regedit, press Enter.
  3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WcmSvc\wifinetworkmanager\config and set AutoConnectAllowedOEM (DWORD) to 0.
  4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\WiFi, create a new key called AllowAutoConnectToWiFiSenseHotspots, and inside it create a DWORD named value set to 0.
  5. Restart your PC.

In This Guide

This guide covers two ways to disable what is left of Wi-Fi Sense on a modern Windows install:

  • Method 1: Settings UI — Flip the user-facing toggle for suggested open hotspots. Easiest, no admin required.
  • Method 2: Registry Editor — Enforce both auto-connect controls at machine level so the setting survives Windows updates and OEM image refreshes. (Recommended for clean installs and bulk setups.)

What Wi-Fi Sense Actually Does in 2026

Wi-Fi Sense started life in Windows Phone 8.1 and arrived on Windows 10 in 2015 with three features: connect to open hotspots suggested by Microsoft, sign you in to paid Wi-Fi services, and share your saved Wi-Fi passwords with your Outlook, Skype, and Facebook contacts. The contact-sharing feature was the one that triggered every “Wi-Fi Sense is a security disaster” article you have ever read.

Microsoft removed the contact-sharing feature in May 2016 (Windows 10 build 14342). It is gone — there is no toggle for it, no policy for it, and the registry values that controlled it no longer do anything. So when an article tells you “disable Wi-Fi Sense to stop sharing your Wi-Fi password with strangers”, that ship sailed nearly a decade ago.

What remains under the “Wi-Fi Sense” umbrella in Windows 10 and 11 today is two things, and these are the things this guide actually disables:

  • Connect to suggested open hotspots. Windows compares the open networks it sees to a Microsoft-maintained list of “known good” public hotspots and will automatically connect to them. The list is opaque, you have no audit over it, and on a hotel or airport visit this can pull you onto a network you did not intentionally pick.
  • OEM-provisioned auto-connect. The AutoConnectAllowedOEM value lets your laptop’s OEM (Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.) ship with the device pre-configured to auto-connect to certain partner Wi-Fi networks. Most consumer machines do not actively use this, but it is on by default and the value is writable by OEM provisioning scripts.
  • Paid Wi-Fi and cellular services reporting. Tied to the same policy branch — Windows will signal back to Microsoft’s service when you connect to a network that requires payment, so the OS can offer the “Buy Wi-Fi” experience. Disabling the policy key turns this off too.

On a fresh install of Windows 11 24H2, the “Connect to suggested open hotspots” toggle is off by default in the Settings UI — but the underlying machine-wide policy is not enforced, and OEM images frequently flip AutoConnectAllowedOEM back on during first-boot provisioning. That is why the Registry method below is worth applying even if the UI looks correct.

Method 1: Disable It in the Settings UI

The user-facing toggle lives in Network & Internet settings and is the fastest way to turn off the suggested-open-hotspots behavior for the current user account.

  1. Open Settings (Windows + I).
  2. Go to Network & Internet > Wi-Fi.
  3. Look for Connect to suggested open hotspots. If you see it, switch it off.
  4. Click Manage known networks and review the saved list. Remove any “Free Public Wi-Fi” style entries you do not recognize — these are common leftovers from past auto-connects.

Note: On clean installs of Windows 11 24H2 and newer, the “Connect to suggested open hotspots” toggle may not be visible at all because Microsoft has been progressively retiring the UI surface for this feature. The setting still exists at the policy layer, which is exactly why the Registry method below is the more reliable approach.

Method 2: Disable Wi-Fi Sense in the Registry

The Registry method enforces both controls at machine level (HKLM), so they survive Windows updates, user profile resets, and OEM provisioning scripts. This is what I use on every PC I clean-install in my repair shop, and it is the same change Winhance makes under the hood.

Step 1: Open Registry Editor

Press Windows + R, type regedit, and press Enter. Click Yes at the User Account Control prompt to launch Registry Editor with administrator rights.

Step 2: Disable OEM auto-connect

Paste this path into the Registry Editor address bar at the top and press Enter:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WcmSvc\wifinetworkmanager\config

In the right pane, look for a value named AutoConnectAllowedOEM. If it exists, double-click it and change Value data to 0. If it does not exist, right-click in the empty space and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, name it AutoConnectAllowedOEM, then set the value to 0.

Step 3: Block the suggested-hotspot policy

Now navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\WiFi

Right-click the WiFi folder in the left sidebar and choose New > Key. Name the new key exactly AllowAutoConnectToWiFiSenseHotspots and press Enter. Click into the new key, right-click in the empty space on the right, and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it value (lowercase, exactly as shown), then double-click it and set Value data to 0.

