How to Enable ‘Wake on LAN’ in Windows 11 (Turn on PC Remotely)

If you occasionally need to access files on your home office PC while travelling, leaving the computer running 24/7 wastes a significant amount of electricity. However, if you shut the computer down, you cannot connect to it via Remote Desktop or a VPN.

The solution is a foundational networking technology called “Wake on LAN” (WoL). When enabled, your computer’s network card remains in a low-power listening state even when the PC is completely shut down. If the network card receives a specifically crafted network packet (known as a “Magic Packet”) from your smartphone or another device on the network, it sends a hardware signal to the motherboard to instantly power on the computer.

How to Enable Wake on LAN in Windows 11

You must enable this feature within the properties of your Ethernet network adapter. Note: Wake on LAN only works reliably over a hardwired Ethernet connection; it generally does not work over Wi-Fi. You must also ensure the WoL feature is enabled in your motherboard’s BIOS/UEFI.

1. Click the Start button, type Device Manager, and press Enter.
2. In the Device Manager window, click the arrow next to Network adapters to expand the list.
3. Locate your primary Ethernet adapter (often named Realtek PCIe GbE, Intel Ethernet Connection, or similar).
4. Right-click the Ethernet adapter and select Properties.
5. Click on the Power Management tab.
6. Check the box labelled Allow this device to wake the computer.
7. Check the sub-box labelled Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer. (This prevents random network traffic from waking your PC).
8. Now, click on the Advanced tab.
9. Scroll down the “Property” list until you find an entry named Wake on Magic Packet.
10. Ensure the “Value” drop-down menu is set to Enabled.
11. Click OK to save the changes.

Your Windows 11 machine is now configured. You can safely shut down the computer. Using a Wake on LAN app on your smartphone connected to the same local network, you can broadcast a magic packet containing your computer’s MAC address to instantly boot the machine from a cold state.