iPhone keeps forgetting my wifi network

This is a known issue with some people's icloud keychain. If your'e sure you are having this issue, and not something else, then theres really no point in going through all those steps. The known issue is glitch in the keychain system that apple needs to fix.

Same problem here. iPhone 12 mini 16.6.1 and MacMini M2 13.5.2. Where I live the 4G signal is very bad, so when the iPhone disconnects from WiFi it is immediately obvious, as people can't get me on FaceTime. I have tried all the turn it off and on type answers, which do not work. Frustratingly the iPhone will not pick up the password from the MacMini.

It is deeply frustrating that Apple do not publish honest and accessable answers to ligitimate questions like this, which are clearly affecting significant numbers of competent and sensible customers.

In the meantime can anyone tell me how I access the code, which must be in or available to the iPhone, so I do not have to go through the torment of tapping a mix of random caharaters into the iPhone key pad three times a week?

Thank you

All, here is what worked for me. Yes, issue seems to be related to a keychain conflict. Keychain is not able to save the PW. It attempts, then somehow it is deleted and no longer in keychain. Anyway, long story short, what I did was rename the wifi network that was having the issue and that solved the problem for me. Seems that somewhere the wifi name was causing a conflict between devices or one device was not allowing it to store properly. Save your self the trouble and just rename it. Hope this helps.

*** 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.

Hi there!

There is a few possible things that could be causing this. if you could please upload a picture of your router that would be nice. Also, you may be using a multi AP system that is improperly configured which may cause the iPhone to try and grab a different SSID. Also restart the device. Another thing it may be is that the wifi network is going out which may sometimes cause the iPhone to refuse to grab that signal.

Hope that helps,

Adin

Same problem, has been happening for about 1 month. Iphone 13 mini, IOS16.5. Macbook pro, IOS 10.15.7. It happens to multiple wifi networks at different locations which I frequent. Some homes, some restaurants. It doesn't happen everytime I leave and return but sometimes it happens even while I'm still there. Manually joining the network and adding the password works fine.

@apple: this is obviously not a problem w/ the various wifi networks. Once manually joined w/ the password everything works fine for a while. These wifi networks have all worked w/ out issue for years. They are managed by different entities (some me, some others) and other people I know who frequent some of the same areas don't have the same issues. Both iphone and macbook share the same icloud id and I have my keychain passwords saved there. I have tried removing the keychain entry when connected to the wifi network and that doesn't resolve the issue. When I am disconnected from a wifi network which I have previously used and w/ in range, the keychain entry for that network doesn't exist, so clearly this is an issue w/ the keychain entry being removed from the icloud keychain data. Obviously this similar problem is affecting other users so please take it seriously and put some effort into resolving it. If you contact me, I can provide detailed info and assist troubleshooting.

I have figured out a solution that worked for me:

1. Go to settings and choose forget network for the network(s) that repetitively request for password - you need to do so for all devices that use the same ID
2. Reconnect to the network but make sure to login to only one of the available frequency - 2.4 or 5gh. don't keep both saved
3. That's it

You have asked your question really well and supplied excellent supporting documentation (screenshots).

If that happened to me, here’s what I would check:

Based on this comment shown in your screenshot:

”You can also access this Wi-Fi network by bringing your iPhone near any iPhone, iPad, or Mac which has connected to this network and has you in their contacts.”

I would check Settings > Contacts > My Info and be certain it’s set correctly.

cap3344 wrote:

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

I’ve never had an occasion where my phone deleted passwords, unless the password was deleted from another device that shares an Apple ID with an iPhone; Wi-Fi passwords sync between devices that share an iCloud account. I also haven’t seen you in this thread before, so it would be helpful if you would tell us what model iPhone you have and what iOS version.

If you have iOS 16 you can see the Wi-Fi password by tapping on the obfuscated password dots.

GeorgeHopper11 wrote:

@apple:

This is a user-to-user forum. Apple is not here. The correct way to contact Apple is to use the Support link at the top of this page, or the Apple Support app on your phone.

I am having the same issue

I believe it has nothing to do with the latest ios update because I am having the same problem with my macos Catalina

Ironically, I have my apple id installed also on iPad 8th and this never occurred

I think this problem started only after I installed my ID on the new iphobe 14plus

Before it was ok when I was using mac and iPad

Hoping these will make someone connect the dots

Same problem for about 1 month having never been a problem before similar to the other users, so it IS something that Apple has done. Both iPhone and iMac (but not iPad) "forget" the Wifi password most days. Tedious but not the end of the world.

One day there will be tech that works, and stays working........but not in my lifetime, and probably not before the sun expands and consumes the Earth.

Theres another thread on this in here with 6 pages of "me too" comments.

The problem seems to be an issue with iCloud keychain. It is supposed to keep saved wifi networks and passwords synced across all of your devices. But it's totally ******** the bed for some reason. I am constantly reconnecting all of my devices to wifi and typing long secure passwords. It's a huge pain in the ***. At least when it happens to my old phones or computers, I know right away. But when it happen to my primary iPhone, I don't realize for days because it just switched to cellular and i'm sucking down billable data instead of already paid for wifi.

It appears to be a very rare problem, so there’s a good chance it is localized to your devices or your router. I’ve only seen a few posts about it, compared with thousands about battery issues. In one case with had 13,000 posts and 2.5 million views about a battery issue 7 years ago.

Clearly it's an IOS issue, now across V15 and 16 - though my one (of 4) wifi network passwords is no longer lost IMMEDIATELY after entering it, sometimes I do see the ********** password indicator in the dialog for INFO, but eventually it will disappear (like right now). All my other networks (including a recent Hotel location) clearly show the ******** every time. A corrupted Keychain is my hunch. Not sure I want to go thru the factory reset process to try to fix this right now.