iPhone Hotspot not showing up on Windows PC

I connected using bluetooth. I turned it on on both devices and connected the laptop to the iphone. Then I went to 'bluetooth and devices' on my laptop and the devices were displayed on the screen. On the picture where the iPhone was shown, I clicked on the three dots and selected 'connect to a personal short-range network'. On the bottom right of the screen, where the Wi-Fi icon would normally be, a different image is now displayed, but the internet is working for me.

I'm from Croatia, so I hope I've translated the names into English well.

dea177's advice just worked for me. Make sure Bluetooth is turned on on both the PC and iPhone, then go to the list of Bluetooth devices on your iPhone and choose your PC. Then your iPhone will show up as one of the possible WiFi networks on your PC as long as the Personal Hotspot page is open on your iPhone.

In my case, I found that Windows 11 wants you to go an extra step. Maybe 3 or 4 steps, if a click is a step. You now have to go into Settings > Bluetooth & devices, and lo, your enabled iPhone hotspot should be there, THEN you have to open up the properties ellipses for the device, where you will see a "Join Personal Area Network (PAN)" link that pops out.

Click that link, THEN another link is presented in a "Bluetooth Personal Area Network" window. (sigh) And in That Thing, there is a dropdown selection list with a single item. This is labelled "Access Point" click that and then of course, click the "Connect" button that appears under there and now, now my friend, after a great sampler of possible widgets - you are in business.

Right now (i am not sure if it was an update since this issue), you go hotspot settings and toggle the "maximize compatibility" on (or similar in english, because i'm translating).

Switch on and off the wifi on your pc and it should show up.

I was having this issue, checking my Windows 11 tablet prior to travelling. I found that for the iPhone to appear on the list of available networks, it needs to be on a 4G network, not the normal (home) Wifi. Once you open the Settings / Personal Hotspot screen, you will see that the phone switches from WiFi to 4G (or presumably 5G). Once this happens, the iPhone network connection appears more reliably on the list of Available Networks on the Windows 11 device.

Once you connect, Windows seems to stay connected. But beware, the iPhone DOESN'T revert back to Wifi like it normally does when you close the Personal Hotspot screen, it stays on 4G!

Hello HarryGrant_05,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities!

We want to help get your iPhone and PC connected via Personal Hotspot.

Let's make sure you're taking the proper steps to get them connected, see here:

"On the device that you want to connect to, go to Settings > Cellular > Personal Hotspot or Settings > Personal Hotspot and make sure that it's on. Then verify the Wi-Fi password and name of the phone. Stay on this screen until you’ve connected your other device to the Wi-Fi network.

On the device that you want to connect, go to Settings > Wi-Fi and look for your iPhone or iPad in the list. Then tap the Wi-Fi network to join. If asked, enter the password for your Personal Hotspot."

This Apple Support page has the full details: How to set up a Personal Hotspot on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

If the issue continues, do you have any pending software updates for either device? Have you tried restarting both devices and trying to connect again?

We hope this helps to isolate and resolve the issue with the Personal Hotspot.

Cheers!

I had a variation of this problem.

At times my PC would show as connected, but my apps like Sheets would tell me there was no internet connection.

I would try to connect to my hotspot, but my PC would only occasionally see my iPhone.

I tried all the solutions presented here (among others) to no avail.

The steps that ended up working for me were:

Open ‘Network and Internet’ settings.

Open ‘Connect, manage known networks’

Open ‘Show available networks’

Open ‘Manage known networks’

Click on my network (as I said above, the PC says I am connected but I really do not have internet access)

At this point the properties page for that network should open.

Click the ‘Edit’ button next to the ‘Advanced Wi-Fi network properties’ entry.

In the pop-up window that appears, check ‘Look for other wireless networks while connected to this network’.

At this point I went back to view available networks and my iPhone was in the list.

i hope this helps someone. This issue, for me, was bizarrely random and always incredibly annoying.

Here is one thing that ended up working for me

Go to “known networks” on your laptop and disconnect your Apple devices. Then you can reconnect.

found the fix for me..

1. on laptop, click setting - bluetooth and other devices - more bluetooth options.
2. tick on allow bluetooth devices to find this PC.
3. on iphone, open setting - bluetooth, and connect to the laptop.
4. you can now find your iphone on the wifi available networks.

goodluck.

This is pretty useless, I'm afraid .... my iphone 13's personal hotspot does NOT show up on my Windows 11 laptop.

Yes, it's turned on. Yes, the settings are all correct. Yes, I reset the phone's network. Nothing makes it show up on the Windows machine. It *does* show up on my ipad, so it's broadcasting the hotspot's name. But Windows 11 does not seem to see it. Tried everything on both iphone and laptop. Nothing. The only way to connect via my phone's connection is with a usb connection. Anyone have any ideas?

I have the exact same issue. Hotspot is activated and working perfectly fine with my Windows 10 laptop, but won’t show up on the Windows 11 one. No matter what I do, it won’t even connect through cable. Any ideas if this is am iOS or a Windows issue?

Add me to the list of people who have this problem. In fact, I’d go farther to say that my iPhone hotspots aren’t appearing on any non-apple device list of found networks. It’s almost like Apple decided the iPhone hotspot should only work with other Apple devices and didn’t bother telling anyone. Any attempt to troubleshoot just has me go over the same steps suggested here.

Jeff_W., this is a terrible response to the poster’s issue. Your response missed the mark and is not helpful to the poster or others having the same issue.

Brand new IPhone 15 Pro here and I have the same issue, and everything online is useless to fix it. My hotspot is invisible to share it with others (but it works with my MacBook), for example I recently tried unsuccessfully to connect a Samsung TV, sooo annoying!!! And the this is the top tier smartphone in the market. I had to remove the SIM card and put it in my old Galaxy S10 that now I keep in my bag for all my trips to be able to get an internet hotspot that is reliable.

Jena,

many thanks! Your solution worked instantly after hours of struggling!