How to disable windows firewall

Turn Microsoft Defender Firewall on or off

It’s important to have Microsoft Defender Firewall on, even if you already have another firewall on. It helps protect you from unauthorized access.

To turn Microsoft Defender Firewall on or off:

Select a network profile: Domain network, Private network, or Public network.

Under Microsoft Defender Firewall, switch the setting to On. If your device is connected to a network, network policy settings might prevent you from completing these steps. For more info, contact your administrator.

To turn it off, switch the setting to Off. Turning off Microsoft Defender Firewall could make your device (and network, if you have one) more vulnerable to unauthorized access. If there’s an app you need to use that’s being blocked, you can allow it through the firewall, instead of turning the firewall off.

Select the Start button > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security and then Firewall & network protection. Open Windows Security settings

Select a network profile: Domain network, Private network, or Public network.

Under Microsoft Defender Firewall, switch the setting to On. If your device is connected to a network, network policy settings might prevent you from completing these steps. For more info, contact your administrator.

To turn it off, switch the setting to Off. Turning off Microsoft Defender Firewall could make your device (and network, if you have one) more vulnerable to unauthorized access. If there’s an app you need to use that’s being blocked, you can allow it through the firewall, instead of turning the firewall off.

Note: If you get errors, or if the setting won’t turn on, you can use the troubleshooter and then try again.

Включение и отключение брандмауэра Microsoft Defender

Важно, чтобы брандмауэр Microsoft Defender был включен, даже если уже включен другой брандмауэр. Он защищает вас от несанкционированного доступа.

Чтобы включить или отключить брандмауэр Microsoft Defender, выполните следующие действия.

Выберите профиль сети: Сеть домена, Частная сеть или Общедоступная сеть.

В разделе Брандмауэр Microsoft Defender установите для параметра значение Вкл. Если ваше устройство подключено к сети, настройки сетевой политики могут помешать вам выполнить эти шаги. За дополнительными сведениями обратитесь к администратору.

Для выключения переключите этот параметр в положение Выкл. Отключение брандмауэра Microsoft Defender может сделать ваше устройство (и сеть, если таковая имеется) более уязвимым для несанкционированного доступа. Если нужно использовать блокируемое приложение, вы можете разрешить его использование через брандмауэр вместо отключения самого брандмауэра.

Нажмите кнопку Пуск и выберите Параметры > Обновление и безопасность > Безопасность Windows > Брандмауэр и защита сети. Открыть параметры службы «Безопасность Windows»

Выберите профиль сети: Сеть домена, Частная сеть или Общедоступная сеть.

В разделе Брандмауэр Microsoft Defender установите для параметра значение Вкл. Если ваше устройство подключено к сети, настройки сетевой политики могут помешать вам выполнить эти шаги. За дополнительными сведениями обратитесь к администратору.

Для выключения переключите этот параметр в положение Выкл. Отключение брандмауэра Microsoft Defender может сделать ваше устройство (и сеть, если таковая имеется) более уязвимым для несанкционированного доступа. Если нужно использовать блокируемое приложение, вы можете разрешить его использование через брандмауэр вместо отключения самого брандмауэра.

Примечание. Если вы получаете сообщения об ошибках или параметр не включается, можно использовать средство устранения неполадок, а затем повторить попытку.

How To Disable Windows Firewall in Windows 10

Windows Firewall is a great feature in modern Windows versions. It was introduced in Windows XP and improved in Windows XP Service Pack 2. For testing purposes, you might want to disable Windows Firewall. For example, if you want to ensure that you have not misconfigured it and it is isn’t blocking some important app that you are trying to use, then disabling it becomes important. Here is how to disable Windows Firewall in Windows 10.

If you need to turn it off temporarily or permanently, here is how. It is a good idea to backup your Firewall rules before you continue.
Table of contents.

To disable Firewall in Windows 10, do the following.

Starting with Windows 10 Creators Update, Windows Defender Security Center can be used to disable Windows Firewall quickly.

Having Windows Firewall disabled is a security risk. I do not recommend that you keep it disabled permanently. Perform all the required checks and tests and turn it on using the same option.

You can disable Windows Firewall in Control Panel.

Windows Defender Security Center is a new feature of Windows 10 Creators Update. If you are running a previous release of Windows 10 (for example, if you have postponed Windows 10 Creators Update for a while), then you need to do the following to disable the firewall.

To enable it later, you can use the same Control Panel applet and set the option Turn on Windows Firewall.

You can disable Windows Firewall in Command Prompt.

