iPhone keeps forgetting my wifi network

Go to Settings/Cellular and scroll to the bottom. Turn off Wi-Fi Assist. This feature switches to cellular when the cellular signal is better than your Wi-Fi signal. As 5Guc is faster than most Wi-Fi networks (mine clocks at over 500 mbps) this might be your issue.

REQUEST: If this guide helps, please upvote for visibility and share any feedback or improvements. I'm happy to make updates if it's possible.

I've faced issues with Apple devices not remembering your WiFi password post-router change. Despite numerous tips on websites, YouTube videos, and from people like @Lawrence Finch here in the discussion boards, I couldn't find a clean step-by-step which generically walks someone through the process to fix this issue.

I discovered Mjanskid's response post (linked here) identifying iCloud Keychain sync issues as the culprit. After several attempts and re-reading a bunch of the community feedback, I've compiled a concise, step-by-step guide to tackle this common frustration.

Before You Get Started

Before diving in, a quick read-through is advisable. Key steps involve:

• Identifying all devices synchronized with your Apple ID (an overlooked old MacBook Air was my snag).
• Setting up a temporary WiFi network for devices without cellular data, ensuring they can synchronize without the main network.

Let's get started...

[1] Identify Devices Syncing with Your Apple ID:

This step is critical to make sure you have every device (i.e., iPhones, iPads, Macs) that could contribute to iCloud Keychain synchronization issues.

• • On iOS/iPadOS device: Open Settings, tap on [Your Name] at the top, then scroll down to see the list of devices connected to your Apple ID. Each device will be listed with its name and model.
  • On macOS: Open System Preferences, click Apple ID, and select Device Preferences or look at the sidebar where devices are listed under your Apple ID.

[2] Backup Your Devices (best practice): Ensure all your devices (iPhones, iPads, Macs) are backed up to either iCloud or your computer to safeguard your data.

[3] Disable iCloud Keychain on all devices using your Apple ID: Now that you've identified all devices using your Apple ID, proceed by disabling iCloud Keychain on each to prevent further synchronization issues during the process.

• • iOS/iPadOS Devices: Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Keychain and toggle it off.
  • macOS Devices: Open System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud and uncheck Keychain.

[4] Forget WiFi Network: This step removes saved network settings and passwords, preparing your devices for a fresh connection attempt.

• • iOS/iPadOS Devices:
    • Navigate to Settings > Wi-Fi, tap the "i" next to your network, and select Forget This Network.
    • Go back to Settings > General > Reset, tap on Reset Network Settings. You might need to enter your device's passcode to continue.
    • Confirm your decision to reset. Your device will automatically restart as part of this process, ensuring all network settings are cleared.
  • macOS Devices:
    • WiFi icon > Open Network Preferences > WiFi > Advanced, select your network, then, depending on the version of the OS, click either the (…) and select “Remove From List” or the minus (-) at the bottom of the list to “Forget It”, confirm and close network preferences.
    • Restart your Mac. Unlike iOS/iPadOS devices, which automatically restart upon resetting network settings, manually restarting your Mac ensures all changes are fully applied and any temporary network settings are cleared.

[5] Re-enable iCloud Keychain: Gradually turn iCloud Keychain back on, device by device, to ensure each syncs properly before moving to the next. Initially, avoid connecting devices to the original "bad/original" WiFi network during this process. *** Before Re-enabling iCloud Keychain: Connect each device to a guest network or temporarily rename your current network. This ensures devices without cellular data (like iPads and Macs) can synchronize with Apple servers.

• • iOS/iPadOS Devices: Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Keychain and toggle iCloud Keychain on. Wait for the device to synchronize.
  • macOS Devices: Open System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud and check Keychain. Allow time for syncing.

After Each Device Syncs: Proceed to the next device, following the same steps, until all have iCloud Keychain enabled and synchronized.

[6] Reconnect to WiFi Network: After re-enabling iCloud Keychain, manually reconnect each device to your WiFi network using the password.

• • Enter the password manually on each device when prompted. Despite the convenience of automatic password sharing, it's advisable to manually enter the password on each device for this setup process.

[7] Test and Monitor: Keep an eye on your devices over the next few days to ensure the issue is truly resolved.

I hope this guide simplifies the iCloud Keychain synchronization fix for you as much as it did for me.

Fixed mine after lots of frustration. Clicked the (i) next to my network and then clicked where my password is circled below. It brought up faceID to show the password. After that, it’s worked ever since!

I found a fix for my wife’s phone/account that had this issue for about a year, it even transferred to a new phone recently. Like others have said, it’s a Keychain issue that required deleting the network/saved login info (link for OS specifically here) from every device that she was signed into (phone, computers, iPad, watch, Apple TV, etc.) and then updating and restarting each device. Afterwards she was able to log in to our home WiFi and has not had any issues for several weeks now.

Conclusion: Latest iPhone 5 iOS caused of all my iPhone 14 Pro WiFi password forgetting problems.

