Windows Defender Firewall: Allow inbound file and printer sharing exception
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 10, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows XP Professional with SP2
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Network Connections\Windows Defender Firewall\Standard Profile Description
Allows inbound file and printer sharing. To do this, Windows Defender Firewall opens UDP ports 137 and 138, and TCP ports 139 and 445. If you enable this policy setting, Windows Defender Firewall opens these ports so that this computer can receive print jobs and requests for access to shared files. You must specify the IP addresses or subnets from which these incoming messages are allowed. In the Windows Defender Firewall component of Control Panel, the "File and Printer Sharing" check box is selected and administrators cannot clear it. If you disable this policy setting, Windows Defender Firewall blocks these ports, which prevents this computer from sharing files and printers. If an administrator attempts to open any of these ports by adding them to a local port exceptions list, Windows Defender Firewall does not open the port. In the Windows Defender Firewall component of Control Panel, the "File and Printer Sharing" check box is cleared and administrators cannot select it. If you do not configure this policy setting, Windows Defender Firewall does not open these ports. Therefore, the computer cannot share files or printers unless an administrator uses other policy settings to open the required ports. In the Windows Defender Firewall component of Control Panel, the "File and Printer Sharing" check box is cleared. Administrators can change this check box. Note: If any policy setting opens TCP port 445, Windows Defender Firewall allows inbound ICMP echo requests (the message sent by the Ping utility), even if the "Windows Defender Firewall: Allow ICMP exceptions" policy setting would block them. Policy settings that can open TCP port 445 include "Windows Defender Firewall: Allow inbound file and printer sharing exception," "Windows Defender Firewall: Allow inbound remote administration exception," and "Windows Defender Firewall: Define inbound port exceptions."
Registry
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile\Services\FileAndPrint Value name: Enabled
Enabled: Enabled = 1
Disabled: Enabled = 0
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Windows Defender Firewall: Allow inbound file and printer sharing exception
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows XP Professional with SP2
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile\Services\FileAndPrint]
"Enabled"=dword:00000001
"RemoteAddresses"=""More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Windows Defender Firewall: Allow inbound file and printer sharing exception
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows XP Professional with SP2
$path = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile\Services\FileAndPrint'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'Enabled' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RemoteAddresses' -Value '' -Type StringIntune XML
No direct Policy CSP / OMA-URI mapping for this policy. Use the Intune Remediation tab, or ingest the ADMX in Intune.Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Windows Defender Firewall: Allow inbound file and printer sharing exception
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows XP Professional with SP2
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile\Services\FileAndPrint' -Name 'Enabled' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile\Services\FileAndPrint' -Name 'RemoteAddresses' -Expected '' -Kind String)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Windows Defender Firewall: Allow inbound file and printer sharing exception
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows XP Professional with SP2
$path = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile\Services\FileAndPrint'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'Enabled' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RemoteAddresses' -Value '' -Type StringSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Windows Defender Firewall: Allow inbound file and printer sharing exception
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows XP Professional with SP2
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Windows Defender Firewall: Allow inbound file and printer sharing exception
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows XP Professional with SP2
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile\Services\FileAndPrint' -Name 'Enabled' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile\Services\FileAndPrint' -Name 'RemoteAddresses' -Expected '' -Kind String)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Windows Defender Firewall: Allow inbound file and printer sharing exception
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows XP Professional with SP2
$path = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile\Services\FileAndPrint'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'Enabled' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RemoteAddresses' -Value '' -Type StringBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.