Step 4: Restart your PC

Close Registry Editor and restart. The Wi-Fi Sense auto-connect behaviors are read at boot, so the changes do not fully apply until the next start.

Or do it in one command

If you would rather skip the manual clicking, open an Admin Terminal (right-click Start > Terminal (Admin)) and run the two reg add commands below. They work in both Command Prompt and PowerShell:

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WcmSvc\wifinetworkmanager\config" /v AutoConnectAllowedOEM /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\WiFi\AllowAutoConnectToWiFiSenseHotspots" /v value /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Restart your PC after running both commands.

Tip: If you are clean-installing Windows anyway, UnattendedWinstall already bakes both of these registry changes into its answer file, so the OS is configured correctly from first boot — no manual registry edits needed.

Verify the Change Took Effect

After the restart, re-open Registry Editor and confirm both values are still 0. Then walk into range of an open Wi-Fi network you have never connected to before — Windows should leave you disconnected and show the network as “Open” in the network list without auto-joining. If you previously saw the machine jump onto strange networks, that behavior should stop.

If you want to dig deeper, open an Admin Terminal and run netsh wlan show profiles to list every saved Wi-Fi profile, then delete anything suspicious with netsh wlan delete profile name="ProfileNameHere".

Use Winhance to Skip the Manual Work

I built Winhance after years of running the same registry tweaks on every machine that came through my repair shop. It has a one-click toggle for Wi-Fi Sense that applies the exact same registry changes shown above, alongside dozens of other privacy and performance settings.

If you are also working through Windows privacy hardening, the same approach (a single registry change in HKLM) applies to a lot of related areas. Worth looking at if you have not already:

Troubleshooting

The registry path does not exist

Some Windows installs do not have the full PolicyManager\default\WiFi branch present until a policy has been applied. Create the missing folders manually by right-clicking the last existing parent key and choosing New > Key, then naming each one to match the path exactly.

Changes do not apply after restart

Double-check that both DWORD values are spelled exactly as shown and that they are set to 0 as 32-bit DWORDs. A common mistake is creating a string value (REG_SZ) instead of a DWORD. If the names are right and the data is 0, the changes are live — Windows just will not auto-connect to anything that requires the disabled behavior.

Registry Editor will not open (“Access denied”)

You need administrator rights to write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Sign in with an admin account, or right-click Start and open Terminal (Admin), then type regedit and press Enter.

Windows is still connecting to networks I did not pick

After applying the registry changes, also open Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Manage known networks and remove any saved networks you do not recognize. Each saved profile has its own “Connect automatically when in range” flag — Wi-Fi Sense is not the only path Windows uses to auto-connect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Wi-Fi Sense still a thing in 2026?

Mostly no. The original Wi-Fi Sense feature — sharing your Wi-Fi passwords with Outlook, Skype, and Facebook contacts — was removed by Microsoft in May 2016 (Windows 10 build 14342) and never came back. What people still call “Wi-Fi Sense” in 2026 is really two separate auto-connect behaviors that live under the same registry branches: automatic connection to suggested open hotspots, and OEM-provisioned auto-connect. Both are what this guide actually disables.

What does this tweak actually disable on a modern Windows install?

Two things. First, Windows will stop automatically connecting to open Wi-Fi hotspots that Microsoft’s hotspot service considers “known good”. Second, your laptop’s OEM (Dell, HP, Lenovo, and others) will no longer be able to silently provision auto-connect entries for partner networks. As a side effect, the policy key also disables reporting to Microsoft’s paid Wi-Fi service. Your saved home and work networks are unaffected.

Will this break my saved Wi-Fi networks?

No. The change only affects automatic connection to networks you have not personally added. Every network you have ever clicked Connect on stays in Manage known networks and continues to auto-connect normally when in range. You can still manually connect to any new network, open or secured.

Does this work on both Windows 10 and Windows 11?

Yes. The registry paths and DWORD values are identical on Windows 10 22H2 and every shipping build of Windows 11 (23H2, 24H2, 25H2). I have tested it on all four during clean-install setups.

Can I re-enable Wi-Fi Sense later?

Yes, just reverse the two values. Set AutoConnectAllowedOEM back to 1, then either set value under AllowAutoConnectToWiFiSenseHotspots to 1 or delete the AllowAutoConnectToWiFiSenseHotspots key entirely. Restart and Windows is back to its default auto-connect behavior.

Do I need to do this if I am already on a clean install of Windows 11 24H2?

The “Connect to suggested open hotspots” toggle is off by default in the Settings UI on recent builds, but the underlying machine-wide policy is not enforced and the OEM auto-connect value sits at 1 in fresh images. Applying the registry change locks both at 0 so future Windows updates, profile resets, or OEM provisioning scripts cannot flip them back on. Worth doing on a fresh install, even if the UI looks correct.

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