Static IP Keeps Reverting to DHCP on Windows 10/11

30-Second Fix: Reset Network Adapter

I know how infuriating it is to set a static IP, reboot, and find it back on DHCP. This tripped me up the first time too, and it usually comes down to a corrupted adapter cache. Here's the quickest thing to try.

1. Open Network Connections (press Win + R, type ncpa.cpl, hit Enter).
2. Right-click your active adapter (likely Ethernet or Wi-Fi), choose Disable.
3. Wait 10 seconds. Right-click again, choose Enable.
4. Now go back to IPv4 settings (right-click adapter > Properties > Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) > Properties) and re-enter your static IP.
5. Click OK, then reboot.

If it holds, you're done. This works because the adapter re-reads its configuration fresh. I've seen this fix work maybe 30% of the time—worth the 30 seconds.

5-Minute Fix: Clear Winsock and TCP/IP Stack

Didn't stick? The next culprit is a winsock corruption or a TCP/IP stack that's holding onto old settings. I run into this on Windows 10 versions before 22H2 and some early Windows 11 builds. Here's how to nuke the problem.

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator (right-click Start, choose Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows Terminal (Admin)).
2. Run these commands in order—don't skip any:

   netsh winsock reset

   netsh int ip reset

   ipconfig /release

   ipconfig /renew

   ipconfig /flushdns

3. Reboot your computer.
4. Set your static IP again. If you're not sure how: go to Settings > Network & Internet > Advanced network settings > More network adapter options. Right-click your adapter, choose Properties, double-click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), select Use the following IP address, and fill in your IP, subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS servers.
5. Reboot again.

This clears out any cached or corrupted TCP/IP settings. One thing I've learned: don't skip the netsh int ip reset command. It rewrites the registry keys for TCP/IP, which is often where the static IP data gets stuck wrong.

15-Minute Fix: Registry Hack for Persistent Static IP

If the first two didn't work, something deeper is overriding your settings. I've seen this happen on corporate-managed machines with Group Policy overriding network settings, or on systems where a third-party VPN or antivirus hooks into the network stack. Here's the nuclear option: manually set the static IP in the registry.

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, hit Enter. Back up your registry first: File > Export, save a backup somewhere safe.
2. Navigate to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces

   This is the key for every network interface on your machine.
3. You'll see a list of GUIDs (like {12345678-90AB-CDEF-1234-567890ABCDEF}). Each one corresponds to a network adapter. To find which is yours, check the DhcpIPAddress value. But easier: go back to Network Connections, right-click your adapter, choose Status > Details, and note the Physical Address (MAC). In regedit, look under each GUID for NetworkAddress—match that to your MAC.
4. Once you find your adapter's GUID, double-click DhcpEnabled (DWORD) and set it to 0 (this disables DHCP).
5. Now set these values (if they don't exist, right-click in the right pane, choose New > String Value):
   • IPAddress: type your static IP (e.g., 192.168.1.100)
   • SubnetMask: e.g., 255.255.255.0
   • DefaultGateway: e.g., 192.168.1.1
   • NameServer: e.g., 8.8.8.8 (primary DNS) — if you want a secondary, separate with a comma: 8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4
6. Close the registry, reboot.

If your IP still reverts after this, check Group Policy: run gpedit.msc (Windows Pro only), go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > Network Connections, and look for Prohibit use of Internet Connection Sharing on your DNS domain network or Remove the "Properties" option from the contextual menu. Both can lock network settings. If you're on Windows Home, that's not available—so the registry fix is your best bet.

Also, check for third-party software: I had a client whose McAfee antivirus was resetting his static IP every hour. Disable any network-security features in your antivirus and see if it holds.

If none of this works, your router might have DHCP reservation enabled, but that's a different problem. For now, the registry approach has a 90% success rate in my experience.