Updated: By Lucca Weber
Why do you sometimes need to turn off the firewall on your computers? There are some main factors about it. The first one is to allow certain applications or game software to access the Internet. The second is maybe that you want to perform network debugging or testing to get a network connection. The third one is to permit you to install another antivirus app or third-party firewall software. Everyone has his own causes to do that.
- Contents：
- Things You Should Know: The Importance of Firewall
- How to Manually Turn Off Windows Firewall in 2 Methods
- How to Allow a Certain App through the Firewall
- Conclusion
Things You Should Know: The Importance of Firewall
The existence of firewalls contributes to the increased security of your network environment. When turning on the firewall, it prevents many serious consequences in most cases, such as exposing your computer system to virus and malware attacks, Web attacks and hacker intrusions, and system crashes. Therefore, it indeed plays a great role in your computers. But sometimes it will block access to some new apps or incoming connections you want. You have the necessity to disable it for a few seconds. Here's how:
How to Manually Turn Off Windows Firewall in 2 Methods
By default, windows firewall is always turned on. On some specific occasions, it will turn itself off automatically and then turns on again when not needed, e.g. while installing another antivirus program or a new firewall. However, maybe it doesn't work at some time, so you have to turn it off manually.
Method 1: Disable the Firewall Using Windows Security
Windows Security Center is a built-in feature of Windows that includes an antivirus program called Microsoft Defender Firewall. It just takes a few steps to turn it off easily.
Step 1: In the bottom left corner of the desktop, find the Search box (Type here to search) and type Windows Security. Then click the icon to enter the program (or you can also find it on the Start menu or Settings menu).
Step 2: In the Windows Security window, select Firewall & network protection, and then choose the active network that has been connected now.
Step 3: Click the button to turn off the firewall. Then you should select Yes when the new window pops up, asking you “do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?”
Method 2: Disable the Firewall Opening Control Panel
There are a lot of other ways to turn it off, one of which is to do this by opening the control panel.
Step 1: Enter Control Panel to search for it and launch the program.
Step 2: Find and click Windows Defender Firewall button.
Step 3: Select Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off.
Step 4: Choose the bubble, next to Turn off Windows Defender Firewall (not recommended). And select OK at the bottom of the window.
How to Allow a Certain App through the Firewall
If an application needed using is blocked, you can allow the app to pass through the firewall without disabling it. It will keep your computer more secure.
Step 1: Go to Windows Defender Firewall page from Control Panel, click Allow an app or feature through Windows Firewall button on the left side of the screen.
Step 2: Click Change Settings button to make changes for allowed apps. Then tick what kinds of networks (private or public) can be allowed of the app. Finally, you should select OK to save changes.
Tip: If you want to add a new app to the list, click Allow another app. Then click Browse to locate your app and select Add.
Conclusion
The computer is in a state of unsafety after turning off the firewall. You should confirm that the app is reliable or that the computer is operating correctly. When surfing the Internet, you need to pay extra attention not to visiting some illegal websites or connecting to some insecure Internet. After solving your problem, please remember to turn the Firewall back on.
Disabling the Windows firewall is an easy process, just taking less than several minutes. However, if you have any vital data on your computer, especially in an office network environment, it may cause damage to your own or the company's benefits. So don't shut down the firewall for a long time for temporary convenience, it may pose some security threats.
In short, you must never lose sight of how crucial network security is. In order to defend the network against attacks, you should take the necessary security measures. And regularly updating your software and system is one of the good ways.
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