What Is Network Discovery on Windows 10? How to Turn It On or Off
Microsoft has built settings into Windows to help simplify how you connect to other devices on a network. The bundle of nerve fibers holding this up is referred to as Network Discovery settings and you’ll need to play nice with it if you want, for instance, to connect to a wireless printer on your network. Here’s what all this means.
What Is Network Discovery?
Network discovery refers to a setting that affects whether your PC is detected by other computers on the network when it is connected to that specific network, and whether your PC can detect other PCs and devices, such as printers, on the network.
There are three network discovery states: on, off, and, custom. Here’s what each of them means.
Network Discovery State
What It Does
When in this state, your computer can detect other PCs and devices on the same network. People on other computers which are connected to the same network can see your PC and request connections to it. This is best used when you are connecting to a trusted private network, and these tend to be password protected.
When in this state, your PC cannot detect other computers and devices on the network. Also, other computers and devices cannot detect your PC on the network. This is best used when you are connecting to a public network, one to which anyone can connect. These networks tend not to be password protected, but they can be too, such as coffee-shop Wi-Fi.
This is a mosaic state where some, but not all, of the network discovery settings are enabled. If your PC is in this state and you’re not sure why this might be, it could be because you have a third-party firewall installed.
How to Turn Network Discovery On or Off by Changing the Network Profile
You can change whether your system is discoverable on the network by changing your network profile. Here’s how you can do this.
Did you know that Windows saves your wireless network profiles when you connect to a router and that you can easilymanage your Windows wireless profiles? Sometimes though, network profile types can glitch and go missing, but that can be fixed easily enough. We have an informative article onfixing a missing network profile typein Windows.
How to Turn Network Discovery On or Off via Control Panel
If you want to keep your network profile and simply switch discovery on and off, it’s possible to do that by following these steps.
How to Turn Network Discovery On or Off via the Command Prompt
If for some reason the above methods for changing network discovery don’t suit your fancy, you can do this in one fell swoop with the power of the Command Prompt. Here’s how.
Simple Toggles for Windows Network Discovery
Whichever method you choose to approach network discovery on your Windows machine, it only takes a few easy steps to either shield your PC from the eyes of others or put out feelers that reach out to other networked entities.
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