As you know, Airplane mode is the one that gets devices in such a state where all the wireless connections are turned off. However, recently, there are some reports from users claiming that the Airplane Mode turns on by itself in their Windows 10 computers. This kind of problem could be due to an error with the Network driver, third-party applications, and many other factors. Other users also reported that the Airplane Mode automatically flickers, while some stated that they aren’t able to toggle the option for Airplane mode.
There are several options you can try to resolve this problem. You can try to configure the Power Management settings for the driver or run the Network troubleshooter. You could also roll back, reinstall or update the Network driver, as well as troubleshoot the problem in a Clean Boot State. For more details, follow each one of the given options below.
Option 1 – Try configuring the Power Management settings for the driver
The first thing you can do to fix the problem is to try configuring the Power Management settings for the driver. How? Refer to these steps:
- Tap the Win + X keys to open the WinX menu and from there, select the Device Manager to open it.
- Next, expand the Network adapters and select the entry for your Wi-Fi hardware.
- After that, right-click on it and select Properties.
- From there, go to the Power Management tab and uncheck the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” option.
- Once done, restart your computer and see if it has fixed the problem.
Option 2 – Try to run the Network troubleshooter
To run the Network Troubleshooter, refer to these steps:
- Open the Search bar on your computer and type in “troubleshoot” to open the Troubleshoot settings.
- Next, scroll down and select the “Network Adapter” option from the right pane.
- Then click on the Run Troubleshooter” button.
- After that, your computer will check for any possible errors and will pinpoint the root cause of the problem if possible.
- Restart your computer.
Option 3 – Try to update, rollback or reinstall the Network adapter drivers
The next thing you can do to resolve the problem is to update the Network Adapter drivers by following these steps:
- Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run window and then type in the “devmgmt.msc” command and hit Enter to open the Device Manager window.
- Under the Device Manager, you will see a list of drivers. From there, look for the Network Adapters and expand them.
- Look for the Broadcom Network Adapter and right-click on it, as well as other network adapters that have an exclamation icon, and update them all.
- Restart your PC and see if it helped in fixing the problem.
Note: If updating the network drivers didn’t help in fixing the problem, you can also try to roll back the very same drivers from their previous versions and restart your Windows 10 PC. After that, the system itself will reinstall the drivers you just uninstalled. Alternatively, you can also download and install the drivers from the manufacturer’s website directly.
To reinstall the network adapter drivers, refer to these steps:
- Open the Devices Manager from the Win X Menu.
- Then locate the device drivers and right-click on them to open the Properties.
- After that, switch to the Driver tab and click on the Uninstall Device button.
- Follow the screen option to completely uninstall it.
- Finally, restart your computer. It will just reinstall the device drivers automatically.
Option 4 – Try to reset the Network Adapter
You can also try to perform a Network Reset to resolve the problem. This will reset the entire network configuration including your IP address. To perform Network Reset, follow these steps:
- Tap the Win + I keys to open Settings.
- From there, go to the Network and Internet section.
- Next, scroll down and look for “Network Reset” under the status pane.
- After that, click on Network Reset and then on Reset now to start resetting the network configuration. Once done, check if it is able to fix the error or not.
Option 5 – Try putting your computer in a Clean Boot State
You can also troubleshoot the problem in a Clean Boot state. It could be that there are some third-party applications in your computer that are causing the Airplane Mode to behave in a strange way. So, to isolate this possibility, you need to boot your computer in a Clean Boot State be using these steps:
- Log onto your PC as an administrator.
- Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
- From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
- Clear the “Load Startup items” check box and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
- Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” check box.
- Click Disable all.
- Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)
- After you’ve set your computer into a Clean Boot State, try to observe if the Airplane mode is now back to normal or not.