How to Turn On or Off Mobile Hotspot in Windows 11

This post shows students and new users steps to turn on or off Mobile hotspots on Windows 11.

Windows has a feature that turns an adapter into a hotspot. For example, if your laptop has a cellular adapter, you can share your cellular internet connection with other devices.

However, your mobile data plan will be used when you share your cellular connection as a hotspot with other devices. Therefore, the cost might increase since all devices use your internet data plan.

Suppose you are an IT manager or an administrator and want to prevent users from using the mobile hotspot feature in Windows 11. In that case, you can turn it off so that users do not incur crazy changes to your mobile account.

The steps below will show you how to turn on or off the mobile hotspot feature in Windows 11 for all users.

How to turn off mobile hotspots in the local Group policy editor

As mentioned above, one can turn on or off the mobile hotspot feature for all users in Windows 11. Once disabled, users cannot turn on Windows hotspots to share their internet connection.

You must be logged in as an administrator to turn off Internet sharing or hotspots in Windows 11.

First, open the local group policy editor in Windows 11. You can do that by going to the Start menu and searching for Edit group policy; under Best Match, select Edit group policy as highlighted below.

Once the Local Group Policy Editor opens, navigate to the path below as highlighted in the image below:

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Network Connections

Double-click on the setting below on the right pane: “Prohibit the use of Internet Connection Sharing on your DNS domain network.“

Once the setting window opens, select Enabled to enable the settings that block the use of hotspots and internet sharing in Windows.

Click OK when done.

How to enable mobile hotspots via local group policy editor in Windows 11

If internet sharing or hotspot is disabled and you want to turn it back on, reverse the steps above by going to the Start menu ==> Local Group Policy Editor ==> Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Network Connections

Double-click the settings below on the right pane: “Prohibit Internet Connection Sharing on your DNS domain network.“

Once the setting window opens, select Not Configured to turn off the settings that enable hotspots and internet sharing in Windows.

Click OK to save your changes and exit.

Conclusion:

• Turning on or off mobile hotspots in Windows 11 can help manage data usage effectively.
• Administrators can control the mobile hotspot feature through the Local Group Policy Editor.
• Disabling hotspots prevents users from unintentionally incurring additional data charges.
• Re-enabling the feature is straightforward, allowing for flexibility based on user needs.
• Properly managing this feature is crucial for organizations to maintain internet cost efficiency.