Windows 11 Open Ports May 2026

In Windows 11, managing open ports is primarily done through the Windows Defender Firewall to allow traffic for specific apps, or via the Command Prompt to check which ports are currently active. 1. How to Open a Port (Inbound Rule)

Overview: Windows 11 — open ports, risks, and how to manage them

What "open ports" means

• netstat: netstat -ano shows active connections, listening ports, and owning PIDs.
• Get-Process + Get-NetTCPConnection in PowerShell: Get-NetTCPConnection -State Listen | Select-Object LocalAddress,LocalPort,OwningProcess then map PID to process: Get-Process -Id <PID>.
• Get-NetUDPEndpoint for UDP listeners.
• Resource Monitor → Network → Listening Ports (graphical).

1) Background: what open ports mean

• A port is a logical endpoint (0–65535) used by network protocols to direct traffic to specific services.
• An "open port" indicates a process is listening on that port (TCP/UDP). Open ports expose an attack surface: unauthorized access, information leakage, or exploitation of vulnerable services.