Ubuntu Turn Off WiFi

How to Turn Off WiFi in Ubuntu

You can turn off Wi-Fi in Ubuntu from the Settings application or from the command line. For a desktop system, the Settings method is usually the simplest. On Ubuntu Server, remote systems, or when creating scripts, commands such as nmcli and rfkill are more useful.

This tutorial shows how to turn off Wi-Fi using Ubuntu Settings, how to disable Wi-Fi from the Terminal, and how to distinguish temporarily disabling wireless networking from preventing automatic Wi-Fi connections.

Turn Off WiFi from Ubuntu Settings

On Ubuntu Desktop, you can disable the wireless radio from the Wi-Fi section of Settings. The exact appearance can vary slightly between Ubuntu releases, but the process is similar.

1. Open Settings from Applications.

   

2. In the left menu, find Wi-Fi and click on it. You will get information about Wi-Fi of your computer as shown below. Click on the Switch or Toggle button to turn off Wi-Fi. The position of button is shown marked in the following screenshot.

   

3. Once you click the switch, Ubuntu disables Wi-Fi and disconnects the computer from wireless networks. Depending on the Ubuntu version and desktop interface, the Wi-Fi panel may show Wi-Fi as unavailable or display additional wireless controls such as Airplane Mode.
   

Turning Wi-Fi off from Settings is normally temporary. You can enable it again later using the same Wi-Fi switch.

Turn Off WiFi from the Ubuntu Command Line with nmcli

If your Ubuntu system uses NetworkManager, you can control the Wi-Fi radio with nmcli. This is useful when working in a Terminal or over a local console.

nmcli radio wifi off

The command disables Wi-Fi immediately. It normally produces no output when it succeeds.

To check the current Wi-Fi radio state, run:

nmcli radio wifi

When Wi-Fi is disabled, the result is:

disabled

Turn Ubuntu WiFi Back On with nmcli

To enable the Wi-Fi radio again, use:

nmcli radio wifi on

If a previously configured wireless network is available and automatic connection is enabled for that connection profile, Ubuntu may reconnect to it automatically.

Disable the Ubuntu WiFi Device with rfkill

Linux also provides the rfkill utility for enabling and disabling wireless devices. First, list the wireless devices and their current block state.

rfkill list

To block Wi-Fi devices, run:

sudo rfkill block wifi

Run rfkill list again. The Wi-Fi device should now show Soft blocked: yes.

To allow Wi-Fi again, run:

sudo rfkill unblock wifi

A soft block is created by software. If rfkill list reports Hard blocked: yes, the adapter may also be disabled by a physical wireless switch, firmware setting, or hardware control. A software command cannot remove a hardware block until that hardware condition is changed.

Stop Ubuntu from Automatically Connecting to a WiFi Network

Turning off Wi-Fi is different from disabling automatic connection to one saved network. If you want Wi-Fi to remain available but do not want Ubuntu to automatically join a particular network, change that connection profile instead of disabling the Wi-Fi radio.

First, list the saved NetworkManager connections:

nmcli connection show

Then disable automatic connection for the required connection profile. Replace WiFiName with the connection name shown by the previous command.

nmcli connection modify "WiFiName" connection.autoconnect no

This does not turn off the wireless adapter. It only prevents that saved connection profile from being selected automatically.

Turn Off WiFi on Ubuntu Server

Ubuntu Server installations often do not include a graphical Settings application. If NetworkManager manages the wireless interface, nmcli radio wifi off is a convenient way to disable Wi-Fi. If NetworkManager is not managing the interface, rfkill can still be useful for blocking the wireless device at the Linux radio-control level.

Before disabling Wi-Fi on a remote Ubuntu server, verify that you have another working connection such as Ethernet. Turning off the interface carrying your SSH session can immediately disconnect the remote session.

Temporarily Disabling WiFi vs Permanently Disabling WiFi in Ubuntu

The Settings switch, nmcli radio wifi off, and an rfkill soft block are best treated as runtime controls. Their state can change after reboot, login, hardware events, or network-service configuration changes depending on the system.

If the requirement is to keep Wi-Fi disabled after every boot, configure the component that manages networking on that particular Ubuntu installation rather than assuming a temporary radio command will always persist. Desktop Ubuntu commonly uses NetworkManager, while server installations can have different networking arrangements. Verify the active network-management method before making persistent changes.

Ubuntu WiFi Off Commands Compared

Method	What it does	Typical use
Ubuntu Settings	Turns the Wi-Fi radio off through the desktop interface	Ubuntu Desktop
nmcli radio wifi off	Disables Wi-Fi through NetworkManager	Terminal, scripts, managed desktop/server systems
sudo rfkill block wifi	Soft-blocks wireless devices	Device-level wireless control
connection.autoconnect no	Stops one saved network from connecting automatically	Keep Wi-Fi enabled but prevent automatic joining

Ubuntu Turn Off WiFi Editorial QA Checklist

• Verify that the graphical instructions describe the Wi-Fi toggle without assuming identical Settings layouts across all Ubuntu releases.
• Keep turning off the Wi-Fi radio separate from disabling automatic connection to a saved wireless network.
• Describe nmcli radio wifi off as a NetworkManager command rather than as a universal command for every possible Ubuntu networking configuration.
• Explain that rfkill distinguishes software blocks from hardware blocks.
• Do not describe a temporary Wi-Fi radio change as permanently disabling the adapter across every reboot.
• Warn remote Ubuntu Server users that disabling the wireless interface used by SSH can disconnect their session.
• Use sudo only where elevated privileges are actually needed, such as the shown rfkill block and unblock commands.

Ubuntu WiFi Turn Off Summary

On Ubuntu Desktop, use the Wi-Fi switch in Settings when you simply want to turn wireless networking off. From the command line, nmcli radio wifi off disables Wi-Fi on systems managed by NetworkManager, while rfkill can soft-block the wireless device. If the actual goal is to prevent Ubuntu from automatically joining one saved network, disable autoconnect for that connection instead of switching off Wi-Fi completely.

In this Ubuntu Tutorial, we learned how to switch off Wi-Fi from Settings.