windows 11 computer not seeing other network computers

Question

windows 11 computer not seeing other network computers

Richard York 25

WIndows 11 computer does not see other computers and their mapped disks

How to fix

Locked Question. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

Les Wilkins 0 Reputation points

2025-11-04T12:45:22.72+00:00

Since upgrading to W11 when it first came out, I have never been able to get access to the other computer on our LAN. Initially I thought it might be because the other computer was still on W10, but upgrading that one to W11 made no difference.
I have followed all the steps suggested above on both computers, but it has made no difference. Removed all T.P. security software on both computers (and cleaned up all files left behind), now using inbuilt MS security instead - no difference.
It's very frustrating, and appears to be a widepsread problem, which should have been sorted long ago.
Richard York 25 Reputation points

2025-11-04T14:50:33.1933333+00:00

Suggested solution did not work for me. What did work was connecting via IP address (but you need username/password).

Have nothing good to say about MS
Richard Lunquist 5 Reputation points

2025-11-16T22:19:26.2666667+00:00

Unfortunately, the Nov. 13 suggestion by yukari N did not work for me. Under Network on File Explorer, only the local computer shows up. I checked the registry, and the suggested changes were made. The NAS and other computers do show up on the device window.
Jonathan Duke 0 Reputation points

2025-11-26T13:23:54.4333333+00:00

Using my security software, ESET, on each computer's network display, each computer can see the other. However I have tried all the steps above without success. Microsoft really must step in and do something about this problem. It is real.

4 answers

Les Wilkins 0 Reputation points

2025-11-04T12:45:22.72+00:00

Since upgrading to W11 when it first came out, I have never been able to get access to the other computer on our LAN. Initially I thought it might be because the other computer was still on W10, but upgrading that one to W11 made no difference.
I have followed all the steps suggested above on both computers, but it has made no difference. Removed all T.P. security software on both computers (and cleaned up all files left behind), now using inbuilt MS security instead - no difference.
It's very frustrating, and appears to be a widepsread problem, which should have been sorted long ago.
Richard York 25 Reputation points

2025-11-04T14:50:33.1933333+00:00

Suggested solution did not work for me. What did work was connecting via IP address (but you need username/password).

Have nothing good to say about MS
Richard Lunquist 5 Reputation points

2025-11-16T22:19:26.2666667+00:00

Unfortunately, the Nov. 13 suggestion by yukari N did not work for me. Under Network on File Explorer, only the local computer shows up. I checked the registry, and the suggested changes were made. The NAS and other computers do show up on the device window.
Jonathan Duke 0 Reputation points

2025-11-26T13:23:54.4333333+00:00

Using my security software, ESET, on each computer's network display, each computer can see the other. However I have tried all the steps above without success. Microsoft really must step in and do something about this problem. It is real.

Answer 1

Hi,

I had the same problem and I solved with the below steps suggested by AI:

When your Windows 11 (Version 25H2) computer only shows itself on the network,

it is usually because Network Discovery is disabled, the network profile is set to Public instead of Private, or essential services like Function Discovery have stopped running. This often happens after major updates.

Here is a step-by-step guide to fix this issue in Windows 11 25H2:

Change Network Profile to Private

If your network is set to "Public," Windows hides your PC for security.

Go to Settings > Network & internet.
Select Wi-Fi or Ethernet (depending on your connection).
Click on your network name properties.
Change Network profile type to Private.
Enable Network Discovery and File Sharing
Open Control Panel.
Go to Network and Sharing Center > Change advanced sharing settings.
Under the Private network profile, ensure Turn on network discovery and Turn on file and printer sharing are checked.
Expand All Networks, and consider turning off "Password protected sharing" if you are on a trusted home network to simplify access.
Start Essential Network Services

Windows often fails to see other machines if specific discovery services are not running.

Press Win + R, type services.msc, and hit Enter.
Locate the following services, right-click them, select Properties, set Startup type to Automatic, and click Start:
- Function Discovery Provider Host (fdPHost)
  - Function Discovery Resource Publication (FDResPub)
    - SSDP Discovery (SSDPSrv)
      - UPnP Device Host (upnphost)
Check for 25H2 Known Network Issues

Windows 11 25H2 may experience bugs where network settings are not properly applied.

