How to Set Windows Firewall exceptions and Unlock programs
To protect our computers from unwanted ” accesses ” we all use a firewall. It may happen, that sometimes the windows firewall goes to block some programs making their use impossible.
It will then be necessary to set the firewall in such a way that it can easily recognize the program we want to run and allow its use, thus going to unlock it. In this regard, in the next steps of this guide, we will discuss how you can achieve this through the exceptions of the Windows Firewall.
Go to Start / Control Panel
First, start from the usual Start / Control Panel path. Among the icons of the various options, you will have to search and double-click, with the left mouse button, on ” Windows firewall “.
To find it simply to enter the word ” firewall ” in the appropriate search space, located at the top right, and it will be the first result you get. In the window that opens, in the colored column on the left, go to locate the ” Allow program or functionality with windows firewall ” item, then click on it with the left mouse button.
Access the ” Allowed Programs ” Windows
By doing so, you will have access to the ” Allowed Programs ” window, from which you can set the unlocking of the program or programs you intend to use and which are blocked by the firewall.
You will find a list with three columns: in the first the name of the programs and functionalities available in the second and in the third the distinction between private and public network, in which the element in question can be enabled to access the Internet or not.
We take an example to better understand: here I have decided to unlock, and make usable, the ” file and printer sharing ” function only on the private network.
Check the box to unlock the programs
To be able to unlock the program you will simply have to check the box located to the left of the entry, which indicates the element you want to enable, or the program that you do not want to block by Windows firewall. You can also select more than one of course.
Once you have done this step, click first on the ” Apply ” button and then on the ” Ok ” button to go to confirm your choice.
In summary, after unlocking the program as we have explained, by checking both the ” Home ” and ” Publish ” boxes, the program will always have access to the Internet, if only ” Home ” is checked the program will have free access only in a home network and vice versa, if only ” Public ” is checked, access will be limited to networks identified as the public.
Select the ” Edit notification settings ” item
An important tip I want to add, and then suggest, is to click from the main Windows Firewall page on ” Change notification settings ” and if it is not already checked, you will need to select the item ” Notify when the windows firewall blocks a new program “.
In this way, when the firewall goes to block a program that is started for the first time, this operation will be signaled to you, and you will know that this block has occurred, in addition to already having the possibility, in the message itself, to be able to choose whether to continue blocking it or not, as you will have noticed, the procedure to be followed is very simple and it will be enough to apply it to all the programs that you want not to be blocked.
