How to Connect to WiFi on Windows 8

Make sure your computer supports Wi-Fi. Most laptops have built-in wireless cards that allow you to connect to Wi-Fi, but many desktop computers don't come with these cards installed. If your desktop doesn't support Wi-Fi, you'll need to install a wireless card first.

Open the Charms bar. Place your mouse cursor in the top- or bottom-right corner of the screen, or press ⊞ Win+C. The Charms bar will pop out from the right side of the screen. On a mobile device running Windows 8, you can swipe in from the right side of the screen.

Click Settings Windows Settings. It's the gear-shaped icon at the bottom of the Charms bar. Doing so brings up the Settings menu.

Click the Wi-Fi icon. It resembles a series of ascending bars in the upper-left side of the Settings menu. Clicking this icon opens a list of currently available networks.

Select a network. Click a network that you want to connect to. This will expand the network's name into a card with the network's information.

Click Connect. It's in the bottom-right corner of the network card. Doing so will open the network. If you want to connect to the network automatically whenever you're in range, check the "Connect automatically" box first.

Type in the network's password. Do so in the "Enter the network security key" field. If the network you're trying to connect to isn't password-protected, skip this step. You may need to look up your password if you forgot it.

Click Next. It's in the bottom-left side of the network's card.

Select a sharing option. Click either No, don't turn on sharing or connect to devices or Yes, turn on sharing and connect to devices. Generally, you'll select the No option for public or unprotected networks, while the Yes option is fine for work and home networks. Sharing your computer with other devices allows you to connect to things like printers, speakers, and other devices on your network.

Test your connection. Open a web browser and go to a page (e.g., Google or Facebook). If the connection is successful, you will be able to load the page. Fresh connections often take a few seconds to begin working.