Turn on Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security and Configure Default Behavior

• Applies to:

  ✅ Windows 11, ✅ Windows 10, ✅ Windows Server 2022, ✅ Windows Server 2019, ✅ Windows Server 2016

To enable Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security and configure its default behavior, use the Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security node in the Group Policy Management console.

Administrative credentials

To complete these procedures, you must be a member of the Domain Administrators group, or otherwise be delegated permissions to modify the GPOs.

To enable Windows Defender Firewall and configure the default behavior

1. Open the Group Policy Management Console to Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security.

2. In the details pane, in the Overview section, click Windows Defender Firewall Properties.

3. For each network location type (Domain, Private, Public), perform the following steps.

   Note:  The steps shown here indicate the recommended values for a typical deployment. Use the settings that are appropriate for your firewall design.

   1. Click the tab that corresponds to the network location type.

   2. Change Firewall state to On (recommended).

   3. Change Inbound connections to Block (default).

   4. Change Outbound connections to Allow (default).