Had the Public network curse hit, can't change back to private!

looney2ns

looney2ns

IPCT Contributor
Sep 25, 2016
16,208
24,029
Evansville, In. USA
I'm struggling with trying to change the network back to private.
The BI system I manage that is located 600 miles from me, started having no signal issues' this morning.
I rebooted the computer, but no joy.
I found that the ethernet adapter has been set to public magically.
I can't see the settings to change it back to private.
Win 11 pro, that hasn't had Win11 updated since September of 2022.
When I go to Network and Internet, and then to properties, the settings are not there to change to private.
I'm doing this via Teamviewer, so I'm cautious of what I change so as to not cut off my access.
See screen caps.

screenshot1.png screenshot2.png

I've been all over google, and haven't found similar. Could very well be I'm having a senior dumbass moment. I appreciate any suggestions you may have. :)
 
Are you able to get to Network&internet, and properties under network status?
 
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Hmm, I'm seeing this
Settings.png
 
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OK, I see properties in you screenshot
 
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And no joy clicking on properties I presume, never mind, I just read your post again
 
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I've been avoiding W11, but have had this happen before on W8 and W10.

Here's an article that covers several ways to change this (some require a reboot). As @bp2008 suggested in another thread I believe you can also set a firewall rule to allow certain things if it gets changed to public.
www.thewindowsclub.com

How to change Network Profile Type to Public or Private in Windows 11/10

You can change the Network profile type (Public or Private) in Windows 11/10 using Windows Settings, PowerShell, CMD, GPEDIT and Registry.
www.thewindowsclub.com www.thewindowsclub.com
 
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looney2ns said:
That's showing screenshot2, but there is no settings there to change from public to private or vise versa.
Click to expand...
What if you scroll? That setting is usually near the top and it appears you've scrolled down that settings pane.

Just try one other the other methods using PowerShell (Admin) or gpedit.msc or secpol.msc
 
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looney2ns said:
It's scrolled one line, the only thing that is not visible in that screen shot is "Unidentified Network", just above the "authentication" line.

View attachment 174232
Click to expand...
That one line made a big difference in understanding your problem ;)

You might fair better using the router's DHCP reservation system than a static IP.

Are you using a pro or home version of windows?
If W11 Pro, open secpol.msc find "Network List Manager Policies" double click on unidentified networks and set it to private. click ok, reboot.

If W11 Home, you can probably do it via the registry or find instructions to enable secpol
EDIT: here's a reg file that may work for W11 Home users (reboot required):
 

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looney2ns said:
It's scrolled one line, the only thing that is not visible in that screen shot is "Unidentified Network", just above the "authentication" line.

View attachment 174232
Click to expand...
Seeing the "Unidentified network" rings a bell with me, I had some win 10 machines that lost the controls for public/ private option. I ended up disabling the adapters and re-enabling them, That fixed both of them. Not sure If that is a option If you are remoting in.
 
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c hris527 said:
Seeing the "Unidentified network" rings a bell with me, I had some win 10 machines that lost the controls for public/ private option. I ended up disabling the adapters and re-enabling them, That fixed both of them. Not sure If that is a option If you are remoting in.
Click to expand...
Running the network troubleshooter or otherwise scripting that would be necessarily remotely and could still be risky. You can find guides like this that have some other procedures you can try: How to fix Unidentified Network in Windows 11/10
However in this case, what's the point. The network this PC is connected to isn't changing and issues when statically assigning IPs are common. Just change unidentified networks in secpol, you could even change identifying networks to private in this case.
 
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tangent said:
Running the network troubleshooter or otherwise scripting that would be necessarily remotely and could still be risky. You can find guides like this that have some other procedures you can try: How to fix Unidentified Network in Windows 11/10
However in this case, what's the point. The network this PC is connected to isn't changing and issues when statically assigning IPs are common. Just change unidentified networks in secpol, you could even change identifying networks to private in this case.
Click to expand...
In My case I was not changing anything on the network, It changed the state of the network Interface from Unidentifiable to what is was suppose to be thus had the controls back, That was my point The controls were not present when the Interface said "Unidentifiable"
 
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