Remove a known network from Windows 8

Question

When Windows 8 detects a network based on the assigned IP address, netmask, default gateway, etc., it remembers the network along with the setting you give it as a public or private network. If you change the configuration of a network (e.g. reconfigure your router), Windows may determine you are on a new network and assign it a name of Network 2 or YourAPN 2.

This less-than-friendly name shows up in many places in the Windows 8 UI, but unlike the good old days of Windows 7, there doesn't appear to be any UI to merge or delete these networks. What's the best way to merge or delete networks you don't want?

Answer 1

Find and delete the registry keys for the unwanted networks under these locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Nla\Cache\Intranet
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Signatures\Unmanaged

If you don't mind reconfiguring any existing networks, its easiest to disable your network adapter, delete all the networks, then re-enable.

Note: The known networks described above are separate from wireless user profiles, which store SSIDs, WPA2 passwords, etc. The UI for managing wireless user profiles was also gone. These can be wiped clean by removing the wireless adapter from Device Manager (Windows will restore it fresh) or removed individually with netsh wlan delete profile "profile name" (more info). Update: The April 2014 Windows 8.1 Update supplied a GUI for removing wireless user profiles.

Answer 2

In case anyone didn't get this:

1. Win+R - Shortcut to bring up the 'Run' prompt.
2. Type regedit and press Enter.
3. The Registry Editor application will launch.
4. Now within the Registry Editor, use the arrows alongside directories in the left pane to navigate to the specified directory in the above answer (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\) then within each of the three different subdirectories (Nla\Cache\Intranet), (Profiles), (Signatures\Unmanaged) right click on any item that shows the network name on the right when clicked, then in the menu, click Delete.