Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter: How to Remove It?

What Is Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter?

What is a Microsoft Wi-Fi direct virtual adapter? With the help of that, your computer can play as a wireless hotspot, connecting to another wireless device over the wireless network and allowing it to access the Internet.

Then you can transfer large amounts of data, and connect and mirror compatible devices to your PC. It is quite useful in some ways, however, you may run into unexpected situations with your external Wi-Fi adapters. If you want to disable the Microsoft Wi-Fi direct virtual adapter, please do so as per the following guide.

How to Disable or Remove Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter?

Method 1: Use Device Manager

You can use Device Manager to disable the Wi-Fi direct virtual adapter.

Step 1: Open the quick menu by pressing Win + X and choose Device Manager.

Step 2: Expand Network adapters and locate and right-click on Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter to choose Disable device.

Then you can close the window and restart your PC to verify the changes.

Method 2: Disable Project to This PC

Normally, the Project to this PC feature is set as Always Off by default but you may change the settings. You can check and disable the feature via the following steps.

Step 1: Open Settings by pressing Win + I and choose System.

Step 2: Go to the Projecting to this PC tab and expand the menu under Some Windows and Android devices can project to this PC when you say it’s OK to choose Always Off (Recommended).

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Method 3: Use Command Prompt

To remove the Microsoft Wi-Fi direct virtual adapter, you can use Command Prompt.

Step 1: Open Run by pressing Win + R and type cmd while pressing Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run it with admin rights.

Step 2: Type this command – netsh wlan stop hostednetwork and press Enter to turn off the active hosted network.

Step 3: Then execute this command to disable the Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter.

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=disallow

Now, close the window and restart your PC.

Method 4: Use Registry Editor

Another method to disable the Wi-Fi direct virtual adapter is to use Registry Editor. But before you start deleting the registry, since Windows Registry plays an important role in system running, you’d better back up the registry or create a restore point for your system.

Of course, for better solutions, you can backup system by using MiniTool ShadowMaker – this free backup software, which allows you to backup files & folders and partitions & disks as well as your system. By doing so, the backup data can be quickly recovered.

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Step 1: Open Run and type regedit to enter.

Step 2: Copy and paste this location and press Enter.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\WlanSvc\Parameters\HostedNetworkSettings

Step 3: Then right-click on HostedNetworkSettings from the right panel to choose Delete and confirm the move.

Then you can check if the adapter has been deleted or removed by running the netsh wlan show hostednetwork command in Command Prompt with admin rights and checking if the setting is listed as Not configured.

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Bottom Line:

This article can help remove or disable the Microsoft Wi-Fi direct virtual adapter. Hope this article is useful for you.