How to Turn Airplane Mode On or Off
There are two ways to enable or disable Airplane mode on Windows 10 or 11 devices.
Use the Network icon on the Taskbar
The easiest way is from the Network icon on the Taskbar (that thin strip at the bottom of your display where the Start button exists and program icons appear). Simply position the mouse over that icon and select it. From there, select Airplane mode.
Get to Airplane Mode Using the Start Button
You can also use the Start button in Windows. Follow these steps: When you turn on Airplane mode you’ll also notice that the Wi-Fi icon changes from blue to gray, as does the Mobile Hotspot option, if they were enabled to begin with. This happens because starting Airplane mode disables all these features immediately. If your computer is a desktop PC, it might not have wireless networking hardware. In this case, you won’t see these options.
How to Turn Airplane Mode On or Off in Windows 8.1
In Windows 8.1, you start Airplane mode using a similar process. You’ll select the Network icon on the Taskbar. However, in this case, there’s a slider for Airplane mode (and not an icon). It’s a toggle and is either off or on. Like Windows 10, enabling this mode disables Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as well. In Windows 8, follow these steps:
Reasons to Enable Airplane Mode
There are many reasons to turn on Airplane mode beyond being told to by the captain of an airplane to do so. Using Airplane mode will increase the remaining battery charge of a phone, laptop or tablet. If you don’t have access to a charger and your battery is running low, this is a good place to start since only a few airplanes have power outlets. You may also enable Airplane mode if you want do not want to be disturbed with phone calls, texts, emails, or internet notifications, but you still want to use your device. Parents often enable Airplane mode when their child is using their phone. It keeps the kids from reading incoming texts or being disrupted by internet notifications or phone calls. Another reason to enable Airplane mode on a phone is to avoid cellular data roaming charges while in a foreign country. Just keep Wi-Fi enabled. In larger cities, you’ll often find free Wi-Fi anyway, and you can message contacts over Wi-Fi using apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and email. Finally, if you can get to Airplane mode fast enough, you might be able to stop unwanted messages from sending. Say for example that you write a text and include a picture, but just as it’s starting to send you realize it’s the wrong picture! If you can enable Airplane mode quickly enough, you might be able to stop it from sending. This is one time you’ll actually be happy to see the “Message failed to send error”! Thus, the FCC put rules into place to limit cell phone transmissions on planes, and thus the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibits the use of cellular phone features during takeoff and landing, and, in flight. It is also a common belief at the FCC that lots of fast-moving cell phones may all ping several cell towers multiple times and at once, which can confuse the mobile phone network. Additionally, when Airplane mode is enabled the device requires fewer resources to function. The phone or laptop stops looking for cellular towers. It stops looking for Wi-Fi hotspots or Bluetooth devices too, depending on how you’ve set it up. Without this overhead, the device’s battery can last longer.
