There may be various applications on your windows device that uses the internet. With these different applications running, it is apparent that they need ports to connect to the internet. Port acts as a gateway through which these applications communicate with the internet. Sometimes two distinct forms might need to use the same port, and thus it is useful to know which ports are being used and the form that is using a particular port. You may remember how to find out the port to check with several websites. Let us have a look at how you may find about the port in use.
Use of Command Prompt Method
The easiest method to see which ports are used by which application is using a single command through which you can get a list of all the ports that are being used. Follow the steps given below to use command Prompt method:
- Click the start button and search for “cmd” in the start menu, then right-click on the Command Prompt when it shows up the search results. Now, click on “Run as Administrator”.
- You may now see an elevated command prompt window, that will bring up a list of ports. Execute the command given below; you can copy the command and paste it in the command prompt window.
- The resulting output will appear on your screen; you will find the port number just next to the IP address. This list will not be refreshed automatically; you have to repeat the process to get the updated list. In case you want the list to be updated automatically, you may use any other procedure given below. It is an easy and convenient method for the port to check.
Download TCPView
If you don’t mind downloading a lightweight app. You may download TCPView and get control over all your ports and know whatever is going on with them. This app will bring up a list of processes and the ports used by them.
There is a high possibility that you may find this app better than the command prompt as you can easily see the ports opening, closing, and sending packets. Keep in mind to look out for the red, yellow and green highlights. You may also rearrange the list in any order to find any process you want or find two different methods looking to use the same port. To use the app, follow the instructions given below for port to check:
- At first, you need to download TCPView from the official Sysinternals website.
- After downloading, extract the exe file to your desktop and double click on it to open.
- Once you open the application, you will be directed to a user agreement. Agree to the agreement and proceed, then you will immediately see all the TCP connections. Also, you will find the port numbers in the Local Port section.
- In case you want to close a process or connection, right-click that process and select “End Process” or click on “Close Connection” to stop it from appearing in the list and leaving the process open. It is a simple process for the port to check as it does not involve much effort.
Use CurrPorts Utility
CurrPort is yet another neat and lightweight app by Nirsoft Utilities which lists all the ports used by
Windows and other programs. There are a lot of small and portable apps that are pretty useful in Nirsoft. If you have never used this before you may browse Nirsoft Utilities and fins interesting tools.
- The first step is to download CurrPorts from the official website. As it is a portable app, you don’t need to install it anywhere. Once you download it, extract the exe file from the zip file and double click on it.
- You will see an open window where the list will appear of all the connection and their ports. You can find the port number just below the Local Port section on the window.
- As this application is dedicated to port monitoring, you will find a range of options to manage the application and ports. Right-click on the desired option, and you will find a list of suitable options such as to closed TCP connection, application properties, copying properties, etc.
- In case you want even better control, you can create personalized filters that will help you narrow down the search. To perform that, click on “Options” and then select “Advanced Filters”. That is all you need to do for the port to check.
Using Open Port Viewer tool
One of the benefits that you have when reading this article on this site is our own free tool that you can download to check what ports are open.
Open Port Viewer is a free tool develop by the openport.net web site team.
You can download it from this link: Open Port Viewer
There is also all the necessary information about this tool on the tool page.
Benefits of these apps to check for the port used
The major goal of these apps is to make it easy for you to manage ports and ensure that the traffic is directed through the right ports so that processes can connect to the port that they need to. Sometimes a port can be used by an application that may be specifically required to run another application. In that can the application may show you warning message or crash entirely. Hence it is better to know which port is used by which application. That way, you can choose to either change the port or prevent the problem from causing. This article has been written to make you aware that such an application exists that can make you save a lot of trouble. It is how you may be benefited from the port to check.
To summarize this:
It is very simple to find which ports you are using and which application is using which port. The applications and processes mentioned above will help do the same. If you are looking forward to checking out which port you are using for a specific application, go ahead and try any one of this process to find out. These are the three best methods you may be looking for, by using these applications you will get more control over the network connections that are constantly being made on your device, which is very crucial to keep a check on.