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How to: Airport won’t activate? Try this simple fix

14 April 2009 21,704 views 29 Comments


    When I bought a MacBook, though I really wanted an iMac, I did so because mobility is an absolute must. So, whether I’m sitting in a parking lot somewhere—waiting for practice, scouts, shopping or whatever to end—or just having brecky on the deck, my MacBook’s built in Airport Extreme wi-fi just has to work and yesterday it just didn’t.

    That is, I often disable Airport via the menu bar to conserve battery (see also: How to: Get more life from your MacBook’s battery) and this time when I went to turn it back on, it just wouldn’t—clicking “Turn Airport on” either via the menu bar or Network panel inside System Preferences earned me no love. Moreover, neither restarting nor restarting and clearing the PRAM (press ⌘ + Option + P + R and, yes, I “know” this is useless) did any good.

    A quick Google of the phrase “airport won’t turn on” led me to this Apple Discussion that advised this simple (potential) solution:

    1. Open the Network System Preference panel
    2. Delete Airport by clicking the “-” (minus) button
    3. Restart your Mac
    4. Open the Network System Preference panel
    5. Add Airport by clicking the “+” (plus) button
    6. Click “Apply”

    See also: Refurbished AirPort Express Base Station with AirTunes at the Apple Store. While Supplies Last!

    And, at least in my case, that did the trick and my Early 2008 2.1GHz MacBook’s Airport is once again fully functional.

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      29 Comments »

      • dr.aw said:

        I had the same problem and this solution worked great. Thanks.

        # 21 June 2010 at 12:30 pm
      • Stephen said:

        AWESOME! I was super frustrated and this did the trick. Thank You!!!!!

        # 29 June 2010 at 12:39 pm
      • Glenn Barker said:

        You are awesome! I’ve had this problem since connecting a new wireless router. Have an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar on Saturday morning, but thought I’d take a look online and see if I could find some advice. Your instructions had me up and going in no time. Thanks!

        # 22 July 2010 at 5:09 pm
      • brian cometa said:

        thanks for this tip! worked for me too — and FYI to anyone else: no need to restart. Just minus airport, click “Apply,” and re-add Airport. All fixed.

        # 28 July 2010 at 5:56 pm
      • Gillian said:

        it works!! thanks a lot!!

        # 2 August 2010 at 2:32 am
      • yana1999 said:

        i tried this, but i cant get my airport back!! its really scaring me! PLEASE HELP. when i pres “+” i dont get the option of airport!!! pls help

        # 7 August 2010 at 3:51 pm
      • Jennifer said:

        Thank you so much for taking the time to post this info–I had searched for something to solve this problem and tried several things with no success. This worked, however!!

        # 18 August 2010 at 1:35 pm
      • Jennifer said:

        p.s. i went to click on “5 stars” and clicked two by accident :( . i wasn’t able to go back and fix this, so hopefully it can be deleted!

        thanks,
        jenny

        # 18 August 2010 at 1:51 pm
      • Jaybird said:

        It works! It actually works!
        Thank you very much, I was getting really worried seeing that I am in S. Korea now and the closet genius bar is hundreds of miles away.
        Life saver!

        # 9 September 2010 at 8:50 am
      • Azdak said:

        Works for me thx

        # 11 September 2010 at 1:50 pm
      • Vanessa_s said:

        Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!! it fixed the problem!!!!

        # 29 November 2010 at 1:42 pm
      • Drake said:

        Dear Writter,

        THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS! If i knew your name I would name my first born son/daughter after you!

        # 30 November 2010 at 9:04 pm
      • Oscar said:

        Dear Writter,

        THANKS!!!! It worked for me too! It’s great when things go smoothly!

        I too would name my first born after you.

        # 28 December 2010 at 3:37 pm
      • Sam said:

        Gutted, it didn’t work for me but am glad it worked for everyone else :)

        # 30 December 2010 at 9:14 am
      • How to: Airport won’t activate? Try this simple fix FairerPlatform | Chicago Mac/PC Support said:

        [...] via How to: Airport won’t activate? Try this simple fix FairerPlatform. [...]

        # 8 January 2011 at 2:09 am
      • Ben Makinen said:

        Brilliant! This fix worked on my MacBook Pro 10.6.5 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 and on a 2004 MacBook G4. AirPort was on and showed my AirPort Extreme networks with bars, but I could not connect to the internet even though an old PC could through Ethernet cable direct into Air Port. My thanks are many to this lovely genius!!

        # 12 February 2011 at 1:11 am
      • David said:

        didn’t work for me. Boo Hoo for me, but glad it worked for everyone else. Is this then a hardware issue?

        # 29 May 2011 at 9:13 pm
      • Seth said:

        I dont get an option to create a new airport so this doesnt work for me :(

        # 2 June 2011 at 4:55 pm
      • Alisa said:

        I tried this and am stuck halfway through cause I’m blonde : / I deleted the airport, restarted, and cannot figure out how to add the airport again. When I click the ‘+’ button it offers me the choice to add Ethernet, Bluetooth, or FireWire but no airport. Any tips on how to get past this please?

        # 5 July 2011 at 11:25 pm
      • Naval O said:

        You. Are. The. Man.

        Thanks!

        Works like a charm.

        # 29 July 2011 at 6:20 pm
      • Jared said:

        Worked perfect. And i was about to crack open my macbook to try see if it was internal. I had actually tried to add and remove the airport connection without restarting it and that disnt work.

        # 2 August 2011 at 7:47 am
      • Terry said:

        This is a life-saving tip!

        # 5 September 2011 at 8:00 pm
      • Mo said:

        God bless you!!! Worked great thank you for sharing!!!

        # 23 September 2011 at 8:35 pm
      • Gladys Wijaya said:

        to those not getting the option of airport after clicking the “+”, try restarting your mbp. I had that problem and in my case it was (probably) because my mbp didnt detect that the airport card is installed. hope this helps!

        # 28 September 2011 at 9:36 am
      • Gladys Wijaya said:

        i have just tried the above step by step and IT WORKS!! i’m so happy i can kiss the poster right this instant!! and Jared is right, you have to restart your mbp for this to work. i tried it without the restart after an earlier comment said that you didnt have to and it didnt work. i was about to give up and was feeling desperate when i read jared’s comment. thank you op and jared!!

        # 28 September 2011 at 9:53 am
      • sedef said:

        Hi Gladys and Alisa,

        I am having the same issue of not having the airport as an option (only ethernet firewire and blutooth) when I click the + even though I restarted the mac after I hit the – button deleting the airport.

        How did you guys resolve this?

        Thanks so much for the help!!

        # 29 September 2011 at 10:10 am
      • Gladys Wijaya said:

        UPDATE: airport is still not working. the fixes work for a while but nothing i tried lasts. i’m feeling really hopeless now because im not in the us anymore and there is no apple store here.

        to Sedef, sometimes i see no card installed and a reboot usually brings it back.

        # 30 September 2011 at 9:14 am
      • Raven said:

        Wow! Nothing has ever been more simple to fix! I was actually upset with my poor boyfriend bc I thought he had something to do with the problem! I apologized immediately after I realized it was so easily remedied! Whoever posted this is awesome! Good karma is coming your way for relieving so many people of a ton of frustration! Thank you!

        # 10 October 2011 at 11:19 pm
      • Mariana said:

        Hey, thanks for posting this.

        FOR ALL THOSE FOR WHOM THIS DIDN’T WORK and you don’t see the Airport option when you click on the + sign, try totally shutting down your computer and then turning it back on. I tried just restart twice and it didn’t work. Totally shutting it down worked.

        # 13 October 2011 at 11:52 am

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