what to know
- Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change advanced sharing settings .
- From there, you can turn off network discovery to hide other network computers.
- If you want to be seen, you can enable this feature on the same screen.
This article explains how to turn off (or turn on) network discovery in Windows 10. You can also use these instructions to simply check if network discovery is off or on.
Follow these steps to see if network discovery is off or on, and change the settings if necessary:
Open the Windows 10 Action Center from the lower right corner of the screen (pressing Win + a also works) and select Expand if you see that option.
Select a network .
Select Network and Internet Settings .
Scroll down a little and select Network and Sharing Center .
When the control panel opens, select Change advanced sharing settings from the left menu.
Select Turn on network discovery to turn it on. To turn off network discovery in Windows 10, select Turn off network discovery .
Here you can also turn file and printer sharing on and off.
When finished, select Save Changes . You can now close Control Panel and Settings.
Network discovery is your computer's ability to connect to and be discovered by nearby devices. Turning on network discovery means making your device discoverable and connectable. When you turn off network discovery, you disable this feature, essentially protecting your computer by making it invisible.
If you want to work offline, you don't need to deal with Windows 10 network discovery settings at all. Instead, turn on airplane mode.
You generally don't need to worry about turning on network discovery, as Windows 10 automatically switches between the two settings based on your connection type and the security level available on your network.
However, if you're trying to connect to another device but don't see it as an available connection option, checking these settings may help. They're also worth checking if someone else can't find your device, such as when you need to connect your Microsoft Surface to another computer.
