Share via

Unable to Detect Wireless Adapter on Surface 5

Anonymous
2025-01-20T18:24:05+00:00

Hello,

I’ve been using my school’s Wi-Fi without any issues, but the connection was suddenly disconnected. I tried reconnecting by following the instructions provided by my school.

However, during the setup process, my laptop (Surface 5) displayed an error message saying it couldn’t detect the wireless adapter and asked me to ensure it’s enabled on my device.

I’m confused because everything was working fine until last week! I also checked the Device Manager to see if the wireless adapter is listed, but it’s not showing up at all.

Could you please help me resolve this issue?

Thank you!

Surface | Surface Laptop | Network

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question. To protect privacy, user profiles for migrated questions are anonymized.

0 comments

1 answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2025-01-21T07:22:06+00:00

    Hi MiyuGZ,

    Welcome to Microsoft Community.

    It sounds like the wireless adapter may have been disabled or could be encountering a driver issue. Here are a few steps to try and resolve the issue:

    1. Run Windows Network Troubleshooter: 
    2. Select Start and type settings.  Select Settings > System > Troubleshoot.
    3. Select Other Troubleshooters.
    4. Select Network Adapter > Run. Launch Network Troubleshooter
    5. Follow the steps in the troubleshooter and see if that fixes the problem.
    6. Force restart your Surface:

    Close any open programs and then press and hold the power button until the logo screen appears (about 20 seconds). See Force a shutdown and restart your Surface for more info.

    1. Manually update Surface drivers and firmware: Download drivers and firmware for Surface - Microsoft Support
    2. Run the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit: Fix common Surface problems using the Surface app and Surface Diagnostic Toolkit - Microsoft Support
    3. As a last resort, If you've tried basic troubleshooting options, you may need to restore or reset your Surface. If the issue occurs after a reset, then the root cause is very likely hardware related. Restore or reset Surface for Windows - Microsoft Support

    I hope this helps. If there is anything not clear, please do not hesitate to let me know.

    Your Sincerely

    Hahn. W - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

    0 comments