macOS High Sierra

macbook_high_sierra

Apple has added a very useful feature to macOS High Sierra.  It’s mostly beneficial if you have a neighbour who has stronger wifi than you.  You can now stop your Mac from auto-joining it without having to forget the network. What seems to happen is that devices would switch over to a neighbour’s network, but then you would have to switch it back in order to use such features as AirPlay or controlling, let’s say, smart lights.  But that’s all changed with iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra.  Now, you can disable the auto-join feature. And here is how you can do it:

How to Disable “Auto-Joining” on Mac in High Sierra

To stop automatically joining a network, but still keep the login credentials, you have to disable it in your network settings.    You can quickly access your network settings from the drop-down menu when you click on your wifi icon in the Menu bar.

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Or you can access your network settings in your system preferences.

mac_system_preferenc_nddFu

  1. Click on the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of your Mac’s screen.
  2. Click on System Preferences.

wifi_auto_join_network

  1. Click on Networks.
  2. Select the wifi network you want to stop joining automatically from the drop-down menu next to Network Name. You have to be within range of the network to see it.
  3. Untick the box next to Automatically join this network.

You can repeat this process with all nearby wifi networks that you don’t want to automatically join.

How to Enable Auto-Joining Specific Networks on Mac in High Sierra

If you change your mind and decide that you always want your Mac to join a specific network, you can re-enable this feature without needing the password again.

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  1. Click on the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of your Mac’s screen.
  2. Click on System Preferences.
  3. Click on Networks.
  4. Select the wifi network you want to automatically join from the drop-down menu next to Network Name. You have to be within range of the network to see it.
  5. Tick the box next to Automatically join this network.

wifi_auto_join_network

How to Disable Remembering All Networks Your Mac Has Joined

But if you’d rather your Mac not store any network settings for future access, you can disable the feature completely.  This will mean that you will have to re-enter the wifi password every time you join a network.  Even if it’s a network you’ve joined previously.  Which doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, so I wouldn’t recommend doing this.

wifi_networks

  1. Click on the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of your Mac’s screen.
  2. Click on System Preferences.

mac_system_preferenc_nddFu

  1. Click on Networks.
  2. Click on Advanced.
  3. Untick the box for Remember networks this computer has joined.

remember_networks

This means that your Mac will no longer remember networks automatically.  You will have to keep manually enabling auto-join for specific networks you want to keep the login credentials stored.  I personally wouldn’t recommend disabling this completely, but I’m sure there are good reasons either for or against doing it.  I am quite lazy, so I don’t want to have to do a lot of extra work.

By Staff Writer

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