Apple Removes Network Locations Feature in macOS Ventura

In addition to redesigning the System Settings app on macOS Ventura, Apple has removed the app's longstanding Network Locations feature, as noted by Jason Snell at Six Colors. The feature allowed users to quickly switch between different sets of Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and other network settings depending on their location, such as home or work.

macos ventura network locations
Given that macOS Ventura is still in beta, there is always a chance that Network Locations could return at some point, but this seems unlikely given that Apple marked Tyler Loch's bug report about the feature's absence as "works as currently designed."

In a support document, Apple says the Network Locations feature could be useful in circumstances such as those listed below:

- You use the same type of network (such as Ethernet) at work and at home, but the settings you use at work don't allow your Mac to automatically connect to the same type of network at home.

- Your Mac connects to more than one type of network service (such as both Wi-Fi and Ethernet) at work and at home, but at work you want your Mac to try connecting to the Ethernet network first, and at home you want your Mac to try connecting to the Wi-Fi network first. In other words, you want to set a different service order for each location.

- Your Mac isn't connecting to your network and you want to quickly reset your network settings for testing purposes, without losing your current network settings.

Snell says Apple's command-line tool "networksetup" is still present in the latest macOS Ventura beta, so a third-party developer could step in and release an app to replace the Network Locations functionality removed in the System Settings app.

Related Forum: macOS Ventura

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
Facebook Feature

Facebook's New iPhone App Feature Turns the Clock Back to 2007

Thursday March 27, 2025 1:59 pm PDT by
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out. That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook. Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

iPhone Foldable Display Said to Feature iPad-Style 4:3 Aspect Ratio

Friday March 28, 2025 3:44 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming "iPhone Fold" will feature a foldable screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio, according to a Chinese leaker who previously leaked the book-style device's display dimensions. The Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station claims that Apple will adopt a "roughly" 4:3 aspect ratio on the inner display in order to achieve consistency between the outer display, as well as to ensure parity...

Top Rated Comments

temende Avatar
34 months ago

Pardon my ignorance on this matter, but how was this used? I mean you would connect to a different network depending on where you were, wouldn't you?
You could basically have your Mac adjust your network configuration for you based on your WiFi network, e.g. automatically use a different DNS server at home vs work.

It was a niche feature for sure but I also don't see why it needs to be removed. Part of what made macOS special was a lot of these little "nice touches" that came built in to the OS.
Score: 55 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RoboCop001 Avatar
34 months ago

My guess is they will bring it back in a few years as a "new feature" like they are doing with the battery percentage.
Battery Percentage. Network Location. And Mobile Home Folders.
Battery Percentage! Network Location!! And Mobile Home Folders!!

BATTERY PERCENTAGE! NETWORK LOCATION!! ... Are you getting it yet???

These are not 3 separate updates!!!

Introducing.... iosOSmacOS

:D
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NMBob Avatar
34 months ago
Well, no one comes into work at Apple, so they don't need it and we are expected to just follow suit.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
34 months ago
Everyone: We want iPadOS to be more like macOS.

Apple: We made macOS more like iPadOS.



Attachment Image
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
temende Avatar
34 months ago
My guess is they will bring it back in a few years as a "new feature" like they are doing with the battery percentage.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coolfactor Avatar
34 months ago

Pardon my ignorance on this matter, but how was this used? I mean you would connect to a different network depending on where you were, wouldn't you?
I haven't used it recently, but in the past I'd use it to switch Network settings as I moved to different locations. This really was a more advanced feature that the average user would never use, and I suspect that they are removing it because it was lightly-used. Dumbing down the system. Not happy about that, if true.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)