In this guide, I will show you how to troubleshoot and fix ping timeouts when trying to reach a Windows Server (specifically Windows Server 2025) or a Windows 11 machine. We will examine network profiles and configure the Windows Firewall to allow ICMP traffic.
First, we must verify that both the server and the client are on the same network subnet. In this example, we have a freshly installed Windows Server 2025 and a Windows 11 client.
Open a terminal window on the server and run ipconfig. In this case, the server is on the 10.0.0.x network with the host address .51.
On the Windows 11 machine, running ipconfig confirms it is on the same network with the host address .101.
From the client, attempt to ping the server using the continuous ping flag (-t):
ping 10.0.0.51 -t
You will likely receive a "Request timed out" message. This confirms that while the network is physically connected, traffic is being blocked.
Windows applies different firewall rules based on whether the network is classified as "Public," "Private," or "Domain".
Navigate to Settings > Network & internet > Ethernet. You will see the network profile type. By default, it is often set to Public.
For an internal trusted network, it is best practice to switch this to Private. This automatically adjusts the Windows Firewall to a less restrictive set of rules. However, even after switching to Private, the ping may still fail because the default Private ruleset often still blocks ICMP echo requests.
To fix the issue permanently, we need to explicitly allow the ICMP protocol in the firewall.
[Image of firewall packet filtering diagram]Open "Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security". Navigate to Inbound Rules and maximize the window for a better view.
Sort the list by Protocol to easily find ICMPv4. You are looking for a rule named "Core Networking - Diagnostics - ICMP Echo Request" (or similar).
You will likely see that the rule for "Private, Public" is set to No under the "Enabled" column. Note that there is a separate rule for the "Domain" profile if your server is part of an Active Directory domain.
Right-click the rule for "Core Networking - Diagnostics - ICMP Echo Request" (for Private and Public profiles) and select Enable Rule.
Return to your client machine where the continuous ping command was running. As soon as the rule is enabled, you should see the status change from "Request timed out" to a successful reply from the host.