How to see all devices on your network from Windows

The short answer

Type your router’s address (usually your Default Gateway, such as 192.168.1.1) into a browser, sign in and open its list of connected or attached devices. On the PC itself, arp -a in Command Prompt lists only the devices your PC has talked to recently, so ping every address on your network first. A network scanner does both steps for you and also tells you what each device is and what you can connect to on it.

Step 1: find your network’s address range

1. Open Command Prompt (search for cmd) and type ipconfig.
2. Under your Wi-Fi or Ethernet adapter, note the IPv4 Address (for example 192.168.1.23), the Subnet Mask (usually 255.255.255.0) and the Default Gateway (for example 192.168.1.1).
3. With a 255.255.255.0 mask, your network is every address from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.254.

Method 1: your router’s device list

Type the Default Gateway address into a browser and sign in. The password is often on a label on the router, or in its app for mesh systems. Look for Connected devices, Attached devices, Device list or DHCP clients. You’ll see each device’s name, IP address and MAC address, and often whether it uses Wi-Fi or a cable.

The list only shows devices that got their address from the router, so a printer or camera with a fixed address may be missing. That is where a scan from the PC helps.

Method 2: arp -a after a ping sweep

arp -a prints the PC’s ARP table: the devices it has exchanged traffic with recently, as IP and MAC address pairs. To fill it with the whole network, ping every address first. In Command Prompt, for a 192.168.1.x network:

for /L %i in (1,1,254) do @ping -n 1 -w 200 192.168.1.%i >nul

That takes a minute or two. Then type arp -a. Every line marked dynamic on your network’s range is a device that answered, even many that ignore ping, because the PC has to look up their MAC address before it can ping them. Static lines for addresses starting with 224 or 239, for 255.255.255.255 and for the last address of your range (such as 192.168.1.255) are multicast and broadcast addresses, not devices.

The first half of a MAC address identifies the maker of the network chip, which can tell you whether an unknown device is a printer, a TV or a camera. Phones and some laptops use a private, random MAC address on Wi-Fi, so their maker can’t be looked up that way.

Method 3: Network in File Explorer

Open File Explorer and choose Network. With network discovery on (Windows asks when you mark a network as private), you’ll see PCs, printers and media devices that announce themselves. Many devices don’t, so this list is never complete.

Method 4: a network scanner

R Pinger is RSDWare’s free network scanner for Windows 10 and 11. It pings every address and reads the ARP table, so devices that ignore ping still show up, then names each device from Windows, Bonjour, DNS, UPnP and the device’s own web page, and shows its maker. It checks common ports so you can open a device’s web page, Remote Desktop, shared folders or SSH in one click, and shows whether each device filters connections. A home or office network takes about 20 seconds. Labels and notes let you mark the devices you know, and new devices are flagged on the next scan.

Found a device you don’t recognise?

• Switch devices off one at a time (or check the router’s list for the name) to match it to something you own: smart plugs, TVs and printers are common surprises.
• If it isn’t yours, change your Wi-Fi password, make sure the router uses WPA2 or WPA3, and update the router’s firmware.
• Put smart-home devices on a guest network if your router has one.
• Only scan networks you own or have permission to scan, such as your home or your employer’s network with their agreement.

Common questions