Mac searches for Wi-Fi despite being turned off in Settings

Helops wrote:

Find My is enabled. I see the Mac is searching because the sign indicates it.

By “sign” do you mean the Wi-Fi status menu item?

What exactly does that look like? As I noted, I didn’t see mine do a single thing while it was off.

If searching for network it should be on.

i’m not aware of a setting to disable searching for networks. There are settings to not automatically join unknown networks, but that has nothing to do with searching. Location services (required for Find My) require Wi-Fi to be on so it can find networks that are located. They may have obviated the need for having Wi-Fi on by periodically polling for Wi-Fi access points.

Do you have an iPhone in close proximity to the computer ?

Does the iPhone have an internal connection ?

The search for a Wifi signal could be looking to connect via the iPhone

An iPhone nearby can absolutely cause behavior like this on macOS, even when Wi-Fi appears “off.”

Helops wrote:

Mac searches for WiFi, although the slider is in "off" position, in "Settings" it is "off" too.

After waking, or starting.

Sometimes it stops when move the slider on/off a few times, sometimes not.

Any idea why?

Off...?

Many Continuity features rely on both WiFi and Bluetooth be on. I would try leaving it on and compare your results.

ref: Use Continuity to work across Apple devices - Apple Support

If you are using Ethernet verify or move to the top of your Network list if this is your reservation...

Are you clicking on the Wi-Fi menu when it searches? The act of clicking on the Wi-Fi menu tells the OS to search for available Wi-Fi networks. It doesn’t matter if it’s off or on. Clicking on the menu tells it to tell you if there are any available networks. There is no way it can offer up available networks without searching for them.

No, I'm not clicking on the Wi-Fi menu, I see it is searching, although it shouldn't.

How do you see it searching? I've never seen mine do anything except as it connects to an access point.

I've had mine turned off while composing this and it hasn't done anything for at least five minutes.

I don't know, just guessing, but if you have Find My enabled, it may be checking for a location. It will use bluetooth, too, but if that is off, too, maybe it powers up WiFi to find itself.