How to Check If a Port Is Open With Netstat
The easiest way to check if a port is open on Windows 10 is by using the Netstat command. ‘Netstat’ is short for network statistics. It will show you what ports each internet protocol (like TCP, FTP, etc.) is currently using. The command has many parameters, but the ones you’ll need to use to check if a port is open are (a), which provides the active ports, and (b), which will tell you the name of the processes using those ports.
How to Check If a Port Is Working Using Third-Party Apps
If you don’t want to use the command prompt to check for open ports, there are very easy-to-use third-party apps that can help.
TCPView
TCPView is a utility included in Microsoft Sysinternals that shows you a list of all running processes and their associated open ports. This app displays ports opening and closing and packet transfers, all in real-time.
Nirsoft CurrPorts
Nirsoft CurrPorts is another utility to see all ports currently being used by applications and services on your system. Just look for the local ports column to see which of your computer’s ports are active. The list also includes ports that are being connected to on the remote end (the server out on the internet).
PortQry Command Line Port Scanner
Install PortQry Command Line Port Scanner for another command-line utility dedicated to scanning your computer for open ports. Once you install it, open Command Prompt in administrator mode. PortQry automatically installs in the C:\PortQryV2 directory, so change the directory of your command prompt to that directory. Type the command portqry.exe -local to see all open TCP and UDP ports for your machine. It’ll show you everything you can see with the NetStat command, plus port mappings and how many ports are in each state.
What Is a Port?
Applications running on your computer reach out and get information and data from servers elsewhere on the internet. These applications and the server know how to communicate based on their IP address and the port number. Think of the IP address as a street address and the port number as the apartment number. If either the server or application attempts to communicate using any other port number, it won’t work. Every other door will be “locked” because other ports are closed.
