How do I force Windows 10 to see a network as private?

My laptop has Wi-Fi and Ethernet (when docked). For some reason Wi-Fi comes up as Private network, and docked comes up as Public. In neither case did I set either as Private or Public.

Where do I set this on Windows 10? It seems like I am missing something here...

7 Answers

I think that the easiest method to change your network to Private is through the Registry Editor:

1. Do a search for regedit, then right-click and Run as administrator
2. If necessary, acknowledge the UAC prompt

3. Navigate to the following location:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles

4. Expand the Profiles key and navigate through each GUID key below that, noting the corresponding ProfileName on the right:

5. When you find the ProfileName of the network you want to change to Private, double-click on the Category DWORD on the right-hand side:

6. Change the ‘Value data’ from 0 (Public) to 1 (Private):

7. Close the Registry Editor

8. Reboot

(Source: How to Set Network Location to be Public or Private in Windows 10)

12

The following small PowerShell script can do the same (it also requires administrator privileges).

It will list all non-private profiles and ask for confirmation to change them to private.

## Change NetWorkConnection Category to Private
#Requires -RunasAdministrator
Get-NetConnectionProfile | Where{ $_.NetWorkCategory -ne 'Private'} | ForEach { $_ $_|Set-NetConnectionProfile -NetWorkCategory Private -Confirm }

Sample output on my German locale system:

Name : Netzwerk
InterfaceAlias : Ethernet
InterfaceIndex : 3
NetworkCategory : Public
IPv4Connectivity : Internet
IPv6Connectivity : Internet
Bestätigung
Möchten Sie diese Aktion wirklich ausführen?
[J] Ja [A] Ja, alle [N] Nein [K] Nein, keine [H] Anhalten [?] Hilfe (Standard ist "J"): K

Edit This is the English confirmation text:

Confirm
Are you sure you want to perform this action?
[Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"): n

3

You could use a Powershell command to perform this:

1. WIN+R
2. Type powershell.exe and hit Ctrl+Shift+Enter (Opens as Administrator)
3. Paste in the following command (replacing Network_Name with the chosen network)

Set-NetConnectionProfile -Name "Network_Name" -NetworkCategory Private

4

If you're not already on a private network, this is the quickest and easiest way:

1. Open a File Explorer window.
2. Click Network in the left-hand navigation pane.
3. Click OK to the error message.
4. Click the yellow infobar and then Turn on network discovery and file sharing.
5. Click No, make the network I am connected to a private network.

Alternatively, you can use PowerShell:

1. Run PowerShell as administrator.
2. Type this command to make all connections private:

   Get-NetConnectionProfile | Set-NetConnectionProfile -NetworkCategory Private

If you have multiple connections and you'd like some not to be private, you can set them selectively:

1. Get current networks:

PS C:\> Get-NetConnectionProfile
Name : Network
InterfaceAlias : Ethernet 1
InterfaceIndex : 11
NetworkCategory : Public
IPv4Connectivity : LocalNetwork
IPv6Connectivity : LocalNetwork
Name : Unidentified network
InterfaceAlias : Ethernet 2
InterfaceIndex : 4
NetworkCategory : Public
IPv4Connectivity : LocalNetwork
IPv6Connectivity : LocalNetwork

2. Change the desired network:

Set-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet 1" -NetworkCategory Private

Note that you can never manually change a connection profile to the network category DomainAuthenticated. If you have an interface that should be set to this but isn't, you have a bigger domain connectivity issue at play.

1

In Windows 8/8.1 Microsoft moved those settings to the new settings app. I personally don't like it. These instructions are for wired Ethernet connections. I can't find a setting for individual Wi-Fi networks.

In Windows 10, the same settings app has the setting you need to point and click to make it a public or private network.

1. Click on the start button and type settings and open up the Settings App.
2. Select Network & Internet
3. Select Ethernet
4. Select the adapter you want to change the setting for.
5. Make this PC discoverable should be set to On for private networking.

1

Figured I'd chime in as well. My connection inadvertently was changed to Public, and when I would click the Private radio button in Windows' Network Settings, it would appear that the change was successful. However, exiting out and going back into the adapter settings I find that the change didn't save and was set back to Public.

I've tried using Powershell and even a network reset, but I just couldn't get it to work.

I was able to resolve this issue by going into my Firewall settings (I use a third party firewall) and I was able to change it there.

Please enjoy my freehand circle

I'm sure it's probably a bug in the firewall's software that locks down the changes out of it's UI, but regardless it works and hopefully does for the next person to wander here.

1

I have had the same problem (missing options) and all mentioned solutions did not work:

• Registry did already show Private/1 for the connection
• PowerShell command would change settings, but they would be lost on WiFi reconnect/restart
• Removal of connection, hiding and then searching again did not work
• No 3rd party firewall used, but disabling Windows Defender did not change anything

The solution in my case was to have a working Internet connection. While the device was connected to a singular (offline) WiFi Access Point (with either DHCP or static assignment), the problem persisted.

When connecting the AP to the wider network and to a gateway to the Internet, the options in the settings dialogue instantly appeared and could be set as expected.