I deleted, to the best of my ability, all memory of the two problematic WiFi networks from all six of my Apple devices, then disabled Keychain Sync on all six, and finally re-enabled Keychain Sync on all six. But I still had problems on the 14 Pro, so I executed an incremental debugging cycle...

I disabled Keychain Sync on ALL 6 of my Apple Devices and then re-enabled Keychain Sync one-by-one and tested every device's WiFi password memory before re-enabling the next device's Keychain Sync. In the following order:

1. iPhone 14 Pro - re-enabled Keychain Sync and it retained all tested WiFi passwords
2. iPhone 6s - same as above, both iPhones remembered all pwds
3. iphone 5
   1. PROBLEM, as soon as I re-enabled Keychain Sync on this phone the 14 Pro stopped remembering certain WiFi passwords (forgot my ASUS router pwds, my Verizon router was never a problem)
   2. SOLUTION - disabled the iPhone 5 Keychain Sync permanently, 14 Pro started working normally again
4. MacBook Air 11 (2015) - re-enable, all devices still work properly
5. Mac Mini M1 (~2020) - re-enable, all devices still work properly
6. iMac Intel (~2020) - re-enable all devices still work properly

Again, including an iPhone 5 era iOS in my Keychain Sync caused the problems with the iPhone 14 Pro.

-Jeff

I have used Wifi assist for years. the fact is the SSID Password is not available under information for the wifi network (should show under the Auto-Join switch). Even if the iphone "grabbed" a better connection, it should NOT EVER delete the password. I have passwords to wifi accounts I used months ago (and not since). Phone has grabbed both cell and wifi accounts since then but passwords exist. Something is going on in 16.4.1 causing the password not to be retained

ios 16.4.1(a) 12 mini

Your last sentence is the very problem, as I discovered today. Unlike the normal display you would see with the obfuscated password dots - that line DOES NOT EXIST on my problem network (it does exist for the other two networks I have used on this phone). It should appear after the Auto-Join switch and before the Low Data Mode switch.

Lawrence, yeah I know it's a user to user forum and I have contacted apple support but they want long conversations / sessions w/ low level technicians to 'confirm' the issue. I'm not doing that. Its a pain reentering wifi passwords but not as much as engaging apple support. Also, I suspect they have some ai looking at forums for hot topics / chronic issues so I'm hoping that if more people report this the more likely apple development is to take it seriously as a systemic problem w/ their software as opposed to user error.

Another 'me too' here. All apple devices have started to frequently (at least once a week, or more often) forget the WiFi passwords recently (Mac mini, MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, iPhone 13). This never happened in the past (same network, same router - everything has been stable for about 1.5 years).

Our various Android and Windows devices continue to work flawlessly on the same network - never any issues. Seems to clearly suggest something is wrong with Apple's recent updates and it has nothing to do with the router. Hope this gets fixed because it is freak*n annoying.

*** Update to Original Guide: Clearing Cache by Shutting Down Devices ***

During a call with Apple Support related to an issue with setting up an Apple TV after a software update, I received additional information to related to our iCloud Keychain synchronization issue.

To ensure a more comprehensive solution, it's crucial to fully shut down all devices after disabling iCloud Keychain and before re-enabling it. This step addresses what the tech described as an issue with cache-like memory that a simple restart will not clear consistently.

Revised Step between [4] and [5]:

After completing step [4] "Forget WiFi Network" and before moving to step [5] "Re-enable iCloud Keychain";

• Shut down your devices completely
• Power them off, and let them stay off for 1-2 minutes.
  • This pause allows the devices' cache memory, which can store conflicting information, to fully clear.

Please incorporate this additional step into your troubleshooting process. Click here for the original guide and complete instructions.

If the guide proves useful, please "up vote" the original post to make it easier for people to find and solve this issue more quickly.

here's how I fixed this…

1. on my phone, log in to problem network and then click “forget this network”
2. before logging back into the problem network, click on little “i” in the circle next to network name
3. turn off “Private WiFi Address”
4. Click on “Wi-Fi” on top-left to return to list of available WiFi networks
5. click network to join and enter password
6. after logged in you can re-enable “Private WiFi Address”
7. toggle WiFi off and on to see if situation is resolved.

edit: Never mind. Problem has returned

Tried Mjanskid’s solution.

important to remember it is not just “forget this network “

but have to go to the edit screen of saved networks and delete the troublesome one.

then reconnect.

then I turned keychain back on.

so far after 20 minutes and turning WiFi off and on several times it seems to work.

Mjanskid’s solution worked for me on all devices going on more than a month

Settings

wi fi

edit

erase the problem network (totally different from forget this network)

restart device

settings

wi fi

network

reinstall the network

should work

good luck.

For me, this started occurring when I replaced my old router with a new mesh router (eero Pro 6), but kept the same SSID (network name) because I didn't want the hassle of reconnecting all my IoT stuff. That said, Mjanskid’s solution only worked temporarily for me.

The solution, that has so far worked without any issues, is to rename my network SSID.

Forget the problem network on every apple device you own, restart every device and slowly login to the network on every device. The problem is with ICloud Keychain. Forgetting the network everywhere and restarting clears the problem device creating the issue