Alex Ruben
How To Conceal Mobile Hotspot on Android Devices
Dealing with random people connecting to your hotspot or just wanna keep things on the down low? Yeah, hiding your Android hotspot can help. It’s kind of weird, but if you enable the hidden network feature, your hotspot won’t show up in the list of available Wi-Fi networks nearby. That way, only folks who know the exact network name and password can connect. Not foolproof, but it’s a decent privacy layer. Plus, depending on your phone and Android version, the steps slightly differ—so gotta work with what you’ve got. By walking through these steps, you’ll make your hotspot a little more stealthy, and hopefully stop nosy neighbors or coworkers from seeing it.
How to Hide Your Mobile Hotspot in Android
Accessing Hotspot Settings and Enabling Hidden Network
First, open your Settings. You can usually find this by swiping down the notification shade and tapping the gear icon, or just look for the app drawer if you’ve got a clean setup.
Once in Settings, scroll down until you find Connections, Network & Internet, or something similar—depends on your phone manufacturer.
Look for Mobile Hotspot & Tethering, which is where you control all that sharing stuff. Tap into it.
Turn on the hotspot if it’s not already active by toggling the main switch. On some phones, you need to set a network name (SSID) and password first, so do that too.
Next, tap on Mobile Hotspot to dive into its detailed settings. (Sometimes you tap directly on the hotspot name in the list.)
Scroll to find an Advanced or More Settings option—you may need to tap that to get more options.
Some phones, like Samsung or Pixel, might let you toggle a Hidden Network option right here, or maybe you’ll see it in a submenu labeled Security & Connectivity.
Flip that switch on. Basically, enabling this means your hotspot won’t be broadcasted openly, so it won’t appear in nearby Wi-Fi scans.
Don’t forget to tap Save or Apply if needed. Without that, your settings won’t stick, and the hotspot will stay visible.
Extra Tips & Troubleshooting
Sometimes, the hidden network toggle is kinda hidden or not available on some devices. If that’s the case, a workaround is to set a unique network SSID and use a strong password.
Also, on some phones, toggling the hidden network and saving might not work on the first try—especially after a reboot. Just be patient and recheck the setting afterward.
And yes, keep that password strong. Because of course, Android has to make it harder than necessary to truly hide things — some devices don’t support the “hidden” toggle natively, so relying on a custom ROM or third-party app might be needed if privacy is a huge concern.
Finally, if your hotspot still pops up after all this, double-check that in your hotspot settings, you enabled the hidden network option and saved it. Sometimes, it’s as simple as missing that step.
Summary
- Open Settings and go to Connections or Network & Internet.
- Find Mobile Hotspot & Tethering and turn on your hotspot.
- Tap into Mobile Hotspot settings, look for Advanced, and toggle Hidden Network.
- Save your changes and make sure everything sticks.
Wrap-up
Hopefully, enabling that hidden network toggle (if supported) keeps your hotspot less visible. Not foolproof, but it’s a straightforward step to add some obscurity. If it doesn’t work, maybe consider changing your SSID regularly or setting a very confusing name — that way, even if someone finds it, they’ll have a tough time figuring out what’s what. Sometimes, the simplest tricks have the biggest impact. Just keep that password tight, and you’re good for basic privacy. Fingers crossed this helps someone avoid random connections or just keep things a bit more low-profile.