Network Reset on Windows: What It Wipes First

You have been told to run a network reset and nobody mentioned what goes with it. Your saved Wi-Fi networks go, for a start.

Microsoft calls it a last step, in those exact words. It is not a first move, and there is a cheaper order to work through before it.

I counted what a reset would have cost on this machine, and the answer was ten saved networks.

What Microsoft says it actually does

Two sentences, and they are more sweeping than the name suggests.

Documented by Microsoft on its Wi-Fi troubleshooting page: "Network reset removes any network adapters you have installed and the settings for them. After your PC restarts, any network adapters are reinstalled, and the settings for them are set to the defaults."

And its own advice on when: "Using network reset should be the last step you try."

⭐ Removes and reinstalls, not repairs. Every adapter goes back to factory state, including ones you configured deliberately years ago.

⚠️ That includes saved wireless networks, which is the part nobody warns about and the part people notice first.

Ours: count what you would lose before you press it

Five seconds, and it changes how you feel about the button.

Ours, and counted before writing this. The machine here holds ten saved Wi-Fi networks. A reset deletes all of them and every password with them.

⚡ Count yours the same way. It changes nothing:

(netsh wlan show profiles | Select-String "All User Profile").Count

⛔ Ten networks is ten passwords to find again. Home, work, a relative's house, a hotel, a phone hotspot. Most people cannot recall more than two of them.

⭐ Ours: get your current Wi-Fi password out of Windows first. It takes a minute and Windows will simply tell you.

Where the button is

Short, and it is deliberately buried.

Microsoft's route: "Select the Start button, then enter settings. Select Settings > Network & internet > Advanced network settings > Network reset."

⭐ Then Reset now, then Yes. The machine restarts on its own, after a short delay.

⚠️ There is no undo and no confirmation of what it removed. Once it restarts, the list is simply empty.

What Microsoft says to expect afterwards

The part that catches people the following morning.

In Microsoft's words: "After using network reset, you might need to reinstall and set up other networking software you might be using, such as VPN client software or virtual switches from Hyper-V."

And a change most people never notice they made: "Network reset might set each one of your known network connections to a public network profile."

⭐ A public profile hides your PC from other devices, which Microsoft frames as more secure. It also breaks printer sharing and file sharing on a home network.

⚠️ So a printer that vanished the day after a network reset is expected, not a new fault. Set the network back to Private.

The cheaper things to try first

Being useful, because you probably never needed the reset at all.

⭐ Forget the one network and rejoin it. That solves a single misbehaving connection without touching the other nine.

⚡ Restart the router before the PC. Two minutes off at the wall fixes more than anything on the computer does.

⚠️ And if it is one specific problem rather than everything, dropping Wi-Fi has its own order and a dead Ethernet cable has another.

⛔ Ours: I treat a reset as right when nothing works anywhere. It is wrong when one thing works badly.

When it genuinely is the right move

Four cases, and Microsoft names one of the four for you.

⭐ After an upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, which Microsoft specifically mentions as something this can help with.

⭐ When VPN software was removed badly and left adapters behind that nothing else will clear.

⚡ When the adapter list itself is wrong, with duplicates or entries for hardware that is long gone.

⚠️ And when you have already tried forgetting the network, restarting the router and reinstalling the driver. In that order.

What it will not fix

Honest, because it gets recommended for things it cannot touch.

⛔ A router problem. Resetting the PC's networking does nothing to the box in the hall.

⛔ A broken cable or a failed adapter. Software cannot repair either.

⚠️ And a slow connection that works. Speed is a different problem entirely and a reset changes nothing about it.

After you run it

Practical, so the evening does not disappear.

⭐ Rejoin your own network first, then set it to Private in the network properties so sharing works again.

⚡ Reinstall any VPN client, because Microsoft warns it may need setting up again.

⚠️ Then check the printer. It is the thing most likely to have quietly dropped off, and it is usually the profile rather than the printer.

⭐ Ours: allow twenty minutes rather than two. A network reset is quick to run and slow to recover from.

Status: read against Microsoft's Wi-Fi troubleshooting page 25 August 2026. Microsoft supplies the description of what network reset removes and reinstalls, the advice that it should be the last step, the Settings route, the warning about reinstalling VPN or Hyper-V software, and the note that known connections may be set to a public network profile. The ten saved wireless networks were counted here.

What does network reset do in Windows?

Microsoft states it removes any network adapters you have installed and their settings, then reinstalls them at defaults after a restart. That includes every saved Wi-Fi network and password, which is the part most people are not expecting.

Will a network reset delete my Wi-Fi passwords?

Yes. Every saved wireless network goes with it. The machine tested here held ten. Get your current password out of Windows before you press it, because you will need to type it back in afterwards.

Why did my printer stop working after a network reset?

Because Microsoft says a reset may set your known connections to a public network profile, and a public profile hides your PC from other devices on the network. Set the network back to Private and the printer usually returns.

Should I run a network reset?

Only as a last step, which is Microsoft's own wording. Forget and rejoin the single network first, restart the router, and reinstall the adapter driver. A reset is right when nothing works anywhere, not when one thing works badly.

Does a network reset remove my VPN?

It can. Microsoft warns you may need to reinstall and set up networking software such as VPN client software or Hyper-V virtual switches afterwards. Have the installer and your account details ready before you start.

The Short Version

• Microsoft says a reset removes network adapters and their settings, then reinstalls at defaults.
• Its own advice is that this "should be the last step you try".
• Every saved Wi-Fi network goes. Ten were saved on the machine tested here.
• Get your Wi-Fi password out of Windows before you press it.
• Settings, Network & internet, Advanced network settings, Network reset.
• Microsoft warns VPN software and Hyper-V switches may need setting up again.
• It may set known connections to a public profile, which breaks printer and file sharing.
• Forget and rejoin one network, restart the router, and reinstall the driver first.

Where to Next

Count your saved networks before you do anything. One line tells you how much a reset would actually cost you.

Then get your Wi-Fi password out of Windows and write it down. That single minute is the difference between an inconvenience and an evening.

Try forgetting and rejoining the one network that misbehaves. Most people who ran a reset never needed to.

And if a reset fixed something for you that nothing else would, tell me what it was in the comments. Real cases are more useful than the general advice.