How to change network profile on Windows Server 2016 from Public to Private

Problem:

My network is marked as public when it should be private.

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Solution:

Right-click the network icon in the task bar

Click Open Network and Sharing Center

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Click Change adapter settings

Disable any other networks leaving the network you want to change enabled

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Open File Explorer

Click Network

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You will see an error about Network discovery

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Click OK

At the top of the window you will see a Network discovery message

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Click it and select Turn on network discovery and file sharing

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Click No

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Now your network is private

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You can now enable your other networks.

Comments (11) -

  • T.cooper

    1/28/2018 2:57:12 PM | Reply

    This worked after I removed the gateway from the private network.

  • Nathan

    4/2/2018 2:22:24 PM | Reply

    Thanks for the help!

  • Paul Kochie

    4/10/2018 4:11:20 PM | Reply

    This is how I did it on my 2016 server:
    You can chage the network location via GPO. If you are not in a domain change: Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration >Windows Settings > Security Settings > Network List Manager Policies >[properties of the the network name in question] >network location tab then pick your Location type.

    ---
    source: www.riptidehosting.com/.../

    Windows Server 2012 R2
    Administrative Tools –> Local Security Policy –> Network List Manager Policies –> (in right window)  Unidentified Networks (double click).   Here you can change the location type to “Public” or “Private” and you can change the user permissions to allow them to change the type.

  • Mike

    5/8/2018 10:29:48 AM | Reply

    Thanks for the article - whilst it does work, I noticed it also enables a load of File Sharing rules on the Windows Firewall so be aware of that.  I believe doing it through GPO (as Paul suggested above) is a "cleaner" way to do it.

    Why there isn't an obvious way to do this in Windows is beyond me.

  • Mac Burtt

    6/26/2018 12:57:49 PM | Reply

    Easy-peasy Donovan!! Brilliant.  Thanks man

  • Andrew

    1/3/2019 2:37:56 PM | Reply

    Thank you from Italy Donovan.

  • Todd

    1/30/2019 2:36:00 PM | Reply

    Thanks!!! This worked!

  • raymond bishop

    1/31/2019 3:17:43 AM | Reply

    thank you Donovan for putting this up, it really helped me find an answer quick!

  • Ryan Albrecht

    6/22/2019 10:26:30 PM | Reply

    I followed instructions, but I got no error message when clicking on "Network" in file explorer. Any ideas?

  • Randy

    11/25/2019 12:53:38 PM | Reply

    This was a big help. Hard to believe that a simple bad aim between Yes and No while installing Server 2016 is such a pain to recover from.

  • Henry

    3/18/2020 7:58:15 PM | Reply

    Administrator Command Prompt > gpupdate /force

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