Wake On LAN In Windows 10 (How To Guide)

Wake on LAN in Windows is an interesting function that has been perpetuated with every new Windows generation. We’ve had it on XP, on Windows 7, on Windows 8, and, obviously, on Windows 10. Without a doubt, it is a useful feature and if you haven’t heard of it or haven’t gotten the chance to use it so far, you really need to go through this article to learn about Windows 10 Wake on LAN setting.
From the benefits of using Wake up on LAN and how it actually works to enabling, configuration, and troubleshooting details, we covered it all for you. By the end of this complete guide on how to wake on LAN in Windows 10, there should be no mystery left for you.

Wake-on-LAN overview
The name says it all: your computer can miraculously “wake up” on LAN when receiving a “magic packet” via a LAN connection. That packet will come from another device on the same network as your computer. And it will contain the MAC address of your PC, hence the prompt response. Needless to say, you will have to have an Ethernet connection in place, plus a peer-to-peer network between your PC and at least another unit. Essentially, you shouldn’t shut down your PC!
Is the network in place and your computer is either in the Hibernation or Sleep mode? Now you should be able to use the Windows 10 Wake on LAN function and all the benefits that derive from it:

First of all, you will gain special, on-demand access to the files that matter to you or to the resources of your network;
Second, you will no longer need to keep a PC turned on all the time – as mentioned, suffices to keep it on Sleep or Hibernation;
Third, you should notice a decrease in energy consumption – since the PC will no longer run all the time at full capacity – and your utility bills will cost less;
Last but not least, you will enjoy some extra accessibility, reaching and managing your computer remotely, from another room or even from another floor of the building.

Now that we raised your interest in it, let’s move on to the practical details of activating this function.

How to enable Wake-on-LAN in Windows 10
The steps are simple and intuitive, but we’re going to present them as detailed as possible. In a nutshell, you should:

Access the Device Manager center;
Adjust the settings from the Power Management tab;
Enable the Wake on Magic Packet function.

To do all that, you will have to:

Go to the quick access menu by simultaneously pressing the Windows key and the R key from your keyboard;
In the newly opened menu, identify and select the Device Manager;
In the newly opened Device Manager window, click on the Network adapters menu from the tree;
Underneath it, identify your Ethernet adapter and press a right-click on it;
In the newly opened context menu, select Properties;
In the newly opened window of your Ethernet adapter, click on the tab labeled as Power Management – it should be at the end of the main menu;
Once in there, make sure you uncheck all the three boxes listed;
After that, move on to the tab labeled as Advanced;
In the Property box available in there, scroll down until you identify and select Wake on Magic Packet;
In the Value list box from the right, make sure that this property is enabled.

Now, you have officially activated this function on your computer. Of course, it’s not ready to run yet. You’ll have to configure it first.

How to configure the Wake-on-LAN function
It might sound complicated, but it can be surprisingly easy, especially when you use a dedicated utility such as WakeonLAN:

You will need to download this utility from here – it is available for free;
You must know the exact MAC address of the computer you are planning to wake;
You will have to configure the WakeonLAN utility with the MAC address of your PC and some other details.

Downloading the utility and installing it should be piece of cake. Needless to say, you will install it on a computer from where you are planning to wake up your PC, having a wired Ethernet connection to your router, just like your PC.

For the part of finding your computer’s MAC address, here’s what you should do:

Go to your computer;
Make sure it has a wired Ethernet connection with your router;
Deactivate any other wireless connections;
Go to the Settings menu;
Click on the Network and Sharing Center;
Look in the upper-right pane and identify the Ethernet connection;
Click on it and in the newly opened window click on Details;
That’s where you should see your computer’s MAC address – write it down on a piece of paper.

Now let’s configure your Wake-on-LAN function:
Go back to the computer where you installed the WakeonLAN utility. Run the installed version and go to the File menu:

Click on New Host;
Go to the tab labeled as Display Properties;
In there, type the name of the PC and even a Group name, if you’d like so;
Go to the tab labeled as Wake Up;
In there, fill in all the necessary information:
- Write the MAC Address of the remote machine;
- Select the option Broadcast IP under the “Send WOL to” line;
- Leave the default setting under the Broadcast line;
- Type the machine host name under the “FQDN/IP” line;
  - For the exact host name go to the computer you will access remotely, simultaneously press the Windows key and the X key from the keyboard, go to System, and then to Computer name:
- Click on the IPv4 list box and then click on your physical Ethernet adapter;
Press the OK button.

Now, the utility is up and running, ready to remotely wake up your other computer.

How to use the enabled Wake on LAN in Windows 10
This is the easiest and most beautiful part. You launch the WakeonLAN utility, do a right-click on your computer, and in the context menu, you click on Wake Up.

Something’s wrong?
Obviously, this is the most difficult and annoying part of Windows 10 wake on LAN. However, it is possible that even after going through all the steps from above, the remote machine to stubbornly remain under the Sleep or Hibernate mode.

Troubleshooting this problem usually targets two potential flaws:

You either need to enable WakeOnLAN from the computer’s Firmware or BIOS

Or you need to deactivate the Fast Startup function in Windows 10

Accessing the BIOS is something you’ll learn by looking into the documentation of your computer, on the dedicated section of how to load BIOS.

On the other hand, you can generally deactivate the Fast Startup function quite simple: