Why is Wi-Fi Turning On By Itself on iPhone?

Many iPhone users have discovered that Wi-Fi is turning itself on automatically on their iPhone, usually after they install a system software update to iOS, restart the iPhone, or turn the iPhone back on. This is frustrating to many iPhone users because not everyone wants to have wi-fi turned on for any number of reasons, but it’s a particularly common complaint amongst users who are bringing a personal iPhone into an area whether it’s work, business, or personal, that has some kind of wi-fi network that is public, corporate, healthcare, or a government network, that they do not wish to join. A common obvious solution to not joining a wi-fi network is to keep wi-fi turned off (or forget the network), but again, many users have discovered that iPhone turns wi-fi on by itself.

Let’s discover why the iPhone wi-fi is turning itself on automatically, and what you can do to prevent that. And yes this often applies to iPad users and iPadOS as well.

Why does iPhone Wi-Fi turn itself on?

As many iPhone users have discovered, the iPhone will typically turn wi-fi on by itself automatically, usually after a system software iOS update, a restart, a force reboot, or after turning the iPhone back on when it has been off.

This is likely intended behavior by Apple, since it has been documented and complained about extensively for years, and, despite many user complaints on Apple’s own support site, the behavior still persists in the latest iOS updates.

It is likely that iPhone automatically turns wi-fi on again to be able to install available updates, iCloud syncing tasks like uploading iCloud Photos, and other tasks and behaviors that use a network connection. Sure the cellular connectivity exists, but iPhone probably prefers to be on wi-fi networks which are usually faster, more stable, and less inclined to have bandwidth caps and restrictions.

So assuming the behavior is expected and intended, how do you prevent iPhone from enabling wi-fi automatically by itself? Let’s see a little trick.

How to Stop Wi-Fi Enabling Itself on iPhone After Update / Boot / Restart

The easiest way to prevent the iPhone from turning wi-fi on by itself after a system update, system boot, or device restart, is to toggle on AirPlane mode first:

1. Before rebooting the iPhone, or before turning iPhone off, swipe down Control Center and tap on the AirPlane icon to enable AirPlane mode – Airplane mode disables all connectivity and connections including wi-fi and Bluetooth



2. After iPhone has booted back up again, return to Control Center and toggle AirPlane mode off – wi-fi will attempt to turn on again but tap it quickly to disable it and prevent Wi-Fi from turning itself on

This is a workaround to prevent wi-fi from enabling itself, and it does work, though you’ll want to try it a few times to understand how Airplane mode toggles off/on and the network connections with it.

Why hasn’t Apple fixed this so that if wi-fi is off on iPhone it stays off?

There are many open complaints and threads on Apple discussion boards about this issue that Apple must surely be aware of the frustration, but because nothing has been changed or fixed, the presumption is that this is intended behavior.

Again, the iPhone performs many tasks that require a network connection, and generally speaking a wi-fi connection is more stable, faster, and reliable with less bandwidth restrictions, than a cellular network. Therefore it is assumed that iPhone turns wi-fi on automatically during boot and restart, to be able to perform necessary network related tasks, without having to rely entirely on cellular connections, whenever possible.

If you have any additional insights, suggestions, or tips regarding the iPhone enabling wi-fi by itself, share them in the comments below.