The default gateway is the computer network node that acts as a forwarding host when the routing address is not mentioned in the IP packet that is to be routed. In simpler terms, the default gateway is used when one network wants to send IP packets or communicate with another network. Therefore, when the default gateway is not available in Windows 10, you will not be able to connect to the internet.

The default gateway plays an important role when your computer or any other device wants to connect and share data packets with the external networks. The default gateway not available error can be due to outdated network drivers, antivirus software, or issues with router settings.

How To Fix The Default Gateway Is Not Available In Windows 10 Issue

You may find the default gateway is not available error message after running Windows network diagnostics when internet connection related issues are experienced. And until the gateway is available, your access to the internet will be blocked. The solutions listed below can help you fix the issue. Ensure you have administrator credentials handy before starting with the solutions, as some of the steps will require admin access.

1. Restart Your Computer

One can fix many Windows related issues with just restart. The temporary glitches caused by drivers or apps can be fixed with the help of the system restart. And if the default gateway is not available because of such glitches, the restart will fix it.

Press Alt + F4 simultaneously. When the ‘Shut Down Windows’ window opens, click on the drop-down menu and select Restart. Click on OK.

Restart the system
Restart your Windows 10 system

Alternatively, you can use the Power button as well to restart your system. Once the PC restarts, check if the network issue is fixed. If you are still experiencing it, check out other solutions given below, as the reason for the error is not a temporary glitch.

2. Temporary Uninstall Antivirus

The antivirus can cause issues with the networks while protecting it for you. You can uninstall the third-party antivirus residing in your system, and then check if the default gateway is not available in Windows 10 is fixed by it.

To uninstall the antivirus, launch the Settings app by pressing Windows key + I and navigate to Apps. In the Apps settings, search for the installed antivirus by the name in the search box. Click on the antivirus when it comes up in the search results and then click on the Uninstall button.

Uninstall antivirus to fix the default gateway is not available windows 10
Uninstall third-party antivirus software

Once done, restart your system and check. If the network issue is resolved after uninstalling the antivirus, you can talk to the support about the same. You can also opt for other malware removal software to save your system from malware and virus.

3. Disable and Re-Enable WiFi or Ethernet

Another way to fix the default gateway is not available in Windows 10 error is to disable the WiFi or Ethernet for some time and then enable it again.

Step 1: Launch the Settings app and go to Network & Internet section of settings.

Step 2: In the Network & Internet settings, click on Change adapter options seen under Change your network settings section.

Open Change adapter options
Click on Change adapter options

Step 3: When you see network connections in the next window, right-click on your connected network. It can be Ethernet or WiFi based on the way you are currently connected to the Internet. Click on Disable from the context menu.

Note: You may need to enter administrator credentials if you are logged in to the admin account.

Disable WiFi to fix the default gateway is not available windows 10
Disable WiFi

After disabling your network connection, wait for some time and then again right-click on the same network. And this time, select Enable. You can check if the network issue is fixed after this.

4. Reset TCP/IP with Commands

TCP/IP plays an important role when your system wants to connect to the internet. If there is some glitch in its settings, you may not be able to use the internet without issues. In such cases, you can reset TCP/IP and check if you can get rid of the ‘the default gateway is not available’ error.

Type cmd in the start menu, and when the command prompt appears in the search result, right-click on it—Select Run as administrator from the context menu.

In the command prompt, type netsh int ip reset command and hit Enter.

Command to reset tcp ip to fix the default gateway is not available windows 10
Execute netsh int ip reset command

Once the command is executed, close the command prompt and check if the issue is fixed. However, if you are still experiencing network connectivity issues, check out other solutions from the list to fix it.

5. Disable Auto-Login in Windows 10

If you have enabled the auto-login feature in Windows 10, you need to disable it to fix the network issues you are currently facing. The auto-login can cause network drivers and settings issues, resulting in the default gateway not available in Windows 10.

You can keep a password or pin to log in to your system, instead of auto-login to avoid network-related errors. After disabling auto-login, restart your system and check if the gateway error is solved.

6. Modify Power Management Properties of Network Drivers

Sometimes, the network adapters/drivers can stop working if there is not enough power in your laptop. And this can cause the default gateway is not available in Windows 10. You can fix this problem easily by changing the power management settings.

Step 1: Press Windows key + X and click on Device Manager to open it. Make sure you are logged in via administrator account to change the power management properties.

Step 2: Expand Network adapters and double-click on the network drivers responsible for internet connection.

Step 3: When the network adapter Properties window opens, go to the Power Management tab and uncheck ‘Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.’ Click on OK.

Disable turning off device to fix the default gateway is not available windows 10
Disable ‘Allow computer to turn off this device to save power’

Once the changes are made, restart your computer to check if the default gateway is available or not.

7. Change Power Options

You can change the power saving options to fix ‘the default gateway is not available’ issue in Windows 10. To do so, follow the steps mentioned below carefully.

Step 1: Search for power plan in the start menu and open the Edit power plan from the search result.

Open edit power plan
Open ‘Edit power plan’

Step 2: On the next window, click on Change advanced power settings.

Click on change advanced power settings
Click on Change advanced power settings

Step 3: In the Power Options window, search for Wireless Adapter Settings and expand it. Next, expand Power Saving Mode and keep Maximum Performance for both the options, that is, ‘On Battery’ and ‘Plugged in.’

Change the power options
Select Maximum Performance for Battery and Plugged in option under Wireless Adapter Settings

Lastly, click on Apply and OK to save the changes you made. After changing the power options, you may get rid of the error. If you are still experiencing gateway errors and therefore issues with internet connectivity, manually filling in gateway settings might help.

