iPhone WiFi Grayed Out: Fix Connectivity Issues

Here are the steps on how to fix iPhone WiFi grayed-out issue. Continue reading below to fix your problem.

Check Airplane mode

This may sound silly, but make sure the Airplane Mode isn’t turned on until you do something else. Wi-Fi (and cellular networking) is disabled by this feature because it is intended to encourage you to use your phone on a plane, where outgoing wireless connectivity is often not permitted.

Opening the Control Center by swiping from the bottom of the screen is the best way to see if Airplane Mode is on (or down from the top right on iPhone X and newer). Tap it to switch Airplane Mode off if the airplane icon is on and your issue should be solved. Something else is going on if it’s not active and you can move on to the next step.

Update your IOS Device

The Wi-Fi issue is the product of a bug, and Apple typically does not encourage bugs that affect many users to hang around for too long. Because of that, there is a fair chance that the issue has been resolved by a newer version of iOS and that updating to it would bring your Wi-Fi back.

You can update your iPhone from the phone itself or download and install the latest iOS version via iTunes. Check to see if the Wi-Fi is working when the update is complete and your iPhone has restarted.

Check Network Settings

If an update of the operating system does not help, the issue may not be at all with your OS, it may reside with your settings. Each iPhone stores Wi-Fi and cellular network access-related settings that help it get online. Often these settings can cause problems that interfere with communication.

Knowing that resetting your network settings means you’re going to lose whatever is saved in your current settings is really critical. This can include passwords for Wi-Fi, connections to Bluetooth, VPN settings, and more. That’s not ideal, but to get Wi-Fi working again if that’s what you need to do, so be it.

Reset All Settings

If it doesn’t help to restore your network settings, it’s time to take a more drastic step: reset all the settings on your phone. Don’t take this step lightly; when you started using it eliminates any setting, preference, password, and link you’ve attached to your phone.

1. Go to settings
2. Then General
3. Click the Reset at the bottom
4. Choose Reset all settings.
5. A warning will pop-up so just confirm it.

Restore Factory Settings

If it doesn’t work to repair your iPhone’s Wi-Fi issue by resetting all settings, it’s time for the nuclear option: restore to factory settings. Resetting to factory default settings, unlike a simple restart, is the method by which you delete everything on your iPhone and restore it to the state in which it was when you first took it out of the box.

This is most certainly the last resort, but sometimes all you need to do to fix a serious problem is to start from scratch. Take these steps to do that:

1. Sync your phone to Itunes or Icloud. This will ensure that your iPhone data is backed up.
2. Go to Settings App
3. Then General
4. Choose Reset at the bottom of the screen
5. Erase all content and settings.
6. If you backup your iPhone to iCloud, then Backup, then Delete, or just Erase Now will give you a message. Choose the one you want but note that it is super important to have backups.
7. Erase now or Erase Phone

Get Technical Support

If the Wi-Fi issue on your iPhone has not been fixed by all these attempts, it may not be software related. Instead with the Wi-Fi hardware on your computer, there might be something wrong.

The easiest way to decide if that is the case and get it fixed is to make an appointment at your nearest Apple store with the Genius Bar to have them check your phone out.