How to Turn Off Wi-Fi of Raspberry Pi

This guide explains how to turn Off Wi-Fi of Raspberry Pi, with clear steps, practical tips, and important checks before you begin.

The following article will show some ways to disable Wi-Fi, from using rfkill to modifying boot configuration files.

Turn off Wi-Fi using the Raspberry Pi desktop

This section will guide you on how to turn off Wi-Fi connection when using the Raspberry Pi OS desktop.

The desktop interface is the easiest way to turn off Wi-Fi as it only needs a few clicks.

1. While on the Raspberry Pi desktop, look for the Wi-Fi icon in the top right corner of the screen. This symbol is indicated by two arrows, one up arrow and one down arrow. Click this icon to display the submenu.

2. When the submenu appears, all you need to do to turn off Wi-Fi is to click on the Turn Off Wireless Lan option . Clicking this option will instantly turn off your Wi-Fi connection.

3. Now, you have successfully turned off Wi-Fi connection.

If it hasn't been disabled for some reason, be sure to read on for some more methods.

Turn off Wi-Fi connection with rfkill

This section will show you how you can use the rfkill package to disable the Wi-Fi of the Raspberry Pi.

This package is designed to disable wireless connections running from your device with ease. These wireless connections include both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

1. Although rfkill should be included in your distribution, it's a good idea to check the signature to make sure it's installed on the system.

1. First, you need to update your package list and upgrade any existing packages.

sudo apt update sudo apt full-upgrade

2. With the update complete, you can ensure the rfkill is installed by running the following command.

sudo apt install rfkill

3. With rfkill installed, you can easily use it to turn off Wi-Fi on your Raspberry Pi.

All you need to do is enter the following command:

sudo rfkill block wifi

You can also use rfkill to turn off your Bluetooth connection.

sudo rfkill block bluetooth

4. The Wi-Fi connection on your Raspberry Pi is now successfully turned off.

If you want to restore functionality of your connection, you can run the following command.

sudo rfkill unblock wifi

Modify boot configuration to disable Wi-Fi

In this section, you will learn how to modify the Raspberry Pi's boot configuration file.

By modifying this file, you can turn off Wi-Fi connection during the boot process.

1. If you are editing this file on your Raspberry Pi, you can do so by running the following command. To edit this file I will use Nano as it is one of the easiest Terminal based editors to use. You can also edit this file when the SD card is inserted in another device. The file will be available on the partition named 'boot'.

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

2. In this section, find the following block of text. You can use the shortcut CTRL + W to search for text files when using Nano.

[all]

3. Below this text, you need to add the following line.

This line tells the system that it needs to turn off the Raspberry Pi's Wi-Fi module.

dtoverlay=disable-wifi

You can also use this file to turn off the Bluetooth module by adding the following line.

dtoverlay=disable-bt

4. You can now save your changes to the configuration file.

If you're doing this on your Raspberry Pi, save the file by pressing CTRL + X , then pressing Y , then pressing ENTER.

5. For this change to take effect, you will need to restart your Raspberry Pi.

To safely restart your device, you can use the following command.

sudo reboot

Block Wi-Fi with Modprobe Blacklist

Modprobe is special software used to load modules into the Linux kernel itself.

You can use a modprobe feature to block it from loading in kernel modules used for Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection.

1. On the Raspberry Pi, run the following command to edit the file 'raspi-blacklist. conf'. Modprobe software automatically reads in this configuration file.

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/raspi-blacklist.conf

2. In this file, add the following two lines at the end of the file to disable loaded Wi-Fi kernel modules.

All this does is tell the modprobe that it cannot load in kernel modules starting with the specified name.

blacklist brcmfmac blacklist brcmutil

If you want to disable the loading of Bluetooth module, you can add the following lines.

blacklist hci_uart blacklist btbcm blacklist btintel blacklist rfcom blacklist btqca blacklist btsdio blacklist bluetooth

3. Once you've added lines of blacklist to the file, you can save the file by pressing CTRL + X , then pressing Y and ENTER.

4. For the changes to take effect, you will need to restart your Raspberry Pi. To restart your Pi, use the following command.

sudo reboot

Hopefully by the end of this tutorial, you will know how to disable Wi-Fi on your Raspberry Pi.

FAQ

What should I know about Turn Off Wi-Fi of Raspberry Pi?

Focus on the key features, requirements, limitations, and practical use cases explained in this guide.

How do I get the best results with Turn Off Wi-Fi of Raspberry Pi?

Follow the recommended steps, use current software or information, confirm compatibility, and review settings before major changes.

Are there any risks or limitations?

Potential limitations depend on compatibility, data quality, cost, privacy, support, and how the product or method is used.