This post shows students and new users steps to restore Windows firewall to defaults. If there’s a problem in Windows where some apps are not communicating or internet connections not working as expected, you might want to reset Windows firewall to its default settings.
It might also be the case where malware or viruses have setup firewall rules to give themselves unlimited access to your systems. Or Microsoft Defender firewall is not filtering access properly. In these situations, resetting or restoring the firewall to default settings might be something you might want to consider.
When you reset the firewall settings, it will remove all additional Microsoft Defender firewall settings that have been added for all network locations since Windows was installed. Doing this will also stop applications that might have been added legitimately to access the firewall.
You’ll have to reconfigure apps that need access through the firewall to get it working again.
The new Windows 11, when released generally to everyone, will come with many new features and enhancements that will work great for some while adding some learning challenges for others. Some things and settings have changed so much that folks will have to learn new ways to work with and manage Windows 11.
Although Windows 11 is new, restoring the firewall settings works the same way it does in previous versions of Windows.
To get started with restoring Widows firewall settings to default, follow the steps below;
How to restore the firewall settings to default in Windows 11
As mentioned above, if you want to resolve network connectivity issues, you might want to restore Windows firewall, and the steps below show you how.
Windows 11 has a centralized location for majority of its settings. From system configurations to creating new users and updating Windows, all can be done from the System Settings pane.
To get to System Settings, you can use the Windows key + i shortcut or click on Start ==> Settings as shown in the image below:
Alternatively, you can use the search box on the taskbar and search for Settings. Then select to open it.
Windows Settings pane should look similar to the image below. In Windows Settings, click Privacy & security, and select Windows Security on the right pane of your screen shown in the image below.
On the Windows Security settings pane, click on Open Windows Security as highlighted below.
In Windows Security dashboard, click on the Firewall & network protection link highlighted on the left.
On the Firewall & network protection settings pane, scroll down to the bottom and click the link for “Restore firewalls to default“
Doing that will launch another screen where can restore Windows firewall settings. Click the Restore defaults to restore the firewall settings.
Click Yes on the confirmation pop-up to continue restoring Windows firewall.
Restart your computer and you’re done.
Conclusion:
This post showed you how to restore Microsoft Defender firewall in Windows 11. If you find any error above, please use the comment form below to report.
