Airplane Mode - Turn On or Off in Windows 8

How to Turn Airplane Mode On or Off in Windows 8 and 8.1​

   Information

This will show you how to turn Airplane mode on or off to enable or disable all wireless radio devices (ex: Wi-Fi, mobile broadband, Bluetooth) at once in your Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, or Windows RT 8.1 PC or device.

You will only have the Airplane mode feature available on a mobile Windows 8 device (ex: laptop, tablet, mobile phone, etc...) that has a wireless network connection (ex: Wi-Fi, mobile broadband, Bluetooth).

   Note

Even if your PC has a hardware switch for airplane mode, it's recommended to use one of the following options below instead. Some hardware switches might turn off your wireless connection in a way that allows certain apps to turn the connection back on without telling you.

When airplane mode is turned on, you'll see an airplane icon in the taskbar notification area of your desktop.

After you tap or click the toggle to turn Airplane mode on or off, it can take your PC a few seconds to turn each wireless device on or off. If you toggle Airplane mode on and off too quickly, or if you turn on Airplane mode and then put your PC to sleep before your PC can turn your wireless devices on or off, your wireless device settings might get out of sync with the Airplane mode setting.

   Warning

If you use an app that can turn on wireless devices while Airplane mode is on, your wireless devices could be turned on without you being notified.

OPTION ONE

To Turn "Airplane Mode" On or Off from Taskbar

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1. Go to your Desktop.​

NOTE: You could do this by pressing the Windows :winkey: + D keys.​

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2. Click/tap on the Network icon in the taskbar system icons area at the far right. (see screenshot below)​

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3. At the top of the Charms bar under Airplane mode, move the sliders right or left to turn it on or off. (see screenshot below)​

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4. When finished, you could press the Windows :winkey: key to return to the Start screen if you like.​

OPTION TWO

To Turn "Airplane Mode" On or Off from Charms Bar

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1. Open the Charms bar, click on the Settings charm, and click/tap on your wireless network icon. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: You could also press the Windows :winkey: + I keys to directly open the Settings charm.​

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2. At the top of the Charms bar under Airplane mode, move the slider right or left to turn it on or off. (see screenshot below)​

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3. When finished, you could press the Windows :winkey: key to return to the Start screen if you like.​

OPTION THREE

To Turn "Airplane Mode" On or Off from Control Panel

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1. Open the Control Panel (category view), click on the Network and Sharing Center link, and click on the Connect to a network link. (see screenshot below)​

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2. At the top of the Charms bar under Airplane mode, move the slider right or left to turn it on or off. (see screenshot below)​

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3. When finished, you could close the Control Panel and press the Windows :winkey: key to return to the Start screen if you like.​

OPTION FOUR

To Turn "Airplane Mode" On or Off from PC Settings

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1. Open PC Settings, and do step 2 or 3 below for what Windows 8 you have.​

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2. In Windows 8 and Windows RT, click/tap on Wireless on the left side, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below step 4)​

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3. In Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1, click/tap on Network on the left side. (see screenshot below)​

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A) Click/tap on Airplane mode on the left side of Network, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)​

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4. In the right pane under Airplane mode, move the slider right or left to turn it on or off. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: If you like, you could turn on or off individual Wireless devices here instead of all of them with Airplane mode.​

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5. When finished, you can close PC settings if you like.​

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Turn On or Off Wi-Fi in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Turn On or Off Bluetooth in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Hide or Show Data Usage for Wireless Networks in Windows 8 and 8.1
• Turn On or Off "Download over Metered Connections" for Devices in Windows 8 and 8.1
• Turn On or Off "Metered Internet Connections" for Sync Settings in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Turn On or Off SkyDrive Usage Over Metered Connections in Windows 8.1
• Wireless Network - Set or Unset as Metered Connection in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Enable or Disable Networks UI on Sign in Screen in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Connect To or Disconnect from a Wireless Network in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Turn On or Off Airplane Mode in Windows Phone 8

 

[GMan]

I have never heard of this so-called "Airplane mode" ever before. I installed the latest beta Ubuntu on one of my machines today and saw the setting for it. And now this tutorial about it from you. I think it was meant to be that I learned about this in the last 24 hours. haha

Great job with all the tutorials. My compliments are always honest and not for any other reason - I think they're amongst the best on the net. The screenshots really help a lot with understanding.

 

[Brink]

Thank you GMan.

Yeah, Airplane mode is a new feature in Windows 8 that was usually only a feature included with mobile smartphones, tablets, etc... It makes sense though since Windows 8 will be used on more mobile devices than previous Windows.

