Windows 10: Should Network profile be set on Public or Private?

I'm on my home computer, should I have my Network profile set on Public or Private? I do not want any my computer being detected by any network. The explantion of what the settings are, are confusing.


Public says, "Your PC is hidden from other devices on the network and can't be used for printer and file sharing."



Private says, "For a network you trust, such as at home or work. Your PC is discoverable and can be used for printer and file sharing if you set it up."

:)

 

Set Network Location to Private or Public in Windows 10  

Hi Brink and thank you for the welcome

I tried what you suggested but when doing this, i noticed that whenever i am connected to my VPN, the Windows network shows up as "unidentified network" instead of network 1,2,3 or whatever. So when i went into regedit and looked for networks, i found some but none called unidentified.
There was one network with the value 0 so i changed it to 1 (private) but after checking, my VPN connection still shows as public.

I am not really sure why it says unidentified network in Windows when i am connected to the VPN but it seems that this is the cause for the problem. If i could only find the VPN network in the list of networks in regedit, i think i would be able to change the value to 1.

Hmm..not sure how to proceed with this. Any ideas?

 

How to change the network setting (Private, public, etc)

this answer from a different Microsoft page worked for me


Giridhar
J replied on

• Microsoft

Accomplishments

• Microsoft

Hi,

Thank you for your interest in Windows 10.

I suggest you to follow the steps below to
change your network from Public to Private:

• 
  Type PowerShell in Search Window and then right click on it and click on
  Run as Administrator.
  
• 
  Type the following command to find your interface Index:
  Get-NetConnectionProfile
  
• 
  Use your interface index (for example 5) with this command:
  Set-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceIndex 5 -NetworkCategory Private
  
• 
  Now reboot the device and check if the network has changed from Public to Private.
  

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you.

 

Change Network from Public to Private

Hi,

Thank you for your interest in Windows 10.

I suggest you to follow the steps below to
change your network from Public to Private:

• 
  Type PowerShell in Search Window and then right click on it and click on
  Run as Administrator.
  
• 
  Type the following command to find your interface Index:
  Get-NetConnectionProfile
  
• 
  Use your interface index (for example 5) with this command:
  Set-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceIndex 5 -NetworkCategory Private
  
• 
  Now reboot the device and check if the network has changed from Public to Private.
  

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you.