Resetting Network Settings on Windows 11

For most users, Windows networking issues are not that common. However, when you face a network issue, troubleshooting, diagnosing, and fixing the problem can be hard. Thankfully, you can reset the network settings on your Windows 11 computer when nothing else works. Resetting will reset all network adapters and Windows firewall rules to their default settings. Additionally, it will delete saved Wi-Fi networks & their passwords and VPN connections. To put it simply, it makes your Windows 11 network a clean slate so that any problems caused due to misconfigured network settings are immediately solved.

Follow one of the below methods:

Reset network settings using Windows 11 Settings

Unlike the older versions, Windows 11 users can use the Settings app to reset all the network settings with a single button click. Here’s how.

First of all, open the Settings window (press Windows key + I). Once opened, click on the “Network & Internet” > “Advanced network settings” > “Network reset” option. On this page, press the “Reset now” button. Press the “Yes” button when prompted for confirmation.

As soon as you confirm, Windows will schedule a shutdown and restart in five minutes. A restart is required to change network settings to their defaults. Press the “Close” button. Use the five minutes to save your work and close all open applications.

Windows will restart as scheduled and once that is done, all your network settings are back to their default settings. i.e., reset.

Command to reset network settings

As an alternative, you can use the Command Prompt to reset Windows 11 network settings. There is no single command, rather, you need to reset individual network components and clear DNS. While not as easy as the Settings app method, this method is useful if you need to use Command Prompt or want to create custom scripts.

First, launch the Command Prompt window with administrator rights. You can do that by pressing the Start key on your keyboard, searching for Command Prompt, and choosing the Run as Administrator option. In the command window, run the below commands one after another.

Reset proxy settings for Windows HTTP (WinHTTP) service:

netsh winhttp reset proxy

Reset the Winsock catalog and TCP/IP stack:

netsh winsock reset catalog

Reset all IPv4-related settings on your computer to their default. This command not only resets IPv4 but also removes custom configurations, and resets DHCP, and other network components:

netsh int ip reset all

Clear DNS:

ipconfig /flushdns

After running the above four commands, close the Command Prompt window. Next, restart your computer by clicking on the “Start” icon, pressing the “Power” button, and selecting the “Restart” button. It is important that you restart your computer as some network settings require it. Once the system as been restarted, all the network configuration is restored to its default settings.

Wrapping up

You can use any of the two methods shown above to restore default settings to the network on Windows 11. For most users, I recommend using the Settings app. However, if you want to reset network settings on a Windows server or create a personalized script that you want to run from other programs then follow the Command Prompt method.

I hope this small Windows how-to tutorial helped you.

If you are stuck or need help, send an email or comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.