 

[SIW2]

Does that just mean wireles on or off?

What has that got to do with an airplane- unless they are referring to the very limited scenario of turning it off when travelling by plane.

It could have been worse.

They might have called it "magic carpet" - in keeping with the charms nonsense.

 

[Brink]

Hello Simon,

LOL, that would have been funny as "magic carpet".

"Wireless devices" would allow you to turn off individual wireless devices, say only your Wi-Fi on or off like in my screenshot in the tutorial.

Airplane mode would turn off all radio signals, say Wi-Fi, mobile broadband (ex: 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, etc...), bluetooth, etc.. at once instead of having to doing so one by one if you have more than one wireless device installed. Yep, it was called "Airplane mode", since you usually have to turn off all wireless devices before take off in an airplane. It just stuck I guess. I guess, you could also use it in restricted court room situations, and you have to turn off all wireless devices in some areas of a hospital.

 

[Brutus]

Hello Brink. First of all thank you for all your guides, tips and tricks. They are amazing. Windows 8 is one little mess and spreading your knowledge helps making it less annoying.

Now to my question. Do you have any ideas how to set the default option for the airplane mode? It seems that the airplane mode is always off when you start your machine and I would like it to be on when I start mine.

I guess it could be done through some registry entries but I don't know where to search for one. Maybe it could also be done through the Group Policy editor but Windows 8 Core doesn't offer that option and implementing it from the Pro version doesn't seem to work.

 

[Brink]

Hello Brutus, and welcome to Eight Forums.

For now, it appears that you may need to manually turn Airplane mode on/off as needed.

 

[username]

Non of this works - I don't have flight mode option available

 

[Brink]

Hello username, and welcome to Eight Forums.

What type of network do you have?

This is only available if you have a wireless network type of connection, and have either Windows 8 or Windows RT installed.

Please fill out your system specs.

 

[username]

WAN on Win 8 Pro

 

[Brink]

WAN on Win 8 Pro

That just tells be that it's a Wide Area Network (WAN). It doesn't say if it's wireless (WLAN) or not.

Since you do not have an Airplane Mode option available, then I'm guessing that you do not have a wireless connection.

Please post a screenshot showing your Network and Sharing Center (in Control Panel) to see what type you have.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2598-screenshots-files-upload-post-eight-forums.html​

 

[username]

Wireless

 

[Brink]

For me to be able to further help, please fill in your system specs, and post screenshots showing your Network and Sharing Center (in Control Panel) and PC settings screen from OPTION FOUR in the tutorial.

Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Eight Forums

 

[username]

 

[Brink]

username,

You do not have "Airplane Mode" available because this is a desktop PC and not a mobile device such as a laptop, tablet, smart phone, etc... Are you able to turn off your wireless connection when you like via a switch or other setting instead?

It's still odd that you do not have a "Wireless" option in PC settings, when it shows that you have a WiFi connection in Network and Sharing Center.

What brand and model of wireless device are you using on your desktop?

Do you have the latest drivers installed for it?

 

[kaybee327]

I am another with this problem. Using pc with windows 8 pro and a Ralink N300 usb WiFi adapterwhich install fine as dev mgr says working with no problems.

If i left click on network icon botton right I can see eternet and WiFi connections. Ipconfig shows adapter as not connected and am unable to connect to router or internet.
Wireless LAN adapter WiFi 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 802.11n USB Wireless LAN Card #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 7C-DD-90-37-7D-7A
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Do not have a WiFi icon task bar or wireless in PC Settings. Icons in settings only shows ethernet network.see attachments.

Any suggestions would be appreciated as I have even spoken to MS and they don't have a clue (No further comment on that )

Thanks in advance

Keith

 

[Brink]

Hello Keith,

No worries. You just missed attaching your uploaded file in your first post.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2598-screenshots-files-upload-post-eight-forums.html​

You do not have wireless available since you are connected to the network via your ethernet (LAN). As a test, disconnect your LAN cable to see if you have wireless available afterwards.

Hope this help,
Shawn

 

[kaybee327]

Thanks Shawn

With ethernet disconnected still get

 

[Brink]

It shows your available wireless connections now, but it also shows that you are not currently connected to one.

Did you ever setup a wireless profile?

You can click on a listed wireless connection to set up a profile with it. If it's not listed (ex: hidden), then you can click on "Hidden network" to set up a profile instead.

 

[kaybee327]

no luck

ipconfig

Wireless LAN adapter WiFi 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 802.11n USB Wireless LAN Card #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 7C-DD-90-37-7D-7A
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes




Diagnose just says error with connection

Keith