Finally, there are a number of console commands which you can use to disable Windows Firewall in Windows 10.

In an elevated command prompt, type one of the commands below.

Disable Windows Firewall for all network types (profiles)

Disable Windows Firewall for the active profile only:

Disable Windows Firewall for the domain profile:

Disable Windows Firewall for the private profile:

Disable Windows Firewall for the public profile:

To revert any of the commands above and re-enable Windows Firewall, replace the «off» portion at the end of the command with «on», e.g.

You can disable Windows Firewall in PowerShell

The next set of commands are available in Windows PowerShell. If you are using PowerShell frequently, you can use them instead of the list above.

Open a new elevated PowerShell instance and type the following commands:

Disable Windows Firewall for all profiles:

Disable Windows Firewall for the Domain profile.

Disable Windows Firewall for the Private network profile only.

Disable Windows Firewall for the public profile.

To revert any of the commands above, replace «False» with «True» at the end of the command. For example,

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube. View all posts by Sergey Tkachenko

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How to Turn Off or Disable Windows Firewall (All the Ways)

Read more tutorials by June Castillote!

Table of Contents

“Why would you disable or turn off the Windows Firewall?”

There are many reasons one would disable the firewall in Windows. Not every reason is sound, of course, but there are legitimate ones.

In this article, you will learn the many ways to disable the Windows firewall. Whether you’re in a single-machine setup, home network, or a corporate environment, this article is for you.

You’re going to learn how to turn off the software firewall in Windows in just about every way possible!

Table of Contents

Prerequisites

Since this article is a how-to, there are some requirements that you need to follow along with the instructions. Some examples involve domain and non-domain environment.

For a Non-Domain Environment

For a Domain Environment

Using the GUI

Probably the quickest way to disable the firewall is using the included GUI tools in Windows. Using the GUI is probably the easiest way to turn off the Windows firewall for home users.

Using the Windows Security App

The first GUI tool to manage is the Windows Security App. The Windows Security app is available on Windows 10, version 1703, and later.

2. You will see different menu items in the Windows Security app home. Look for Firewall & network protection and click to open it.

3. On the Firewall & network protection page, you should see the different network profiles listed. These network profiles are Domain Network, Private Network, and Public Network. You can turn off the firewall for each of these network connection locations individually. In this example, you need to select the Private Network profile.

4. In this example, the Private Network profile is selected. Once inside the Private Network settings, click on the switch to turn off the Windows Defender Firewall.

Repeat the same steps for the other network profiles if you prefer.

Disable Windows Firewall Using the Windows Defender Firewall Control Panel

Another GUI tool is the Windows Defender Firewall Control Panel. As opposed to the Windows Security App which has the modern interface of a Windows 10 App, the Windows Defender Firewall Control Panel sports the same look of classic control panel items.

Below are several ways to launch the Windows Defender Firewall Control Panel

Method 1: Go to Control Panel —> System and Security —> Windows Defender Firewall.

Method 2: Open the Start menu and type windows defender firewall. Click on the Windows Defender Firewall link.

Method 3: Open the Run dialog box and type in the command control firewall.cpl and click OK.

In the Windows Defender Firewall Control Panel, you should see a familiar list of network profiles; Domain networks, Private networks, and Guest or public networks. On the left-hand side, click on the Turn Windows Defender on or off link.

On the Customize Settings page, you’ll have the option to disable the Windows firewall for each network profile. In the example below, the Windows Firewall is turned off on all network profiles.

Using the Command-Line

As you may already know, most, if not all, of the GUI operations in Windows, have a command-line counterpart. Using the command-line is at times quicker, as opposed to going to different windows location when using the GUI options.

Additionally, the command-line options enable users to script or automate the task.

Turning off the Windows Firewall with the NETSH Command

An old but useful handy utility called netsh s ready for use to manage network configurations on a computer, or in this case, to disable the Windows Firewall.

Using netsh advfirewall set c you can disable the Windows Firewall individually on each location or all network profiles.

The demonstration below shows each of the commands above in action.

Using the Set-NetFirewallProfile PowerShell Cmdlet

The NetSecurity PowerShell module is built-in to Windows 10, as well as Windows Server 2012, and above. This NetSecurity PowerShell module contains cmdlets related to network and network security configuration. One of these cmdlets is the Set-NetFirewallProfile which can be used to disable Windows Firewall.

The Set-NetFirewallProfile syntax is shown below.

The command below will turn off the firewall on the Public, Private, and Domain network profiles.

