How to Stop a Program from Accessing the Internet in Windows 11, 10

Do you know why sometimes, the internet speed gets slower on your computer? You might even try restarting your router once or the system but still, it remains the same. It is because usually, the background apps that are running are consuming the internet on your system.

If you are wondering how to stop a particular program from accessing the internet and not disabling the apps in the background for example, then there is a way to do it using the windows defender firewall.

We will guide you in this post on how you can do it with the steps explained below.

How to Stop a Program from Accessing the Internet in Windows 11, 10

Step 1: First of all, you need to launch the Windows Defender Firewall app on your system.

Step 2: To do so, press the Windows key and type windows defender and press the Enter key.

 



Open Windows Defender Win11 11zon

 

Step 3: This opens the Windows Defender firewall app on your system.

Step 4: Now you should go to the left top corner section and right-click on the Outbound Rules and select New Rule from the list as shown below.

 

Create New Outbound Rule 11zon

 

Step 5: A New Outbound Rule wizard appears on the system.

Step 6: Select a radio button called Program and click Next to continue.

 

Rule Type 11zon

 

Step 7: Next is the Program you need to select for which you need the path of the program.

Step 8: So first go to the program icon wherever it is present and right-click on it.

Step 9: Then select Properties from the context menu.

Step 10: Copy the Target path without the quotes, which is under the Shortcut tab and paste it into a notepad file.

 

App Target Path 11zon

 

Step 11: Close the Properties window of the program that you just opened.

NOTE: Repeat the same for all the programs that you want to stop from accessing the internet, and copy-paste its target path into the notepad file for future reference.

Step 12: Now go back to the Windows Defender app which is still open.

Step 13: Copy the path of the program and paste it into the textbox under the This program path radio button which you need to select to order to make it active.

Step 14: Click Next to proceed further.

 

Program Path In Defender 11zon

 

Step 15: Now comes the action where you need to select what should be done with the connection.

Step 16: So select Block the connection option as shown in the below screenshot and tap on Next.

 

Block The Connection 11zon

 

Step 17: Next you need to make sure all the profiles (Domain, Private, and Public) are selected by clicking their checkboxes as shown below.

Step 18: Continue by clicking Next.

 

Windows Defender Profile 11zon



 

Step 19: Last part of the rule is to name the outbound rule appropriately.

Step 20: So please give a suitable name to understand in future so that you can edit or delete it.

Step 21: Finally, click Finish to create the new outbound rule.

 

Name The Rule 11zon

 

Step 22: This created outbound rule makes sure that this program is not allowed to access the internet henceforth till it is deleted or edited.

You can also repeat the same procedure for other programs too.

Hope this was informative. Please let us know in the comments section.