How to Open a Network Port in Windows
When you install certain software on Windows, the installation wizard may automatically set up any required firewall rules for you. But if you do install something and find you’re having trouble using it, take the following steps:
How to Make a Port Open on a Mac
Opening a port on macOS is overall simpler but in some ways more difficult than on Windows. Firstly, by default the macOS firewall is disabled, so out of the box, you don’t even need to use these steps, as your Mac should accept any incoming connection attempts. But if you’ve turned the firewall on (you’ll know because the System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall screen is showing Firewall: On), you’ll need to make a small addition to the firewall’s configuration file to open your specific port. After you’ve checked that your firewall is on, then follow these steps:
Why Do You Need to Open a Port?
Cloud and network apps running on your computer are designed to communicate over a particular network port (or set of ports). And the machine on the other end of that connection will be sending and receiving your data over prescribed ports as well. But the issue is that most operating systems, and “consumer” operating systems, in particular, can be set up to refuse some or all incoming network communication. So you may encounter a situation where your app sending something to a cloud service, and the service is sending something back, but the firewall built into your router or OS is blocking that data. In this case, you should open the network port and let that traffic through to your app.
Opening a Port on Your Router
Before you address your PC or Mac, you should make sure the traffic can get through your network’s router. In this case, you’re not just opening a port, you’re also telling the router where to send this data within the local network. To do that, you need to set up port forwarding. But whether you need a port forward or not, the first step is to open the corresponding port(s) on your PC or Mac (above).
