How can one obtain the SSID of the currently connected Wi-Fi network in real time on a Windows system without utilizing netsh commands, PowerShell scripts, or Windows location services, and without accessing previously stored or cached ne

On my setup (Windows desktop, Wi‑Fi connected), this prints the current SSID even when Location services are disabled in Settings, and I do not get any visible location consent prompt when running it as a plain Win32 console app.

The code below queries the current SSID via the native WLAN API (wlanapi.dll) using WlanQueryInterface with wlan_intf_opcode_current_connection, and then reading wlanAssociationAttributes.dot11Ssid. However, Microsoft’s “Wi‑Fi access location changes” documentation does classify WlanQueryInterface with wlan_intf_opcode_current_connection as a location‑sensitive API that can be gated by location consent and may return ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED in more locked‑down or policy‑controlled environments.

If your requirement is “don’t use any API that Microsoft considers part of the location‑sensitive surface at all”, there is no supported way to obtain the current SSID that fully satisfies that constraint.

    #define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0600

    #include <windows.h>

    #include <wlanapi.h>

    #include <objbase.h>

    #include <wtypes.h>

    #include <stdio.h>

    #pragma comment(lib, "wlanapi.lib")

    #pragma comment(lib, "ole32.lib")

    void print_ssid(const DOT11_SSID* ssid) {

        if (ssid->uSSIDLength == 0) {

            printf("SSID: (hidden / empty)\n");

            return;

        }

        printf("SSID: ");

        for (ULONG i = 0; i < ssid->uSSIDLength; i++) {

            unsigned char c = ssid->ucSSID[i];

            if (c >= 32 && c < 127) {

                putchar(c);

            }

            else {

                printf("\\x%02X", c);

            }

        }

        putchar('\n');

    }

    int main() {

        DWORD negotiatedVersion = 0;

        HANDLE clientHandle = NULL;

        DWORD result = ERROR_SUCCESS;

        // 1. Open handle

        result = WlanOpenHandle(2, NULL, &negotiatedVersion, &clientHandle);

        if (result != ERROR_SUCCESS) {

            printf("WlanOpenHandle failed with error: %u\n", result);

            return 1;

        }

        // 2. Enumerate interfaces

        PWLAN_INTERFACE_INFO_LIST pIfList = NULL;

        result = WlanEnumInterfaces(clientHandle, NULL, &pIfList);

        if (result != ERROR_SUCCESS) {

            printf("WlanEnumInterfaces failed with error: %u\n", result);

            WlanCloseHandle(clientHandle, NULL);

            return 1;

        }

        if (pIfList->dwNumberOfItems == 0) {

            printf("No WLAN interfaces found.\n");

            WlanFreeMemory(pIfList);

            WlanCloseHandle(clientHandle, NULL);

            return 0;

        }

        // 3. Iterate interfaces

        for (unsigned int i = 0; i < pIfList->dwNumberOfItems; i++) {

            PWLAN_INTERFACE_INFO pIfInfo = &pIfList->InterfaceInfo[i];

            wprintf(L"Interface %u: %ls\n", i, pIfInfo->strInterfaceDescription);

            printf("  State: %d\n", pIfInfo->isState);

            if (pIfInfo->isState != wlan_interface_state_connected) {

                printf("  Not connected, skipping.\n");

                continue;

            }

            // 4. Query current connection

            DWORD dataSize = 0;

            PWLAN_CONNECTION_ATTRIBUTES pConnAttrs = NULL;

            WLAN_OPCODE_VALUE_TYPE opType;

            result = WlanQueryInterface(

                clientHandle,

                &pIfInfo->InterfaceGuid,

                wlan_intf_opcode_current_connection,

                NULL,

                &dataSize,

                (PVOID*)&pConnAttrs,

                &opType

            );

            if (result != ERROR_SUCCESS) {

                printf("  WlanQueryInterface failed with error: %u\n", result);

                continue;

            }

            // 5. Cast and print SSID

            if (pConnAttrs->isState == wlan_interface_state_connected) {

                DOT11_SSID ssid = pConnAttrs->wlanAssociationAttributes.dot11Ssid;

                print_ssid(&ssid);

            }

            else {

                printf("  Interface not in connected state according to connection attrs.\n");

            }

            // 6. Cleanup per-interface

            if (pConnAttrs) {

                WlanFreeMemory(pConnAttrs);

            }

        }

        // 7. Global cleanup

        if (pIfList) {

            WlanFreeMemory(pIfList);

        }

        if (clientHandle) {

            WlanCloseHandle(clientHandle, NULL);

        }

        printf("Done.\n");

        getchar(); // keep console open

        return 0;

    }