8. Manually Configure IP address, DNS address, and Default Gateway

You can manually configure addresses and default gateway to fix the network issue. The ‘default gateway is not available’ error can also be fixed this way.

Step 1: Launch command prompt with admin rights, as explained in the fourth solution.

Step 2: In the command prompt, type ipconfig command, and press Enter.

Step 3: When the command finished its execution, make a note of IP address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway.

Execution of ipconfig command
Run ipconfig command

Once you have all the addresses, close the command prompt, and move on to the next steps.

Step 4: Launch the Settings app and go to Network & Internet. Click on Change adapter options seen under Change your network settings section.

Step 5: Now, right-click on the network you are connected to; it can be Ethernet or WiFi, depending on what form of network you are using. And click on Properties.

Open WiFi Properties
Open WiFi Properties

Step 6: Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) to access its properties. If you are using IPv6, then double-click on Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6).

Open IPv4 Properties to fix the default gateway is not available windows 10
Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)

Step 7: In the IPv4 Properties dialog box, select ‘Use the following IP address’ and you can then  add the IP address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway one by one noted down in the above step (step 3).

Also, select ‘Use the following DNS server addresses’ and type in the following DNS addresses there.

Preferred DNS Server: 8.8.8.8

Alternate DNS Server: 8.8.4.4

When done, click on OK to save the changes.

Add the address manually to fix the default gateway is not available windows 10
Add DNS and IP address manually

Restart your PC and check if it fixed the default gateway is not available in Windows 10.

9. Update the Network Drivers

If none of the above fixes worked for you, the issue could be due to outdated network drivers. You can update network drivers to fix the default gateway is not available in Windows 10. Updating drivers is an easy process and can be done manually or by using third-party software.

To update network driver software manually, open Device Manager and then expand Network adapters. Next, right-click on the network driver and click on Update driver. You can then follow the dialog box on your screen to complete the process.

Update Network drivers
Click on Update driver

If you get stuck somewhere while updating network drivers, you can refer to our complete guide on Device Drivers in Windows 10.

10. Reinstall Network Drivers

You could reinstall the network drivers if updating drivers didn’t fix network issues.

Open Device Manager and expand Network adapters. Next, right-click on the network driver you wish to reinstall and select Uninstall device from the menu. When asked for confirmation about uninstalling the device driver, click on Yes.

Uninstall network drivers
Uninstall network drivers

To reinstall the driver, you can restart the PC so that Windows can install network drivers again. If you don’t wish to restart your PC, you can navigate to Action ➜ Scan for hardware changes. This will install network drivers for you.

Scan for hardware changes 5
Scan for hardware changes to reinstall network drivers

You can then check if the Windows 10 default gateway not available issue is fixed by reinstalling the network drivers. If not, you may need to use generic Windows drivers to fix it.

11. Use Generic Windows Drivers

If reinstalling and updating drivers didn’t fix the problem, you can use Windows’s generic driver software. The process of using generic drivers is similar to updating drivers, but with minor changes. You can follow the instructions given below to use generic Window drivers for network connection.

Open Device Manager in Windows system, right-click on the network driver and select Update Driver.

On the Update Driver window, click on ‘Browse my computer for driver software.’

Select browse my computer for driver software
Click on Browser my computer… Option

Now, select ‘Let me pick from the list of available drivers on my computer’ and then click on Next.

Use Generic driver from your computer
Select the option of choosing the driver from the available options in the computer

Select the network driver from the list of network drivers and click on Next.

Select the generic network driver when the default gateway is not available windows 10
Select the generic network driver

You can now follow the series of windows on the screen to complete the entire update process. Once the generic drivers are updated as your network drivers, connect to the internet and check if you are able to do so.

12. Change the Router Channel

You will now have to work around router settings to fix the default gateway is not available in Windows 10. The first thing you can try is to change the channel settings of the router. If the channel settings are configured to take automatic values, you can change it to manual values.

Make sure you try the manual value, as per your router and network configuration. Every router has a different way of changing the channel settings. You can check the router manual to know how to change the channel settings from automatic to manual or also contact the internet service provider to help you out with this.

13. Change Wireless Network Value to 802.11g

You can change the value of the connected wireless network to 802.11g. Many users suggest that this solution can resolve the error.

Step 1: Go to the Network & Internet settings from the Settings app and click on Change adapter options.

Step 2: Right-click on the wireless network (WiFi) and then click on Properties.

Step 3: In the WiFi Properties window, click on the Configure button.

Click on Configure
Click on Configure

Step 4: In the wireless network driver properties, go to the Advanced tab. Select the Value as 802.11g and click on OK.

Select 802.11g
Select 802.11g

However, if you don’t have this value option in your system, you can keep the default value and move on to the next solution. And if you are able to make the said changes, check if the issue is resolved with this fix.

14. Make Changes in Wireless Router Frequency

Nowadays, the new router supports the frequency of 5GHz. However, the issue can arise when your computer’s adapter works only on 2.4Ghz frequency and not on 5GHz frequency. To fix this, you need to change the router frequency to 2.4GHz to fix the problem.

As the frequency differences can also cause network errors like the default gateway is not available in Windows 10. The way of changing frequency in each wireless router is different, so we recommend referring to the router manual for help. You can also take the help of a qualified technician to change the router frequency.  

Conclusion

Most of our work is dependent on the internet, hence facing connectivity issues can be annoying. As work and entertainment, both can come to a halt because of it. The errors like the default gateway is not available in Windows 10 is found while troubleshooting network related issues. And as default gateway is an important networking node for internet connectivity, users have no option but to fix it as soon as possible.

With the above list of solutions, one can quickly fix the trouble. Some solutions may require you to have some technical expertise, but you can still follow the steps and conveniently carry out the mentioned procedure.