Restart your PC: A simple restart can often trigger a "Known Issue Rollback" (KIR) that automatically fixes network connectivity bugs in 25H2.
Reset Network Settings: If issues persist, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Advanced network settings > Network reset.

Clear Cached Credentials

If you recently changed passwords, old cached credentials might prevent browsing.

Open Command Prompt as administrator.
Run the command: net use * /delete.
Alternative: Use IP Address

If you need to access a specific computer immediately and Network Neighborhood is not updating, open File Explorer and type \\ followed by the IP address of the other machine (e.g., \\192.168.1.50) in the address bar.

When your Windows 11 (Version 25H2) computer only shows itself on the network,

it is usually because Network Discovery is disabled, the network profile is set to Public instead of Private, or essential services like Function Discovery have stopped running. This often happens after major updates.

Here is a step-by-step guide to fix this issue in Windows 11 25H2:

Change Network Profile to Private

If your network is set to "Public," Windows hides your PC for security.

Go to Settings > Network & internet.
Select Wi-Fi or Ethernet (depending on your connection).
Click on your network name properties.
Change Network profile type to Private.
Enable Network Discovery and File Sharing
Open Control Panel.
Go to Network and Sharing Center > Change advanced sharing settings.
Under the Private network profile, ensure Turn on network discovery and Turn on file and printer sharing are checked.
Expand All Networks, and consider turning off "Password protected sharing" if you are on a trusted home network to simplify access.
Start Essential Network Services

Windows often fails to see other machines if specific discovery services are not running.

Press Win + R, type services.msc, and hit Enter.
Locate the following services, right-click them, select Properties, set Startup type to Automatic, and click Start:
- Function Discovery Provider Host (fdPHost)
  - Function Discovery Resource Publication (FDResPub)
    - SSDP Discovery (SSDPSrv)
      - UPnP Device Host (upnphost)
Check for 25H2 Known Network Issues

Windows 11 25H2 may experience bugs where network settings are not properly applied.

Restart your PC: A simple restart can often trigger a "Known Issue Rollback" (KIR) that automatically fixes network connectivity bugs in 25H2.
Reset Network Settings: If issues persist, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Advanced network settings > Network reset.

Clear Cached Credentials

If you recently changed passwords, old cached credentials might prevent browsing.

Open Command Prompt as administrator.
Run the command: net use * /delete.
Alternative: Use IP Address

If you need to access a specific computer immediately and Network Neighborhood is not updating, open File Explorer and type \\ followed by the IP address of the other machine (e.g., \\192.168.1.50) in the address bar.

Les Wilkins 0 Reputation points

2026-03-03T11:09:00.08+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. I had tried all that before, but I ran through it again as you suggest, and it has made no diference.
Kenneth Lindstrom 0 Reputation points

2026-08-02T00:30:07.96+00:00

Nothing worked until I tried your suggestions for changing the services.msc discovery setting. Thanks

Answer 2

yukari N 5

I have experienced the same trouble on several machines.

I could fix most of them with the steps 1 to 3 on the Domic Vo’s post, but some machines needed to change registry using the attached file. (fix_NetworkAccess_for_Win11_24H2.txt) (change the extension to “reg” and double click it)

I hope it helps for solve the problem.

Besides, I have one machine that still doesn’t display network computers even I tried all the solutions above.

So, I would like to know if there is any other solution to try, too.

Michael K 0 Reputation points

2025-11-14T08:09:10.3666667+00:00

Thank you so much Yukari N. THIS WORKED!!!!!! I manually updated my registry just in case but you're a legend!!!!!
Jonathan Duke 0 Reputation points

2025-11-27T17:31:13.0866667+00:00

This did not work for me. More fruitless effort to no avail!
Youthmaxxed 0 Reputation points

2026-03-02T23:40:07.29+00:00

Did not work for me either, unfortunately.

Answer 3

MotoX80 37,781

The first step in troubleshooting network access problems is to verify that the client PC can determine the network address of the PC that hosts the network shares.

Open a Powershell prompt and use nslookup.exe to test DNS name resolution.

Note: if you have switched your PC to use an external DNS server like Google's 8.8.8.8, then local name resolution will not work. In that case you need to ensure that Network Discovery is properly configured.

