If your Wi-Fi icon is missing in the taskbar, and when you turn system icons on, you find that your network icon is greyed out, I will quickly show you how to fix the network icon greyed out in Windows 10.
While driver issues often cause network issues, in this case, this issue happens when the Windows Event Log is disabled on Windows services. Here is how you can fix this issue:
- Open the Run dialog by pressing Win + R, then enter MSConfig:
- With the system configuration open, go to the services tab:
- Find Windows Event Log and click on the checkbox next to it to enable it, then click on Apply:
- When prompted to restart your PC to finish applying the changes, restart your PC.
(Windows Event Log can take up large amounts of disk space if not correctly configured. To prevent it read this article on how to fix Windows Event Log high RAM usage. )
The network icon won’t be greyed out anymore, and you can restore your Wi-Fi icon by right-clicking on the taskbar and going to Taskbar settings > Turn system icons on or off.
If this solution doesn’t work for you, the next logical step is to update your network drivers.
How to Update your Drivers to get your Network icon back
If your network is not working properly, you should start fixing the issue by updating your network card drivers. Hardware issues are often related to outdated drivers.
You can update your network drivers through the Windows device manager, but Windows often won’t find the driver you need, or sometimes it even updates your device with an outdated driver. So, you are better off with a third-party driver updater.
Here is how to do it:
- Download Driver Booster and install it.
- With Driver Booster open, click on the Scan button to scan your PC to check the status of your device drivers.
- When the scan is finished, find Network adapters and click on the Update button next to it:
You can also click on Update Now in the upper-right corner to update all your device drivers at once.
Conclusion
Your network icon is greyed out in Windows 10 because the Windows Event Log service is disabled.
So, to fix this issue, run MSConfig and enable the Windows Event Log service on the services tab, then restart your PC.
If this solution does not work, or if you have any other connectivity issues, update your network drivers. Also, read our article on how to fix Wi-Fi keeps disconnecting on Windows.
