Windows 11
A Microsoft operating system designed for productivity, creativity, and ease of use.
11,546 questions
Network Discovery Not Showing PC in Windows Explorer NETWORK
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JasonF11
1
Reputation point
I have a brand new Windows 11 Pro computer with no software installed that I want to be able to share files with my older Win10 computer through Windows Explorer under the NETWORK icon in the left pane.
Windows Explorer on both comptuers are able to:
- Access the other computer's file and folders by manually typing the other computer's IP address into the Windows Explorer address bar.
- See themselves listed under the NETWORK icon
- See many other types of devices (printers, media servers, Alexa devices, etc) under NETWORK icon
However, ironically, neither computer is discovering the other Windows comptuer under the NETWORK icon.
I've already gone through every possible troubleshooting step I can find. So while I'm hoping to find some new information here, I wanted to mention that before someone suggests to enable "Network Discovery", please know that I've already completed a bunch of common troubleshooting steps on both computers from this topic -- such as enabling "Network Discovery", "File and Printer Sharing"; validating services (DNS Client, SSDP, UPnP, Functional Discovery) are running; temporarily disabling Windows Defenter; ensuring network is set to "Private", enable "SMB 1.0/FIFS", updated my network drivers, etc.
[Rant] I'm super confused why any troubleshooting should be needed for this. In my view, any new computer shouldn't be more than one or two top-level settings away from seeing Windows peers on the same private home network. If I enable a top-level setting called "Network Discovery" but some low level service or registry setting is disabled, it's Window's job to either silently enable it for me, or provide a one-click dialog to get everything running.
Windows 11
{count} votes
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Jose Benjamin Solis Nolasco 1,591 Reputation points2025-04-29T21:00:44.26+00:00 Well,
Sometimes this is a little bit tricky even Wireless router make then difficult are you doing ethernet or Wireless at all?
Follow this guide too this video help me a lot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cOR3EEBKMY&pp=ygUkc2hhcmUgZmlsZXMgb3ZlciBuZXR3b3JrIHdpbmRvd3MgMTEg
This too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5aqtAtBB6w
Assumptions:
- Both PCs are on the same private network (same subnet, e.g., 192.168.1.x).
- No third-party antivirus is installed (you disabled Windows Defender temporarily).
- The issue persists despite enabling SMB 1.0, suggesting SMB version or discovery protocol issues.
- You’re using local accounts or Microsoft accounts, not domain-joined PCs.
😊 If my answer helped you resolve your issue, please consider marking it as the correct answer. This helps others in the community find solutions more easily. Thanks!
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JasonF11 1 Reputation point
2025-04-29T21:12:51.6333333+00:00 Thanks -- Both computers are on Ethernet, connected to my home router. I had tried all of the things in the videos (I think they were all mentioned in the post I referenced as well)
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