How to turn off UPnP on your router

What UPnP is

UPnP stands for Universal Plug and Play. It lets a game console, a video-call app or a camera ask your router to open a door to the internet for it, without you doing anything. That is handy, because it means things "just work".

The downside is that anything on your home network can ask, including an app you did not mean to install or a gadget that was built carelessly. If a door is opened that way, you may never know. Our check sometimes finds an open door that turns out to have been opened by UPnP.

Should you turn it off?

For most homes, yes. Most people never need it, and turning it off is common advice from router makers themselves.

It is not an emergency. UPnP being on does not mean anyone has got in. It only means doors can be opened without you being asked.

How to turn it off

1. Sign in to your router.
2. Look through the menus for UPnP. It is often under a section called Advanced, NAT, Network or Firewall. Routers run from a phone app (such as eero or Google Nest Wifi) keep it in the app's network settings.
3. If the router has a list of "UPnP port mappings" or "active UPnP rules", look at it first. Each line is a door that something opened, and it helps you see what was using it.
4. Switch UPnP to Off or Disable, and press Save or Apply.

If something stops working

Some games, consoles and video-call apps may complain about their connection after you turn UPnP off. If that happens, you can switch it back on. Better still, ask someone you trust to set up that one app another way, so you do not need UPnP for everything.

Then check again

Run the free check again afterward. A good result only means nothing risky can be seen from the internet. It does not mean every device in your home is safe.