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deactivate auto wifi on start up macbook Pro 15'' touchbar 2017, Mac Os High Sierra 10.13

Hi everyone,


I'm getting pretty fed up with the wifi automatically on when I start up my laptop.

Is there any ways to cancel auto wifi on start up ?

In other words, I want my laptop to start with wifi off permanently.


My config is:


Macbook Pro 15'', 2.9Ghz, 16Mb Ram, 512 Gb SSD, ID touchbar, 2017

Mac OS High Sierra 10.13


Thanks in advance 😉😉

Posted on Oct 13, 2017 1:18 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Nov 9, 2017 10:22 PM

Hello lephotophile!

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities! I see from your post that you want Wi-Fi to remain off every time you start it up. I can definitely understand wanting to ensure certain features of your Mac operate as you desire them to. Let's see if I can guide you in the right direction.

You can easily turn off Wi-Fi on your Mac by follow the steps in this resource called Manage the Wi-Fi connection on your Mac . If you follow these specific steps, Wi-Fi will remain off until you turn it back on again for use:

Turn Wi-Fi on or off

If you're in an environment where Wi-Fi isn't permitted (like on some airline flights) you can quickly turn off Wi-Fi from this menu.

  1. Click the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar.
  2. Choose "Turn Wi-Fi off."

When Wi-Fi is turned off, the menu icon changes to and empty indicator ( User uploaded file ). When you're ready to use Wi-Fi again, click the menu icon and choose "Turn Wi-Fi on." Then connect to the network you want to join if your Mac doesn't join it automatically.

If you don't see the Wi-Fi menu

You can enable and disable the Wi-Fi menu from the Network pane of System Preferences.

User uploaded file

  1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
  2. Click Network in the System Preferences window.
  3. Select Wi-Fi in the list of available network connections.
  4. Select (check) the option to "Show Wi-Fi status in menu bar."

I hope this information helps!

Have a great day!
6 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Nov 9, 2017 10:22 PM in response to lephotophile

Hello lephotophile!

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities! I see from your post that you want Wi-Fi to remain off every time you start it up. I can definitely understand wanting to ensure certain features of your Mac operate as you desire them to. Let's see if I can guide you in the right direction.

You can easily turn off Wi-Fi on your Mac by follow the steps in this resource called Manage the Wi-Fi connection on your Mac . If you follow these specific steps, Wi-Fi will remain off until you turn it back on again for use:

Turn Wi-Fi on or off

If you're in an environment where Wi-Fi isn't permitted (like on some airline flights) you can quickly turn off Wi-Fi from this menu.

  1. Click the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar.
  2. Choose "Turn Wi-Fi off."

When Wi-Fi is turned off, the menu icon changes to and empty indicator ( User uploaded file ). When you're ready to use Wi-Fi again, click the menu icon and choose "Turn Wi-Fi on." Then connect to the network you want to join if your Mac doesn't join it automatically.

If you don't see the Wi-Fi menu

You can enable and disable the Wi-Fi menu from the Network pane of System Preferences.

User uploaded file

  1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
  2. Click Network in the System Preferences window.
  3. Select Wi-Fi in the list of available network connections.
  4. Select (check) the option to "Show Wi-Fi status in menu bar."

I hope this information helps!

Have a great day!

Nov 9, 2017 10:48 PM in response to sterling r

Hello Sterling,


I don'know if you understood my post.



You understood I want my wifi off every time on startup, you wrote it yourself at the beginning of your reply.

This means I want it to permanently be like this forever when I startup my laptop:

User uploaded file

But, as I said in my previous post, I can completely deactivate wifi like on the image above, then shut the laptop, when startup again it comes back again to this automatically:

User uploaded file

And, this is what annoys me.


As rbkopelman said in an answer to my post, it's very very VERY ANNOYING.

User uploaded file




So, please, contact your hierarchy who will be able to transfer the problem to the technics at apple engineering and programming.


Unless there is a trick I don't know, that you could tell me ?


Best Regards,


Julien Robin

Nov 4, 2017 5:12 AM in response to lephotophile

I have this problem as well on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) & it started with installation of 10.13. At home I am hard wired via ethernet port - works fine. The only time I use wifi is when I'm outside of the home (now & then) or when I have to troubleshoot (very infrequently) home wifi setup. Turning off the wifi option in the wifi status menu bar item just seems to reset every time I turn on the mac, it is useless. I could delete the wifi service, but I do need it now & then. I have tried trashing the wifi service in the system preferences app & recreating it. That didn't work either. I have tried trashing the wifi preferences in the Library folder & rebooting to recreate them, all to no avail. For the time being, I have made the wifi service inactive with the little gear wheel options in the network preferences; that seems to work. It seems like a lot of effort & a wasted morning for something that should "just work."


Note: This update also broke several good apps but that is not relevant to this post. My workflow has taken a definite nosedive!

Nov 17, 2017 11:22 AM in response to sterling r

Yeah, I have the same issue as the original poster.


Your answer shows how to disable it, but, it does not *stay* disabled.


If you restart, it *mostly* comes back on, which is annoying if you want it to stay turned off.


After all, we did go into the settings and turn it off. why should it then come back on?? It doesn't make sense to annoyingly-auto-enable wi-fi on startup.


there should be a way to turn it off, and keep it off, unless manually turned back on.


perhaps there is something else that's forcing auto-connect to known wi-fi ssid's, but, perhaps that should *only* kick in if a wired network is not available?

Dec 6, 2017 3:35 PM in response to darkos23

Same problem for me too. I mostly use my Macbook Pro at work, where I have a wired connection. We do iOS and Android development so at times our company wifi can get slow with all those devices slicing up the radio bandwidth. I have wired GigE to my desk so I don't want to use wifi unless I'm out of the office, so I turn it off. But every time I start up my Mac again it's on. Ridiculous! Why would you make this arbitrary decision for us? What possible reason could you think we would want wifi to automatically turn on if we'd manually turned it off?

Dec 6, 2017 4:02 PM in response to rangepig

Your Mac sends packets bound for the Internet to the TopMost, Working interface shown in the network pane.


For trouble-free use of Ethernet when available (and automatic switching to Wi-Fi when Ethernet is not available) you can ORDER your list of network connections and place Ethernet at the top of the list.


use the gear icon under the list of networks, and choose "set network order" Move Ethernet to the top, and Wi-Fi second. close the window and save changes.


Now, open your Mac at work, plug in the Ethernet cable, and you are on Ethernet. (Wi-Fi will get an IP address and be ready to go, but no packets will be sent over it.)


Open your Mac where no Ethernet is available, and Wi-Fi will get an IP address and be ready to go.

deactivate auto wifi on start up macbook Pro 15'' touchbar 2017, Mac Os High Sierra 10.13

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