You’re mid-video call, or halfway through uploading a file, and the Wi-Fi icon just quietly drops. A few seconds later it reconnects on its own, like nothing happened. Then it does it again twenty minutes later. If you’ve already restarted your router and it’s still happening, the actual cause is probably somewhere you haven’t checked yet.
Mac keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi is almost always a software issue, not a failing Wi-Fi card. It’s a similar story to Wi-Fi problems at home in general — the router usually isn’t the culprit. This guide covers the fix most people never find, plus every other real cause, in the order that actually works.
The Setting Most Guides Skip
Before anything else, check one specific setting tied to iCloud Private Relay. It routes your internet traffic through Apple’s own relay servers for privacy. On certain routers, this can cause exactly the kind of intermittent, repeating disconnects you’re seeing.
How to check:
- Go to System Settings > Wi-Fi
- Click the Details button next to your connected network
- Look for Limit IP Address Tracking and toggle it off
This one setting resolves the issue for a meaningful number of people, particularly on older or budget routers that don’t handle the relay traffic cleanly. It’s a genuine, documented cause behind Mac keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi that most troubleshooting guides never mention.
Why Macs Actually Disconnect from Wi-Fi
Beyond that specific setting, a handful of common causes explain most cases where Mac keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi — similar to the causes behind a slow Mac in general:
- Corrupted network preference files — these can develop glitches over time, especially after macOS updates
- An expired or conflicting DHCP lease — your Mac’s assigned IP address can go stale, causing the connection to drop
- Router band or channel congestion — especially common in apartments with many nearby networks
- Power-saving settings — macOS sometimes puts the Wi-Fi radio to sleep more aggressively than expected
- Outdated macOS — Apple regularly ships networking fixes through system updates
Work through the fixes below in order. Most cases resolve within the first few steps.
1. Restart Your Mac and Router
It’s the obvious first step, but it’s worth doing properly. A full restart clears temporary glitches in both devices that build up over time — Apple’s own support documentation recommends this as a starting point for most Wi-Fi issues.
How: Restart your Mac from the Apple menu. Separately, unplug your router for a full 30 seconds before plugging it back in, since a shorter gap doesn’t fully clear its memory.
2. Forget and Reconnect to the Network
Corrupted saved network settings are a common, easy-to-fix cause of repeated disconnects.
How:
- Go to System Settings > Wi-Fi
- Click Details next to your network, then click Forget This Network
- Reconnect by selecting the network again and entering your password fresh
3. Renew Your DHCP Lease
If your Mac’s IP address has gone stale or conflicts with another device on the network, the connection can drop without warning.
How: Go to System Settings > Wi-Fi > Details, open the TCP/IP tab, and click Renew DHCP Lease.
4. Update macOS
Apple regularly ships Wi-Fi driver and networking fixes through system updates. Mac keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi is a common complaint that specific updates have addressed in the past.
How: Go to Apple menu > System Settings > General > Software Update, and install anything pending.
5. Switch to a 5GHz Network (If Available)
If your router broadcasts both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, congestion on the more crowded 2.4GHz band can cause instability. This is particularly common in apartments or dense neighborhoods.
How: Check your Wi-Fi network list for a separate network name ending in “-5G” or similar, and connect to that instead.
6. Run Wireless Diagnostics
macOS includes a built-in tool that monitors your connection and identifies specific problems automatically.
How: Hold Option and click the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar, then select Open Wireless Diagnostics. Follow the prompts. It will generate a report pointing to the likely cause.
7. Delete Network Preference Files (Advanced)
If nothing above has worked and Mac keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi persistently, corrupted system-level network files may be the culprit. This is a more involved fix, so back up first if you’re not comfortable in Terminal.
How: Open Terminal and run these commands to reset your network stack:
sudo ifconfig en0 down
sudo route flush
sudo ifconfig en0 up
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
Restart your Mac afterward and reconnect to your network.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this affect all Mac models equally? Mostly, yes. But older Macs with aging Wi-Fi hardware may show these symptoms more frequently even after software fixes, since physical wear becomes a bigger factor over time.
Is Limit IP Address Tracking safe to turn off? Yes. It only affects how iCloud Private Relay routes some of your traffic for privacy purposes. Turning it off doesn’t expose your browsing history or compromise your Mac’s security in any meaningful way.
Could my router be the actual problem, not my Mac? Possibly. If other devices on the same network also experience random disconnects, the router itself is more likely the cause. Check your router manufacturer’s support resources for firmware updates.
How do I know if it’s a hardware problem instead of software? If you’ve worked through every fix above and Mac keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi even on a different, known-stable network, that points toward a hardware issue with the Wi-Fi card itself, which would need professional repair.
The Bottom Line
Mac keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi almost always traces back to a specific, fixable setting or software glitch rather than failing hardware. Start with the Limit IP Address Tracking toggle, since it’s the fix most guides miss entirely. Then work through forgetting the network, renewing your DHCP lease, and updating macOS. If you’ve genuinely exhausted every step and the problem persists across different networks, that’s your signal to look at the Wi-Fi hardware itself rather than another software tweak.