How to Turn Off Internet on a Windows Computer

In order to turn off internet connection to a Windows Computer, there are multiple ways. Turning Off of Internet can be Software or Hardware Controlled. The basic principle to understand when turning off internet is that Internet is connected to a Windows Computer using Network Connection. Whether you are using Wired or Wireless Connection to connect to Internet, you can control connectivity of internet using control to Network Connections. You can use a software utility to Turn Off and On Internet connection by disabling Network Adapter from a graphical user interface or with desktop shortcuts as displayed below.

The Software Application presented above is Network Controller and as name suggests it can control Network Connections. You would need admin rights to enable or disable any listed network connection which connects your Windows Computer to Internet. In order to disable any network connection you can simply click the appropriate buttons or you can simply create desktop shortcut(s) to turn off internet and to turn on internet again by disabling & enabling your active network adapter respectively.

Disabling any Network Connection will also disconnect Computer’s connectivity with other computers using LAN / WAN or other networking ways. You must understand that turning off internet this way is actually doing more stuff and is not only disabling internet. Disabling any Network Adapter also disconnects connection from your computer to the outside world.

You can alternatively disable internet connection by going to Control Panel and disabling the connected Network Adapter. In case you would like to block specific websites, then you do not need to turn off the internet completely on your windows computer. You can simply use add the sites to block in hosts file and that will be sufficient to block specific websites on your windows computer.

In case your computer connects to the Internet with a Modem and no other Computer is connected using that Modem, the best way to Turn Off Internet Completely on your Windows Computer is to look for Cable / Wireless Connection connecting your Computer to Internet and unplug it. This is a hardware controlled solution and does not requires you to struggle with Admin Rights / UAC Prompts and other understanding of Network Connections in Windows.

While dealing with Network using Software or Cables, it is always best to consult a person who understand networking. Network Connections can be simple when using Single Windows Computer. The Network Cables, Wireless Connections and Software Applications all together work to provide you computer the appropriate Internet Connection. Do make sure that you do understand what you are doing when dealing with network connections. In case you do Turn Off Internet using any of the ways provided in the post, make sure that you understand how to reverse the process and turn on internet again.