How to Stop Windows 11 From Showing Save Wi-Fi Password Prompts

Quick fix: Disable the “Sign in to save” prompts by turning off Microsoft account sync for network credentials, or set the registry value WiFiSenseDisabled to permanently stop Wi-Fi credential prompts on a per-machine basis.

You connect to a new Wi-Fi network and Windows 11 immediately asks you to sign in to save the password to your Microsoft account, your work account, or both. The prompts come back even after you dismiss them, and they reappear at the worst moments — during a presentation, mid-call, when you’re finishing a form. The prompts are tied to features that most users never turn on intentionally: credential roaming and Wi-Fi Sense.

What causes this

Two separate Windows features generate these prompts. Credential roaming syncs saved Wi-Fi passwords (and other credentials) between PCs signed in with the same Microsoft account — useful for users with multiple devices, intrusive for users with one. Wi-Fi Sense, the older feature, used to share Wi-Fi passwords with contacts; Microsoft has gradually retired it, but the prompt logic remained in some builds. The result is that Windows asks “Do you want this saved across your devices?” on every new SSID until you explicitly opt out.

The fix is to turn off the underlying setting once, which suppresses the prompt globally rather than dismissing it network by network.

Method 1: Turn off network credential sync in Settings

1. Open Settings → Accounts → Windows backup.
2. Find the Remember my preferences section and click to expand it.
3. Uncheck Other Windows settings (this disables Wi-Fi credential sync among other things). If you want finer control, also uncheck Passwords.
4. Close Settings and connect to a new Wi-Fi network to confirm the prompt no longer appears.

This is the supported path and won’t break anything else — your existing Wi-Fi passwords remain on the device, they just stop syncing to the cloud.

Method 2: Disable Wi-Fi Sense via the registry

For Home edition or for a permanent machine-wide setting that survives user profile resets, write the registry values directly.

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WcmSvc\wifinetworkmanager\config.
3. Create a DWORD named AutoConnectAllowedOEM and set its value to 0.
4. Navigate to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WcmSvc\wifinetworkmanager\features.
5. Set WiFiSenseCredShared and WiFiSenseOpen both to 0. Create them as DWORDs if missing.
6. Reboot once so the WcmSvc service picks up the changes.

This stops Windows from offering to share Wi-Fi credentials and removes the prompt logic that was driving the “save this network” UI.

Method 3: Use Group Policy on Pro/Enterprise

1. Open gpedit.msc.
2. Navigate to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Network → WLAN Service → WLAN Settings.
3. Open Allow Windows to automatically connect to suggested open hotspots, to networks shared by contacts, and to hotspots offering paid services and set it to Disabled.
4. Run gpupdate /force from an elevated terminal.

The GPO path is the right choice for fleet machines — settings push from Active Directory and don’t require visiting each PC.

How to verify the fix worked

• Right-click the network icon, choose Forget on a saved network, then reconnect. No prompt should appear.
• Open Settings → Network & internet → Wi-Fi → Manage known networks. The list should still show your existing networks — the fix doesn’t clear them, just stops the prompts.
• Connect to a brand-new SSID. The connection should establish without the “sign in to save” dialog.

If none of these work

If the prompts continue after all three methods, check whether your account is managed by Intune or another MDM — in that case, the prompts come from your organization’s policy and a local change can’t override them. Sign in to Settings → Accounts → Access work or school and see if there’s a managed work account. Removing the work account stops MDM-driven prompts but may also remove access to corporate resources, so coordinate with your IT admin first.

Bottom line: The Wi-Fi save prompts come from credential sync and Wi-Fi Sense, both of which have explicit off switches. Turn them off once and you stop seeing the dialog forever — existing connections continue working unchanged.