PowerShell Disable-NetFirewallRule

last modified February 15, 2025

This article covers the Disable-NetFirewallRule cmdlet in PowerShell. It is used to disable existing Windows firewall rules. The cmdlet is part of the NetSecurity module.

Firewall rule basics

Windows Firewall rules control network traffic to and from your computer. Each rule has properties like name, direction, action, and protocol. Rules can be enabled or disabled to control their effect. The Disable-NetFirewallRule cmdlet modifies rule status.

Basic Disable-NetFirewallRule usage

The simplest way to disable a firewall rule is by its name. Use the -Name parameter followed by the rule name. The rule will be disabled but not deleted. You can verify the change with Get-NetFirewallRule.

disable1.ps1

Disable-NetFirewallRule -Name "Remote Desktop - User Mode (TCP-In)"

This command disables the Remote Desktop inbound rule. The rule remains in the firewall configuration but won't be active. Administrator privileges are required to modify firewall rules.

Disable multiple rules by name

You can disable multiple rules at once by providing multiple names. Separate the rule names with commas. Wildcards can be used to match multiple rules. This is useful for batch operations on related rules.

disable2.ps1

Disable-NetFirewallRule -Name "Remote*", "CoreNet*"

This command disables all rules starting with "Remote" or "CoreNet". The operation affects multiple rules simultaneously. Always verify the rules before disabling them.

PS C:\> .\disable2.ps1

Name                  : Remote Desktop - User Mode (TCP-In)
Enabled               : False
Direction             : Inbound
Profile               : Any
Action                : Allow

Name                  : Core Networking - DNS (UDP-Out)
Enabled               : False
Direction             : Outbound
Profile               : Any
Action                : Allow

Disable rules by display name

Rules can also be disabled using their display names. The -DisplayName parameter accepts partial matches with wildcards. This is helpful when you know the rule's display text but not its exact name.

disable3.ps1

Disable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "File and Printer Sharing*"

This command disables all rules with display names starting with "File and Printer Sharing". The asterisk acts as a wildcard for partial matching. Display names often provide more readable descriptions than rule names.

Disable rules by pipeline input

Rules can be disabled by piping them from Get-NetFirewallRule. This allows filtering before disabling. You can combine this with Where-Object for complex filtering. The pipeline approach is powerful for selective operations.

disable4.ps1

Get-NetFirewallRule -Direction Inbound | Disable-NetFirewallRule

This command disables all inbound firewall rules. The Get-NetFirewallRule cmdlet retrieves the rules, which are then piped to Disable-NetFirewallRule. Use caution with broad operations like this.

Disable rules with confirmation

For safety, you can add confirmation prompts before disabling rules. Use the -Confirm parameter to request user approval. This prevents accidental modifications. The prompt shows which rules will be affected.

disable5.ps1

Disable-NetFirewallRule -Name "Remote*" -Confirm

This command prompts for confirmation before disabling any matching rules. The user must type 'Y' to proceed or 'N' to cancel. This is recommended for production environments.

Source

PowerShell documentation

In this article, we have covered the Disable-NetFirewallRule cmdlet in PowerShell.

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My name is Jan Bodnar, and I am a passionate programmer with extensive programming experience. I have been writing programming articles since 2007. To date, I have authored over 1,400 articles and 8 e-books. I possess more than ten years of experience in teaching programming.

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