Deleting unused AirPort wireless networks

Occasionally in the drop down menu for wireless networks (located in the menu bar), users will find that older networks they had set up still appear. MacFixIt reader Rich B. writes, "Whenever I connect to a network using the airport drop down thingy in the menu bar, I see a bunch of networks that I had set up that are no longer used. Is there a way to delete them and just use the one to connect to the internet?"

Your AirPort menu will automatically display any networks that it detects in your area. If the network you wish to delete is not one that you created, you will not be able to disable the AirPort menu from displaying it. If the network is one you created and are no longer using, deleting the older networks is actually fairly straight forward. To shorten the list of possible preferred networks your computer tries to connect to:

1. Open System Preferences and click Network.
2. Select AirPort from the network ports list and click advanced.
3. From the Airport tab in the dialogue window, select the preferred networks you would no longer like your computer to recognize.
(Note: Shift Click and Command Click do not work in this list - each network must be deleted separately.)
4. Click the minus ( - ) button below the preferred networks list to delete each of the older networks you had created. 

Note: You can also use this same list to create a prioritized order for which networks it will connect to (a handy tip when you are in areas with multiple networks, especially when some of those networks are not as stable).

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