Windows firewall is a built-in security feature by Microsoft that filters inbound and outbound traffic and blocks potentially harmful programs requesting access to your Windows system.
Additionally, the firewall blocks certain ports to prevent remote code execution attacks. Occasionally, you may need to allow a program or an application through your firewall so that it can make external connections, for example, a web server or a mail client. In this guide, you will learn how to block or allow a program through a firewall.
To allow a program/application through the firewall, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Head out to the search bar on the Windows Taskbar and type
Windows Defender Firewall.
Step 2: On the pull-up menu, click on
Windows Defender Firewall option as shown:
Step 3: On the Windows Firewall window, click on
Allow an App or feature through Windows Defender firewall option.
Step 4: On the next window, click on the
Change settings button. Next, click
Yes on the pop-up window
Step 5: The next window displays a list of applications and services. locate the service that you want to allow and check the checkbox on the left to allow it. Additionally,
tick the checkboxes on the right to allow the App on Private or public networks.
To disallow the program from accessing network resources, simply uncheck the checkboxes. If the checkbox is not checked, then the firewall is already blocking the application.
If the program you want to allow or disallow is not listed click on Allow another app option.
On the next pop-up window, click on
Browse and navigate to your Apps location. Select the application and click
Open
Next, click on
Add
Step 6: Finally, click
OK to save the changes.
Bear in mind that blocking an application does not prevent the application from running on your system. It only blocks access to external networks. We hope you found this article informative.
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