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What Is iphlpsvc in Windows 10?

The IP Helper service is related to network configuration settings

By Jon Martindale Jon Martindale Writer Jon Martindale has been a feature tech writer for more than 10 years. He's written for publications such as Digital Trends, KitGuru, and ITProPortal. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on September 13, 2020 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email

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Expand Jump to a Section iphlpsvc in the Wild Safely Disable iphlpsvc How to Disable iphlpsvc Disable via Registry Editor Disable Using the Command Prompt The iphlpsvc in Windows is an Internet Protocol Helper Service, and its job is to help retrieve and modify network configuration settings for your Windows 10 PC. It effectively allows connections to take place across various Windows 10 networking protocols, like IPv6 and Port Proxy, among others. This helper service is installed with Windows 10 right from the start, so it's nothing you really need to concern yourself with unless something particularly goes awry. That said, it's also not massively important if you're just using your system for general tasks like web browsing, media viewing, and gaming. Iphlpsvc is mainly useful for running remote databases or connecting over IPv6.

Seeing iphlpsvc in the Wild

You might come across iphlpsvc.dll when looking at the Processes tab in Task Manager. It doesn't typically use up much in the way of resources, and can be safely left alone. It will typically start up with Windows 10 and continue to run in the background without getting in your way.

Can You Safely Disable iphlpsvc

Yes. Disabling iphlpsvc won't damage your system, break its general functionality, or have much of an effect on performance. You may want to keep it running if you want to make use of the IPv6 protocol, and since the iphlpsvc.dll typically uses such little system resources, it's better to leave it alone if it isn't causing any problems. That said, some users have found it can draw an unnecessary amount of system memory and CPU cycles at certain times. If you have that problem, or just want to disable it because you don't need it, there are ways to do it.

How to Disable iphlpsvc

If you want to disable iphlpsvc there are a few ways to do it. The quickest and the easiest is by stopping the service the starts it in the first place. Search for Services in the Windows 10 search bar and select the corresponding result. In the Services window, make sure that Services (Local) is selected in the left-hand column. Then scroll down the list to find IP Helper. Double click/tap it, or right-click (or tap and hold) and select Properties. To disable the service temporarily, select Stop > Apply, and OK. If you want to stop it from running again, also set the Startup Type to Disabled using the drop-down menu. Then select Apply > OK. It might be worth restarting your Windows 10 system after completing this step to finalize it. When you've returned to Windows, re-open the services menu to make sure that your changes have stuck. You can also enable, or re-enable iphlpsvc in the same way, just retrace your steps to the Services menu, and select the Start button. If you want it to startup automatically with Windows, make sure that Automatic is the selected Startup Type.

How to Disable iphlpsvc Using the Registry Editor

You can also disable the iphlpsvc service using Windows' registry editor. For more tips on using the Registry Editor to change all sorts of things in Windows, check out our handy guide. The Windows Registry is a very powerful tool that can have a dramatic effect on how your system operates. You don't need to be scared of altering it, but you should be wary and double check everything you do there, especially if you're not familiar with it. Press the Windows key+R and type regedit in the Run box. Then press OK. Give administrative approval at the prompt. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iphlpsvc
Select the Start key, right-click (or tap and hold) it, and select Modify. To disable it from starting up with Windows, change the Value data to 4. Select OK. Close the window and restart your machine. iphlpsvc should no longer startup with Windows. If you ever want to revert iphlpsvc to start automatically with Windows, follow the above steps again, but set its Value data to 2.

How to Disable iphlpsvc Using the Command Prompt

You can also disable the iphlpsvc service using Windows' Command Prompt. For more tips on how to access Command Prompt and how to use it, check out our guide here. Type CMD in the Windows search box. Right-click or tap and hold the corresponding result, and select Run as administrator. When it asks for admin approval, give it. To disable iphlpsvc at startup, type the following and press Enter: EG add “HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iphlpsvc” /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 4 /f
Restart your PC. The iphlpsvc service is now disabled. If you want to re-enable iphlpsvc at some point, follow these steps and type the following into CMD before pressing the Enter key: REG add “HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iphlpsvc” /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f
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