How to disable the Windows 11 firewall

If you're having trouble with programs that require Internet access, turning off the built-in firewall could theoretically solve the problem. Note that this is not something that should be done unnecessarily and it may be better to add exceptions to the firewall.

This tutorial details several ways to disable the Windows 11 firewall, either in Preferences or using other methods such as the command line. Also useful: How to reset the Windows 11 and Windows 10 firewall.

Disable firewall in windows security window

The standard way to quickly disable the firewall is to use the “Windows Security” window and the appropriate settings in it. The steps would be the following:

1. Open the Windows Security window. You can do this via the taskbar notification area icon or in Settings under Privacy and security – Windows Security – Open Windows Security service.
2. Go to “Firewall and network security”.
3. Click on the network profile marked "Active" (i.e. currently in use) or any other network profile for which you want to disable the firewall.
4. Move the “Microsoft Defender Firewall” switch to the “Off” position and confirm to disable it.

This will disable the firewall for the selected network profile.

If you use different profiles for different networks, you can disable the firewall for each of them, that is, for both the private network and the public network.

How to completely disable the Windows 11 firewall on the command line

If you want to quickly disable the firewall for all network profiles, you can do so from the command line:

1. Run the command line as an .
2. Enter the command

   netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off

   and press Enter.

The output of the command is a simple "OK" message, but if you go into the Firewall and Network Security settings, you can see the following firewall status:

As you can see, the Windows 11 firewall is completely disabled. In the future, to turn it back on, you can use the command in the same way

netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state on

On the control

As in previous versions of the system, the Windows 11 firewall can be disabled in Control :

1. Open Control (how to do it in Windows 11).
2. Open the “Windows Firewall Protector” item. To display the element, select "Icons" in the "View" field of the control .
3. In the left pane, click "Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off."
4. Select "Turn off Windows Defender Firewall" for the private and/or public network.

Apply Settings - This will disable the firewall.

Windows Firewall Monitor in High Security Mode

Another option is to use Windows Defender Firewall Monitor in high security mode to completely disable the Windows 11 firewall:

1. In the taskbar search, start typing “hardened security” and click “Windows Defender Firewall Monitor in hardened security mode” in the search results.
2. In the window that opens, click on “Windows Defender Firewall Properties”.
3. In the properties of the firewall, pay attention to the tabs: «Public profile», «Private profile», «Domain profile». In each of them you can disable the firewall and apply the settings you have made.

Disabling in Local Group Policy Editor and Registry Editor

If you have Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise installed, you can disable the firewall in the Local Group Policy Editor. The necessary steps are:

1. Press the keys Win + R on the keyboard, enter gpedit.msc and press Enter.
2. In the Local Group Policy Editor that opens, go to Computer Configuration – istrative Templates – Network – Network Connections – Windows Defender Firewall – Standard Profile (or Domain Profile if disconnection is required for a domain network in instead of a private and public network).
3. Double-click the “Windows Defender Firewall: Protect all network connections” setting and toggle the policy to Off.
4. Apply the settings.

If you have a Home edition of the system installed, you can do the same in the registry editor:

1. Press the keys Win + R on the keyboard, enter regedit and press Enter.
2. In the registry editor, go to

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft

3. In this section, create a subsection called Windows Firewall (if not available).
4. Inside there is a subsection. standard profile (for private and public networks) and/or domain profile (for domain network).
5. In the created subsection, create two DWORD parameters with the names EnableNotifications и enablefirewall, set their values ​​to 0.
6. Close the registry editor and restart your computer.

Note that if you use these methods, it will not be possible to enable the firewall in the settings or control , there you will see information that "This setting is managed by your " and "For security reasons, some settings are managed by the system '.

Disable the firewall service

If you wish, you can completely disable the Windows 11 service responsible for the firewall. For it:

1. Run the registry editor: Right-click the Start button, select Run, type regedit and press Enter.
2. Navigate to the registration section

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\mpssvc

3. In the right pane, double-click the parameter named Start and change its value to 4.
4. Close the registry editor and restart your computer.

The firewall will be disabled, its settings cannot be changed using standard tools, and the corresponding tab will disappear from the Windows security .

One last thing: if you need to turn off the firewall for a specific task, I recommend that you turn it back on once you're done.