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Typically your router will function as both the DHCP and DNS server. You may see both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

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Some machines may still have NetBIOS functioning. Use ping.exe to see if it resolves the address. Note that ICMP packets may be blocked by the firewall. You are mainly looking to see that the correct IP address was found.

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If you are unable to resolve the IP address, you will need to check Network Discovery. You will need to verify this on BOTH the client PC and the PC that hosts the network shares.

See my answer in this post. This contains my CheckNetworkDiscovery.ps1 script.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2151284/24h2-killed-network-discovery

Open Powershell_ISE with "Run as administrator" and paste the script into a tab and run it.

On this PC, it does not have the required firewall rules enabled.

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If you need to fix Network Discovery, please see my FixNetworkDiscovery.ps1 script in the accepted answer in this post.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/302088/how-to-switch-from-a-call-by-ip-address-to-a-call

Copy/paste/run the script in another tab.

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Then go back to the CheckNetworkDiscovery.ps1 tab and run it. Verify that it says "Your network profile is set to Private".

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If name resolution still does not function, then try rebooting both machines.

Your machines should now show up in the explorer's Network section.

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Next, use Test-Netconnection to verify that SMB port 445 is allowed through the firewall.

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If that fails, then on the PC that hosts the shares, run "wf.msc" to configure the firewall. Select "Filter by profile" and choose private. Select "Filter by group" and choose "File and printer sharing". Verify that they are enabled.

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Use "net view" to list the shares.

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If you get a "system error 5", that means that the account that you are logged in with cannot authenticate to the other PC. On my network, I log on to my laptop and my bigblue PC with my Microsoft account. That allows me to list the shares.

I also have several test VM's (test10, test11) where I have defined a local account named admin, with a password of admin, on each pc. That allows those machines to access each other's shares.

I personally do not recommend enabling the guest account to access shares. I consider that to be a security risk. Use either a MS account or a local account with the same name and password on both machines. You can always use the Windows Credential Manager to define an entry if your desktop account is not defined on the pc that hosts the shares.

I also recommend that you do not use the C$ share. Share out your data folders and grant appropriate access to the share permissions and the folder permissions.

I'm going to stop here for now.

MotoX80 37,781

Some additional scripts here.

This one will report on the Lanman settings and SMB features that are related to network share access.

# Script: LanManSettings.ps1
# Author: MotoX80 on Learn.Microsoft.com forums
cls
$EnableSecuritySignature = Get-ItemPropertyValue hklm:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters -Name EnableSecuritySignature
$RequireSecuritySignature = Get-ItemPropertyValue hklm:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters -Name RequireSecuritySignature
try {
    $AllowInsecureGuestAuth = Get-ItemPropertyValue hklm:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters -Name AllowInsecureGuestAuth -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
    $AllowInsecureGuestAuth = "n/a"
}
try {
    $RequireSecureNegotiate = Get-ItemPropertyValue hklm:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters -Name RequireSecureNegotiate -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
    $RequireSecureNegotiate = "n/a"
}
$SMB1Server = (Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName SMB1Protocol-Server).State
$SMB1Client = (Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName SMB1Protocol-Client).State

"EnableSecuritySignature = $EnableSecuritySignature"
"RequireSecuritySignature = $RequireSecuritySignature"
"AllowInsecureGuestAuth = $AllowInsecureGuestAuth"
"RequireSecureNegotiate = $RequireSecureNegotiate"
"SMB1 Server = $SMB1Server"
"SMB1 Client = $SMB1Client"

My Win11 laptop reports this.

If you have a very old PC or old NAS device, you may need to enable the SMB1 features.

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This one should be run on the PC that hosts the shares. It will report on shares and their permissions.

# Script: SharePermissionsSimple.ps1
# Author: MotoX80 on Learn.Microsoft.com forums
cls
Get-SmbShare | Where-Object -Property Name -NotLike '*$' | foreach {        # exclude hidden and administrative shares
    write-host -ForegroundColor Blue "----------------------------------------------------------------"
	"             {0}"  -f $_.Name  | write-host -ForegroundColor Yellow 
    write-host -ForegroundColor Blue "----------------------------------------------------------------"
	
	"Share permissions for {0}." -f $_.Name
    $_ | Get-SmbShareAccess | Format-Table -Property AccountName, AccessControlType, AccessRight
    ""
    "NTFS folder permissions on {0}." -f $_.Path
    (Get-Acl -Path $_.Path ).Access | Format-Table -Property IdentityReference, AccessControlType, FileSystemRights -AutoSize
}

For those not aware of how permissions work, the share permissions act as a filter to the file/folder permissions. So if an account has full control on a file/folder, if the share permissions only allow read access, then the user will not be able to update the files/folder. The share permissions will block the update request.

