Wake on LAN (WoL) is a niche feature that does not get much attention, but it’s a neat way to turn on your computer remotely. You can not only turn on your Windows 11/ 10 PC from your local network but also set up Unattended Access with many remote desktop software like TeamViewer. If you are a smart home enthusiast, Wake on LAN makes things a tad more seamless with voice command support. So if you want to enable Wake on LAN on Windows 11 or 10, follow our simple tutorial and set it up right away.
We have mentioned the steps to enable Wake on LAN on Windows 11 and 10 PCs, along with an explainer on what is WoL in this article. You can go through the brief explanation below before you move to the step-by-step instructions.
- What is Wake on LAN (WoL) in Windows 10/ 11?Turn on Wake on LAN (WoL) on Your Windows 11/ 10 PC
What is Wake on LAN (WoL) in Windows 10/ 11?
As I mentioned above, Wake on LAN lets you turn on/ off your computer remotely. It uses the Ethernet connector to send a magic packet to the BIOS, alerting it to turn on the PC. To use the Wake on LAN feature, you must connect your PC to the router using a wired Ethernet cable. If your laptop does not come with an Ethernet port, you sadly can’t take advantage of this feature.
Of late, Wake on LAN is coming in super handy in smart home setups. For example, you can set up a custom voice command to turn on your computer using Google Assistant or Alexa. Apart from that, it lets you have unattended access to your PC from anywhere around the world. It is, however, important that you have set up remote desktop software and have configured everything correctly.
Turn on Wake on LAN (WoL) on Your Windows 11/ 10 PC
Note: We will demonstrate the steps to enable Wake on LAN on our Windows 11 PC, but the steps will remain the same for a Windows 10 computer as well.
Once you have logged into your Windows 11/ 10 PC, use the Windows 11 keyboard shortcut “Windows + X” to open “Device Manager“.
Here, expand the “Network adapters” menu and look for your PCIe/ Ethernet controller. Right-click on it and select “Properties”.
Then, move to the “Power Management” tab and enable all the checkboxes. Make sure “Allow this device to wake the computer” and “Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer” are checked.
Next, move to the “Advanced” tab and scroll down the list of options under the “Property” window. Here, look for the “Wake on Magic Packet” option and enable it from the “Value” drop-down menu. Finally, click OK to save the changes.
Finally, restart your PC, and there you have it! You have successfully enabled Wake on LAN on your Windows 11/ 10 computer. You can now install WolOn (Free, in-app purchases start at $1.99) on your Android smartphone and the Wake Me Up – Wake-on-LAN (Free) app on your iPhone to turn on your PC remotely. The WolOn Android app also supports Unattended Access when using Wake on LAN on your Windows 11/ 10 computer.
