How to Manage Firewall in Windows 10?

Firewall connection helps to protect your computer from security threats. Windows 10 has a built-in app Windows Defender Security Center for protecting your system. It has multiple options like firewall & network protection, antivirus, app control and Edge browser control settings. By default Windows will enable protection for all private and public networks available on your computer. When you disable firewall, Windows will send an alert and ask you to enable it for protecting your computer.

Why You May Need to Disable Firewall?

Windows Defender has an option for allowing or blocking individual apps with firewall. If you have wrongly blocked the app that needs internet access then you will see access error. Generally browsers like Chrome will show errors like ERR_CONNECTION_CLOSED, connection reset or refused to indicate something blocks your network.

The indicated solution from Google is to check the firewall settings and allow Chrome browser to send and receive data. So, it is necessary to disable the firewall settings before you troubleshoot the internet connection problems.

How to Manage Firewall in Windows 10?

Managing from Windows Defender Security Center

Type “windows defender” in Windows Search box and open Windows Defender Security Center.

Here you can see the current status of the firewall connection. Click on the “Firewall & network protection” option.

Windows 10 will show the status of the firewall for domain, private and public networks along with many other options. You will see the connected network is showing as active.

Click on the active network you have connected and disable the firewall for that network.

If you are not logged with administrator access then Windows will prompt you to enter admin details when you try to change the settings. Windows Defender Security Center also offers advanced and allow app options under “Firewall & network protection” section.

Allow or Block Apps

Whenever you install third party applications, Windows will prompt you to confirm the security access. If you have disabled by mistake then that app can’t access the internet. Especially, when you have blocked browser apps like Chrome then you will see error on Chrome when try to open webpages.

Click on “Allow an app through firewall” option and enable or disable the access.

• Enable or disable access to apps on private or public network types.
• You can choose each app and click on the “Details…” button to get more details.
• Click “Allow another app…” button to add a new app in the list for blocking or unblocking.

Advanced Settings

Click on the “Advanced settings” link and open “Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security” app. Here you can view all settings for inbound and outbound rules and create additional rules if you need for blocking network.

You can double click on each rule to open the properties dialog box. Here you can customize the rule and apply to specific profiles for protection. In addition, click on the Windows Defender Firewall Properties on the first screen. You will see the details for each profile; you can enable or disable the firewall and inbound/outbound network connections from here also.

Accessing Windows Defender from Control Panel

You can also control the Windows Defender Firewall settings from Control Panel. Type “control panel” in Windows Search box, open Control Panel app and set the view by option as “Category. Click on “System and Security” link shown as the first group in the category.

Click on the “Windows Defender Firewall” link to open the firewall settings. Similar to Windows Defender Security Center, you can see the firewall status of the connected network here. From the right sidebar, choose “Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off” option.

On the next screen, you can enable or disable firewall settings for private and public network.

When you disable the firewall, Windows will warn to enable or use the recommended settings (which will also enable the firewall).

When you enable or disable firewall from Control Panel, it will immediately reflect the status in Windows Defender Security Center also. It is a confusion in Windows 10 that the same options are available in different places doing same function.