Exporting Firewall settings in Windows 7
It is a good practice to keep a copy of your Windows Firewall settings together with other system-related documentation. Documentation of your system configuration may become handy during a disaster recovery exercise or when changes to your system cause undesirable results and you need to revert back to the previous settings! In order to document your Windows Firewall settings perform the following steps:
- In the Start search box type in firewall and click on Windows Firewall with Advanced Security
- Select the Inbound Rules node under Windows Firewall with Advanced Security on Local Computer
- Right click on Inbound Rules and select the Export List option
- Type in a filename and click the Save button – you can create a tab or comma delimited text or csv file from the Save as type drop-down
- Next, right click on Outbound Rules and select the Export List option
- Type in a filename and click the Save button
Store the saved files in a safe location such as, keeping a copy in an alternate location like a USB flash drive or it might be even simpler to print a hard copy.
Exporting them is okay, but reloading export settings would be even better, rather than reviewing the list and manually reconfiguring the firewall. Is there any way to reload settings?
There’s an option to restore default settings from Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Windows Firewall, but I am not sure if there’s way that allows you to restore a customized set.
Hello.
I just came across your website and I was happy to see this information. I have just found out you CAN import settings back into your Windows 7 firewall settings.
Under the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security window is open, make sure the top item on the list on the left is highlighted. In this case it is called the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security on Local Computer. Right click on this item and select Export Policy.
If you look also under the Right-Click Option you will also see the Import Policy option! I have tested this with a Dell Optiplex 7010 and 990 systems where I have exported “custom” firewall settings first then on a New Optiplex 7010 and 990 system re-import the .wfw file and both systems imported the correct settings I had made.
For testing purposes I added 1 custom rule called ICMPv4 Ping command following the nice article “how to Enable Windows 7 Ping Response in Firewall”.
I was able to export my entire Firewall rules and then re-import them into a new system and the above mentioned ICMPv4 Ping was also there.
I know this article is older but I wanted to update the notes with Yes you can import custom settings. I would always recommend that you Export your standard default settings FIRST before making any firewall changes so in case anything happens, you have something to fall back to.
Thanks.