The demonstration below shows how the Set-NetFirewallProfile works to disable Windows Firewall using the command above.

Turning off the Windows Firewall Remotely Using PowerShell

When you need to disable the firewall on many computers, it would be inefficient to manually login to each computer and run the commands. Especially in a network environment, you could disable remotely using PowerShell.

Note: This procedure requires that WinRM is already enabled on the target computer. In most cases, WinRM is already set up for domain-joined computers for remote management purposes.

If you plan to disable Windows Firewall on one remote computer at a time, you can use the Enter-PsSession cmdlet to issue the commands to the remote computer.

In the example below, the command will be issued from the server named dc, and the remote computer name is desktop1. The command that will be used is shown below.

Running the code above in PowerShell would result in a similar output, as the demo below.

The above process is good only if you are working on a few remote computers. But, if you have a bulk of computers where you need to disable it, you will need an approach that is more adapted to scripting. For that, you can use the Invoke-Command cmdlet.

Using Group Policy

By deploying a GPO, systems admins can turn off the Windows Firewall for selected or all computers in the domain. Once deployed, disabling Windows Firewall will be automated as the configuration enforces it via policy on all computers that are in scope.

Creating the GPO

To create a GPO, you need to launch the Group Policy Management Console on the server. To do so, run gpmc.msc command in the Run dialog.

In the Group Policy Management console, expand the forest and then select the domain where you will create the GPO. In the image below, the GPO is created in the xyz.int domain. Right-click on the domain and click Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here…

The New GPO dialog box will pop up. Type in Disable Windows Firewall in the Name box, then click on the OK button.

Next, right-click on the new GPO and click Edit. The GPO will open in the Group Policy Management Editor. Then, expand these folders Computer Configuration —> Policies —> Administrative Templates —> Network —> Network Connections —> Windows Defender —> Firewall —> Domain Profile.

In the settings list on the right pane, double-click on Windows Defender Firewall: Protect all network connections to open its properties.

Once the settings property is open, change the value by selecting Disabled, then click OK.

Repeat and apply the same option to the Standard Profile settings. Then, you can now exit the Group Policy Management Editor window.

Deploying the GPO to All Domain Computers

Now that you’ve created the GPO, you now need to deploy the GPO to the domain computers.

To apply the GPO, in the Group Policy Management, select the Disable Windows Firewall GPO. Then, in the Scope tab, click on Add button under the Security Filtering section.

In the Select User, Computer, or Group dialog box, search for Domain Computers and click OK. Doing so will ensure that the GPO is applied to all computers that are members of the Domain Computers group.

And that’s it! The next time that the client computers get the policy update, the firewall will be turned off on those computers.

Now that the GPO has been created and deployed, you can test whether the GPO is working by forcing a policy update. Run the gpupdate /force on the client computer to test the policy update.

As you can see from the result above, as soon as the policy was applied on the client computer. The configuration to disable Windows Firewall was applied. Additionally, there is an information box saying that the settings are managed by the system administrator.

Note: The automatic update interval for Group Policy is every 90 minutes for regular users and computers. Additionally, Group Policy is also updated when the computer is started, or a user logs in.

Using The Custom Script Extension to Disable Windows Firewall on Azure Virtual Machines

If you have an Azure VM that you suddenly cannot access anymore because the Windows Firewall is blocking traffic, including RDP. Maybe you made changes to the Windows Firewall and inadvertently locked yourself out!

If you’ve tried all the ways previously discussed in this article and still no luck, there’s still hope. You can disable Windows Firewall inside an Azure VM’s guest OS by utilizing the Azure Custom Script Extension. The Azure Custom Script Extension works executing a script hosted in Azure Storage or GitHub against your Azure VM’s guest OS.

The high-level steps involve:

In this example, the test VM is named devmachine1 with the Windows Firewall in an enabled state.

Note: Before you proceed, make sure that you have the proper Azure RBAC role in your account.

Creating the Disable-Windows-Firewall.ps1 Script

In the previous sections, you’ve learned which commands are available to disable Windows Firewall. In this example, the netsh utility will be used.

Installing the Custom Script Extension and Uploading the PowerShell Script

Now that your script is ready, the next step is to install the Custom Script Extension and upload the script to an Azure Storage location. And once the extension is installed, the script will automatically run against the Azure VM.

Note: If you do not have an Azure storage account or container yet and need to create one, visit Create an Azure Storage account to learn how.

At this point, you only need to wait for the extension to be deployed, which will also automatically execute the script that you uploaded. Refer to the demonstration below to see the whole process in action.

