Wi-Fi: No Hardware Installed Error Occurred in OS X El Capitan, How to Fix

“Wi-Fi: No Hardware Installed” is a common error often occurs in almost all versions of OS X, if you see this wi-fi error pops up above the menu bar, don’t worry, usually it’s really easy to fix.

Wi-Fi: No Hardware Installed Error can be fixed just by resetting the System Management Controller (SMC), which is a sub-system in your Mac. The SMC helps control power management, battery charging, video switching, sleep and awake mode, LED indicators, keyboard backlighting, and other things.

How to do:

Typically, removing the battery can directly reset the SMC on your Mac.

1. Unplug the laptop
2. Remove the battery
3. Press and hold the power button for 5 second
4. Put the battery back in and turn everything back on

But Apple’s latest Macbooks no such design, a removable battery. So you’ll need to close down your apps and then use a simple key combination.

1. Plug the laptop into a power source
2. Press and hold all of these keys at the same time: Control + Shift + Option + Power
3. Release the keys
4. Press the Power button to turn it back on

If you’re using an Apple desktop, the process is very simple.

Mac Mini, Pro, or iMac

1. Turn it off and unplug from the wall
2. Wait 15 seconds (or a few more to be sure)
3. Plug it back in and turn it on

Done, the “Wi-Fi: No Hardware Installed Error” should be fixed after you following the above steps.