I have some rules that I want to be toggled on and off. In Windows 10, how do I enable/disable these rules using the cmd prompt?
Windows – How to enable or disable Windows Firewall rules using the command prompt
windows 10windows firewall
Related Solutions
netsh firewall set service type = remotedesktop mode = enable
or
REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
TL;DR: It's not possible to stop programs with Administrator access from changing firewall rules. Windows Firewall Control is a program that will automatically delete or disable Windows Firewall rules that you didn't approve by using the Secure Rules functionality.
The problem is that any program that runs with Administrator privileges is allowed to silently change Windows Firewall rules. Windows Update is joined by Firefox, Chrome and many others that feel entitled to ensure that they can send and receive network traffic without asking your permission.
The best solution I've found has been to use Windows Firewall Control (WFC) which has been acquired by Malwarebytes as of 2018. While there are a number of other products that provide a better interface on top of the Windows Firewall, this is the only one I've found that solves the problem you raise. It has functionality that it calls "Secure Rules" which will automatically disable any rules that were not created by the specific authorized groups. I have it so just Windows Firewall Control is allowed to create rules. According to the user guide, the way it works is for Windows Firewall Control to be notified when new rules are created and it will disable them if they're not in the right group.
When Chrome is updated, it tries to add a rule. The rule is created but automatically disabled but WFC.
A few other notes:
- WFC is free but not open source. I personally would be happy to pay for it (as I have done to try a number of competing products) but hopefully it'll continue to be developed
- I personally really like how it prompts me when a new program tries to access the network for the first time, but I can imagine that this would be as annoying as for any similar product. It's got the necessary learning mode, but you'd need to have some level of networking knowledge to get set up
- As it sits on top of Windows Firewall, it's possible to verify that it will block itself from accessing the Internet, which is what you'd want
- I've never noticed any performance issues
Best Answer
Run this in an elevated CMD (replace name with the name of your rule)
To disable the rule again run