How To Turn off the connectivity on Android 12

Android 12 is well on its way to a stable release by fall this year. But those who’re rocking Android 12 beta on their devices will already be privy to all the changes that are being brought to the newest iteration of Android. 

Though there have been massive overhauls on most fronts, the latest developments have seen a prominent change in the way we interact with Wi-Fi and Internet toggles. Here’s how you can turn off WiFi on Android 12 and why you may not see the same toggle options for it (on beta).

How to turn off WiFi on Android 12

Without further ado, let’s see how you can turn off WiFi on Android 12 in a couple of different ways. 

Turning off a Wi-Fi network from Quick Toggles

Swipe down to bring up the quick settings panel. Here, tap on the Internet toggle.

Here, you will see the connections that are available to you, including your mobile data carrier.

On Android Beta 2.1

In the recent Android Beta 2.1 update, Google has taken away this option. So if you’re on the updated beta 2.1, you may not see the cross next to the Wi-Fi. It has been replaced by the gear icon that takes you straight to settings for that WiFi network.

So, click on the toggle icon in the top right of the pop-up after the currently joined WiFi network. 

Tap on Disconnect to turn off that WiFi network.

If you want to avoid this WiFi network in the future too, tap on Forget to delete the saved password for the network. Now, your device won’t suggest this network to you. However, if you only want to stop your device from auto-connecting to this WiFi network, tap on Advanced, and then toggle off Auto-connect.

Removing the ability to directly turn off a WiFi network does make it a little more cumbersome but since it is still the beta phase, there is no telling whether these adjustments are here to say. 

On Android 12 Beta 2 (before 2.1)

If your WiFi is connected (Nirvana_5G in our screenshot below), you will see a cross next to it. Simply tap on it to turn off the WiFi.

This will turn off that WiFi network right away. The internet connection will automatically default to your mobile data if that is enabled and you will get a toast notification telling you that “WiFi won’t auto-connect for now”.

Do note that the Wi-Fi isn’t turned off as such, and is only disabled from auto-connecting for now. To turn it off completely, you have to do so from within the Settings app. Follow the guide right below for that.

Turn off Wi-Fi completely from Settings

Here’s how you can turn off Wi-Fi completely from Settings.

After tapping on the Internet toggle, tap on Settings in the popup (as shown below).

Now, even though we turned off Wi-Fi from quick settings, we still see a bunch of available Wi-Fi networks crowding the screen. That just goes to show that it didn’t turn off entirely and was instead only disabled for the time being.

To turn off the WiFi for good, simply scroll down until you see the dedicated Wi-Fi option and toggle it off.

Note that the Wi-Fi toggle will be greyed out (as shown below) when it’s turned off.  

Another way to access Wi-Fi settings

Open the Settings app and tap on Network and internet.

Now tap on Internet.

Now, as mentioned above, go on and find the toggle for WiFi and turn it off to turn off Wi-Fi completely.

How to turn off ‘Internet’ on Android 12

As mentioned before, once you have turned off the Wi-Fi, you are automatically connected to the mobile data. So, in order to turn off the Internet completely (without resorting to Airplane mode), you have to turn off mobile data as well. Here’s how to do so:

Tap on the Internet toggle in the quick settings menu as shown before. Then toggle off mobile data here.

Alternatively, you can go to the Internet settings page and tap on the gear icon next to your mobile data.

Here, scroll down to Mobile data and toggle it off.

Now, your Internet, including your Wi-Fi and mobile data, is turned off completely.

Why is the WiFi toggle missing in Android 12?

As things stand with Android 12 Beta 2, there is no quick toggle option in the Quick settings panel to turn off Wi-Fi for good. You will have to do so from the Settings app itself.

This is one of the major changes introduced on the latest beta. It seems Google is looking to tidy things up and club some of the options together in order to make space for new quick toggles and the UI layout of Android 12. 

But nothing is final as of now. This may change yet and we may see the return of the missing quick settings Wi-Fi toggle on the stable Android 12 release before the year is out.