Jonathan Duke 0 Reputation points

2025-11-30T21:18:20.8833333+00:00

I'm sorry to Motox80, but I'm not sure I can follow this intensely technical suggestion steeped in deepest Microsoftese and I am reluctant to try and follow it in case I make an error and end up still stuck. As a fact, my W11 laptop is brand new and a vanilla installation of W11 Professional. The desktop is a fully up to date vanilla W10. It's Microsoft's job to sell computers that will connect together and not mine to do their work for them. I worked in IT for 40 years, and am thinking of reverting to W10 to see if that works.
MotoX80 37,781 Reputation points

2025-12-01T02:15:10+00:00
My take is that Microsoft is between a rock and a hard place. They can make file sharing secure and address new security vulnerabilities or they can make it easy. But it's really tough to do both. And remember, Microsoft knows nothing about the configuration of your network router.

I think that the main issue is using an online forum to troubleshoot. If you're here looking for help, then I don't have much choice but to ask you to: "Run this command and tell me what comes back". I don't have access to your PCs.

So what I tried to do was organize the analysis and present it in a logical, progressive way. I used screen snippets because I thought that would be better than just telling you to run a command. Ie: here is what it looks like. Here (red arrows) are the items that you should pay attention to.

Think of it like going to the hospital. The doctor needs to do triage to try to figure out whats wrong with you. They'll take your blood pressure, temperature, maybe some blood work. It's not always obvious what the problem is.

It's similar with file sharing. We need to verify if the network addresses can be resolved. We need to see if a firewall is blocking access. We need to see if account authentication is working. We need to see if the latest Microsoft KB patch has broken something. It's not always obvious what the problem is.

If you don't feel comfortable running commands, then maybe you should consider finding a friend who works as a desktop support technician and ask them for help. Or go to some place like the Geek Squad at Best Buy and pay them to troubleshoot your PCs.

If you've worked in IT for 40 years (I wrote my first program in COBOL, using punched cards, in January of 1974) then I would think that you should be able to run a few of these commands. Start with the test-netconnection cmdlet. Tell me what comes back. Then run the net view command. Tell me what comes back.

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName YourPcName -CommonTCPPort SMB net view \\YourPcName

Answer 4

Domic Vo 27,960 Independent Advisor

Hello Richard,

Please follow the steps below to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

1. Enable Network Discovery and File Sharing

Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Advanced network settings > Advanced sharing settings

Under Private network, ensure the following are turned on: Network discovery File and printer sharing

2. Ensure All Devices Are on the Same Network Profile

On each computer, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi or Ethernet

Confirm that the network is set to Private, not Public

3. Check Required Services Ensure the following services are running:

Function Discovery Provider Host

Function Discovery Resource Publication

SSDP Discovery

UPnP Device Host

To check:

Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter

Locate each service, right-click, and select Start (if not already running)

Set Startup Type to Automatic

4. Reconnect Mapped Drives If mapped drives are not appearing:

Open File Explorer > This PC

Click Map network drive and re-enter the path (e.g., \ServerName\SharedFolder)

Check Reconnect at sign-in

5. Temporarily Disable Firewall or Antivirus

Some third-party firewalls or antivirus software may block network discovery

Temporarily disable them to test connectivity (be sure to re-enable afterward)

Let me know how it goes, and if this answer helps, feel free to hit “Accept Answer” so others can benefit too 😊

T&B,

Domic.

