How to Change Network Priority of Connection on Windows 10

Having multiple network connections is pretty normal on Windows. For example, my laptop has an ethernet port, WiFi card, and sometimes I even connect my mobile phone to connect to the internet via USB tethering or hotspot.

If you are using multiple network connections at the same time, Windows takes care of the network priority. The highest priority network is what you use. As you can guess, network priority reduces any potential network conflicts.
Thankfully, you can easily change the network priority with just a few clicks. By changing the network priority, you can prioritize one network over the other. Simply put, rather than letting Windows decide the network priority, you can set your own so that you can use the network of your choice. Just follow the below steps as is and you should good.
Method 1: Change Network Priority via Adapter Settings
1. Open the Settings app by clicking on the All Settings button in the Notification Centre or by searching for it in the Start menu. In the settings app go to Network and Internet -> Status, and click on Change Adapter Options that appears on the right panel.

2. The above action will open the network adapter page in the control panel. Find the network adapter you want to increase the priority for, right-click on it, and select the Properties option.

3. In the properties window select the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) option, and click on the Properties button.

4. The network priority option is hidden under the advanced settings. Click on the Advanced button.

5. Uncheck the Automatic Metric option, and enter a number that is lower than 10. Click on the OK button to save the changes. Just for demonstration, I’m entering the lowest possible number – 1 – for my network priority.
Generally, Windows uses priority numbers above 20, so anything under 20 priority should be fine. If not, you can always change it to something lower.

6. Close all other Windows and restart the system to make the changes take effect.
That is all. From now on the higher priority network will be favored over the other active networks. If you ever want to revert back, just select the Automatic Metric checkbox in step 5.
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Method 2: PowerShell Command to Change Network Priority

If you want to, you can also use the PowerShell cmdlets to change the network priority. In fact, if you are comfortable using PowerShell, it is easier than the first method. All you have to do is find the interface index, and set the priority.

1. To change network priority via PowerShell, you need to have administrative privileges. Search for PowerShell in the Start menu, and select the Run as administrator option.

2. We need to find out the interface index of your target network adapter. To do that, execute the below command, and PowerShell will list all network adapters. You will see the interface index number under the “ifIndex” section. Note the interface index number of your network adapter. In my case it is 17.

Get-NetIPInterface

3. Once you have the interface index number of the target network adapter, use the below command while replacing INTERFACE_INDEX with the actual interface index number and PRIORITY with the actual priority number that is equal to or below 10.

Set-NetIPInterface -InterfaceIndex INTERFACE_INDEX -InterfaceMetric PRIORITY

4. To verify the changes, execute the Get-NetIPInterface cmdlet. As you can see, the network priority has changed from 25 to 10.

5. Restart your system to apply the changes.

6. In the future, if you want Windows to take care of the network priority, simply execute the below command. Remember to replace INTERFACE_INDEX with the actual interface index of your network adapter.

Set-NetIPInterface -InterfaceIndex 21 -AutomaticMetric enabled

If you face any problems or would like to share your thoughts and experiences, comment below.