Summary

In this article, you’ve learned how to disable Windows Firewall using the built-in, available GUI tools in Windows. You’re also learned how to use commands using netsh and PowerShell to disable Windows Firewall locally or remotely.

Also, you’ve learned how to create and deploy a Group Policy Object that would disable Windows Firewall for domain computers. Lastly, you’ve learned how to use the Azure Custom Script Extension to disable Windows Firewall in Azure VM’s guest OS.

There surely are many different ways to disable Windows Firewall. Some of those methods were covered in this article. However, there are still other methods that you could explore on your own, such as using PsExec to remotely disable it.

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How to Disable the Windows Firewall in Windows

Steps on how to disable the firewall in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista & XP

What to Know

The Windows Firewall is designed to keep unauthorized users from accessing files and resources on your computer. Still, the Windows Firewall can sometimes cause more harm than good, especially if there’s another paid or free firewall program installed. Disabling the Windows Firewall is easy and usually takes less than 10 minutes.

There are separate directions below for Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. See our article What Version of Windows Do I Have? if you’re not sure which steps to follow along with.

Disable the Firewall in Windows 10, 8, and 7

The steps for turning off the Windows Firewall in Windows 7, 8, and 10 is basically the same.

The screenshots in this section apply to Windows 10 only. Your screen will look slightly different if you’re using Windows 8 or Windows 7.

You can do this a number of ways, but the easiest method is to search for it or select it from the Start menu in Windows 7.

Select System and Security.

That link is only visible if you have the «View by:» option set to «Category.» If you’re viewing the Control Panel applets in icon view, just skip down to the next step.

Choose Windows Firewall.

Depending on how your computer is set up, it might instead be called Windows Defender Firewall. If so, treat every instance of «Windows Firewall» below as if it read «Windows Defender Firewall.»

Select Turn Windows Firewall on or off on the left side of the screen.

A really quick way to get to this screen is via the control firewall.cpl command line command, which you can execute via the Command Prompt or the Run dialog box.

Select the bubble next to Turn off Windows Firewall (not recommended).

You can disable the Windows Firewall for private networks only, just for public networks, or for both. To disable it for both network types, you have to make sure to select Turn off Windows Firewall (not recommended) in both the private and the public section.

Select OK to save the changes.

Now that the firewall is disabled, repeat whatever steps caused your problem to see if disabling this option has fixed the issue.

Disable the Firewall in Windows Vista

The Windows Firewall can be turned off in Windows Vista through the Control Panel, similar to how it’s done in other versions of Windows.

Select Control Panel from the Start menu.

Choose Security from the category list.

If you’re in the «Classic View» of Control Panel, just skip down to the next step.

Select Windows Firewall.

Choose Turn Windows Firewall on or off on the left side of the window.

If a User Account Control window pops up, go ahead and click/tap through it by either entering an admin password or selecting Continue.

If you need to access this window again more quickly in the future, you can use the control firewall.cpl command in the Run dialog box.

Open the General tab and select the bubble next to Off (not recommended).

Select OK to apply the changes.

Disable the Firewall in Windows XP

Directions for turning off the Windows XP firewall is significantly different than it is in newer versions of Windows, but it’s still fairly simple.

Go to Start and then Control Panel.

Select Network and Internet Connections.

If you’re viewing the «Classic View» of Control Panel, open Network Connections and skip to Step 4.

Choose Network Connections under the or pick a Control Panel icon section.

Right-click or tap-and-hold your network connection and choose Properties.

If you have a «high speed» internet connection like Cable or DSL, or are on a network of some kind, your network connection will likely be titled Local Area Connection.

Open the Advanced tab and select Settings.

Choose the Off (not recommended) radio button.

Windows Firewall settings can also be opened with a simple shortcut via the Run dialog box or Command Prompt. Just enter this command: control firewall.cpl.

Select OK in this window and then OK again in the Properties window of your network connection. You can also close the Network Connections window.

Right-click the Windows icon on the taskbar and select Settings > Privacy & security > Windows Security > Open Windows Security. Select Firewall & network protection > Public Network and turn off the switch under Microsoft Defender Firewall.

Select Start, search for and select Windows Defender Firewall. Select Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall. Select Change Settings. Under Allow apps to communicate through Windows Defender Firewall, check the box next to Minecraft.

From the Apple menu, select System Preferences > Security & Privacy. If your firewall is on, select Turn off Firewall or Firewall Options to manage more settings.