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8 Best Practices for Windows 11 Firewall to Keep Your System Secure

Always keep the Firewall turned on

6 min. read

Published onSeptember 19, 2024

published onSeptember 19, 2024

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With increasing concerns for privacy and security, it has become essential to understand and implement the best settings on your device for safety. Though Windows 11 has a robust firewall, you need to optimize the settings to maximize the first line of defense. In this guide, we will discuss some of the best practices for the Windows 11 firewall. Read on!

What are the Windows 11 Firewall best practices?

1. Always keep the Windows Firewall enabled

The most fundamental thing is to keep the Windows Firewall enabled at all times, as a disabled firewall risks exposing your device to various threat actors.

2. Block the unused ports

Reduce the number of entry points for unauthorized access to maintain system security and minimize the attack surface.

3. Enable security notifications

Enabling the notifications will help you get alerts whenever the firewall blocks apps or connection attempts, allowing you to identify and respond to unauthorized access requests.

4. Create outbound or inbound rules

Creating inbound and outbound rules can help you manage network security, protect sensitive information, and ensure that only authorized apps communicate with the network.

5. Enable Log settings

Enabling the logging of dropped packers and increasing the size of the log file will help you identify blocked connections when the Firewall is causing connection issues.

6. Customize network profiles

Customizing network profiles in Windows 11 Firewall is essential for adapting security measures to different environments.

7. Setup connection rules

Setting up connection security rules in the Windows 11 Firewall protects data and maintains a strong security posture. IfWindows Defender Firewall prevents connectionson your device, you can check this guide for solutions.

8. Use the monitoring tools

You can use monitoring tools to track network activity, monitor apps accessing the network, and analyze firewall events. To do that, you can open the Windows Defender Firewall with the Advanced Security window, go to Monitoring, and use options like Firewall, Connection Security Rules, and Security Association.

Moreover, you can right-click Windows Defender Firewall properties, click Logging, and enable logging for dropped packets and successful locations.

In addition to all these, keep reviewing, adding, and removing rules regularly according to your network environment.

If you’re wondering how tocheck if your Firewall blocks a website, then you should check these settings; read this guide to learn more.

In case theWindows Firewall has blocked some features of an app; it could be due to malware; check out this guide to know more.

If you think there are more tips that you can follow, feel free to share them with our readers in the comments section below. We will add them to the list.

8 Best Practices for Windows 11 Firewall to Keep Your System Secure#

What are the Windows 11 Firewall best practices?#

1. Always keep the Windows Firewall enabled#

2. Block the unused ports#

3. Enable security notifications#

4. Create outbound or inbound rules#

5. Enable Log settings#

6. Customize network profiles#

7. Setup connection rules#

8. Use the monitoring tools#