How to get WINS without WINS, browsing the network for PC's master browser server

Peter Barclay 40 Reputation points
2026-06-30T17:32:45.37+00:00

Ok, Out of the game for 2 decades, but one function was really used and loved by people. As a person who still manages all the PC's in my house, my kids houses, and soon to be my kid's kids houses. Basically, I run the family and extended family as a branch driven company, VPN's, subnets and all. One thing I miss is WINS and the master browser server who would manage the (CIFS) Browser Protocol. I used to be able to set it up so if you open File Explorer under Network and you'd see everyone. Yes you have to enable file and print sharing now. But we also had a way to get non wins machines registered to WINS and then use the WINS as secondary table of DNS for DNS lookups. If a DNS entry couldn't be found it would pass to WINS to find it. ALL really cool things.

TL:DR, Long story short, I have multiple subnets and I want people to see all the machines that are sharing to show under Network. Is there still a way to do this?

Windows for business | Windows Client for IT Pros | Networking | Network connectivity and file sharing
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HLBui 12,700 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-06-30T19:46:27.2933333+00:00

Hi Peter

I get the nostalgia for WINS and the old master browser setup it was a neat way to make machines magically show up in Network Neighborhood. Unfortunately, Microsoft retired the Computer Browser service years ago, and there’s no direct replacement that works across multiple subnets the way WINS did. On modern Windows 10/11, network discovery relies on SMB over DNS and WS-DISCOVERY, which are limited to the local subnet. That’s why you don’t see machines from other subnets pop up automatically anymore.

If you want that “everyone shows up under Network” experience across subnets, the practical workaround is to lean on DNS and Active Directory. You can register all your hosts in DNS, enable file and print sharing, and then access them by name rather than browsing. Another option is to deploy a DFS Namespace, which gives you a single logical view of all shared folders across your environment, regardless of subnet. It’s not quite the same as the old browser list, but it’s the supported way to unify shares today.

So short answer: no, WINS‑style browsing isn’t coming back, but you can replicate the functionality with DNS, AD, or DFS.

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