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Richard Lunquist 5 Reputation points

2025-11-02T20:58:49.0666667+00:00

I have gone through all the steps outlined above with absolutely no change in the problem. I cannot even create a mapped drive to get to the main directory on my LAN attached server. File Explorer on my Windows 10 computers works correctly.
Richard York 25 Reputation points

2025-11-02T22:06:48.43+00:00

Nothing worked - finally was able to find network credentials and map drivers via IP address - was unable to before network credentials
Toni Kajbic 0 Reputation points

2025-11-03T20:15:43.1866667+00:00

Ik heb hetzelfde probleem. Handmatig kan ik wel alle services herstarten maar het euvel blijft na herstarten weer optreden.
Michael K 0 Reputation points

2025-11-04T04:28:02.1166667+00:00

I have exactly the same problem. Followed all the same steps and cannot navigate to a hard drive attached to my router at \192.168.1.1. This is so frustrating!!!!!
Jos Torfs 0 Reputation points

2025-11-04T17:19:08.4133333+00:00

I have the same problem. Cannot connect to my NAS.
Anne Shield 0 Reputation points

2025-11-07T22:48:35.92+00:00

I have the same problem....this is crazy!
Michael K 0 Reputation points

2025-11-09T04:53:58.1433333+00:00

It would be nice to have a solution to this.
Hector Castanon 5 Reputation points

2025-11-10T23:36:03.97+00:00

I've been struggling with this for months. I can't access my Win10 PCs and older NASs on my home network.

Is this MS attempt to get everyone to upgrade to Win11?
Les Wilkins 0 Reputation points

2025-11-16T22:27:18.57+00:00

As my original post said, this problem only occurred for me after I upgraded to W11 - everything worked properly on W10 before the upgrade, but never again after it.
Dmitry Saleev 10 Reputation points

2025-11-19T12:10:11.47+00:00

I have the same problem. The PC and laptop were connected to a local network via Wi-Fi. Everything worked fine until the last moment. They just don't see each other for a few days. The PING command shows the loss of all four packets. On the network, computers do not see each other. The operating system has been updated to the same version 25H2 26200.7171. Microsoft, how can I fix this? Why did it break?
Les Wilkins 0 Reputation points

2025-11-19T13:49:24.65+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. I have done them all, but it has made no difference.
Cindy 15 Reputation points

2026-02-02T09:22:37.4266667+00:00

I have the same problem. I can see the Windows 11 computer finally from the Windows 10 computer but I cannot see anything under Network on the Windows 11 computer at all. I have gone through all suggestions and nothing works to fix this.
MotoX80 37,781 Reputation points

2026-02-02T13:02:24.3066667+00:00

@Cindy Please see my answer/comments dated Nov 29, 2025, 10:38 AM on page 2 of this post.

Please remember that we can't see your screen. We don't know what error you got, what you typed in, how your pc's are configured, how your router is configured, etc, etc. It really helps us (to help you!) if you share what you typed in or clicked on and what message you got from Windows.
Richard Lunquist 5 Reputation points

2026-02-22T21:14:16.1933333+00:00

I commented on this issue in November, and it appears that nothing has changed since. Since when is it up to the user to spend hours on a brand new laptop troubleshooting and wind up with no solution. This appears to me to be something buried deep within Windows 11 that only Microsoft can fix. I am seriously thinking about downgrading to Windows 10 which works great on two of my old computers.
Cindy 15 Reputation points

2026-03-02T23:56:26.0966667+00:00

I think I remember reading somewhere that the problem exists even between 2 Windows 11 computers. I finally ended up chatting with Microsoft and gave their person access to both my Windows 10 and Windows11 computers. He moved so fast I’m not sure what all he did going back and forth but he got the two computers to see each other by doing a mapping with the IP address from the Windows 10 to the Windows 11 computer. Then his suggestion was that I just see the document I wanted to print in the Windows 10 computer, save it to the 11, then print from the 11. I told him that was not acceptable. I could almost hear the sighs and eyeball rolling through the chat as that meant he had to do more work but he did something on the 10 computer and now it could see and print to the printer that is attached to the 11 computer directly. However what ever he did slowed my 10 to a crawl. I told him about it and I could hear the snippy tone through the chat when he said “they no longer support Windows 10”. I’ve been messing with several things and have it improved some but it is still not back to normal.
MotoX80 37,781 Reputation points

2026-03-03T01:09:22.59+00:00

Did anyone try to follow the instructions that I posted in my answer?

It starts with this.

I'm sorry if it's a technical answer. If you have a technical networking problem, that requires technical troubleshooting and most likely a technical solution.