How to Remove Static IP Address on Windows 11 (DHCP Guide)

Typing "remove static IP Windows 11" into a search bar usually surfaces ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew. Those are real commands, but they won't touch an adapter carrying a manually typed address on their own: /renew only works on adapters already set to obtain an address automatically, so running it against a static configuration does nothing to that manual entry (Techdows, last week).

The actual fix is switching the adapter's IPv4 assignment from Manual to Automatic (DHCP) first. Everything else in this guide, including a lease refresh, happens after that switch, not instead of it.

This guide assumes a router or gateway provides DHCP, which is the typical setup at home. Work, school, or other managed networks sometimes assign addresses through a different policy, so check with whoever administers the network if this is a managed connection.

One caveat worth knowing before starting: some home routers can hand the same device a familiar-looking address on their own, tied to that device rather than to anything typed in Windows. If a PC "looks unchanged" after these steps, that's not automatically proof the fix failed. It's just a separate router-side behavior, and this guide doesn't cover configuring it.

Before changing anything

If the address was assigned for a reason, a printer, a home server, remote access, port forwarding, record the current values before touching any settings:

• Current IPv4 address
• Subnet mask
• Default gateway
• DNS server addresses

That way, if something needs to go back exactly as it was, the original numbers are already written down instead of guessed at afterward.

How to change a static IP to DHCP in Windows 11

The fix itself is one toggle: flip the adapter's IPv4 assignment from Manual back to Automatic. The most reliably documented path to that toggle is the Network Connections window, which Windows 11 still ships with underneath the newer Settings app.

1. Search "network connections" from the Windows search bar and open the top result.
2. Right-click the adapter carrying the static address, Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and choose Properties.
3. Select "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" and click Properties again.
4. Choose "Obtain an IP address automatically" and click OK.

That exact click path is confirmed for the IPv6 equivalent of this same fix. A documented walkthrough for adapters stuck without a valid configuration uses this same Network Connections window and the same Properties dialog, selecting "Obtain an IPv6 address automatically" to clear a manual IPv6 address (Kapil Arya, 2024). The IPv4 tab sits in the same dialog and works the same way, though that specific IPv4 sequence isn't separately documented in that source, so treat it as the logical mirror of a confirmed fix rather than a word-for-word match.

Windows Central's rundown of Windows 11 adapter settings uses this same Properties dialog to configure a new static IP address in the first place (Windows Central, 2021). That confirms it's the right window either way; whichever field was used to type in the static address is the one to switch back.

The Settings app alternative

Settings > Network & internet > [adapter] > Properties has an "IP assignment" control offering the same two options, Manual and Automatic (DHCP). A Windows 11 TCP/IP guide documents switching that control the opposite direction, from Automatic to Manual, to assign a static address in the first place (Windows Forum, last year). Reversing the same control removes the manual configuration.

Exact wording and navigation have shifted slightly across Windows 11 builds, so if a label doesn't match precisely, look for whatever control switched the adapter to Manual originally and flip it back.

Confirm the switch actually took effect

A static address can look just as ordinary as a DHCP-assigned one at a glance, so don't stop at eyeballing the number. Two separate questions matter here: whether DHCP is actually running the adapter, and whether the connection actually works. They aren't the same check.

Check DHCP status first. Open the Wi-Fi or Ethernet status window, select Details, and look for "DHCP Enabled: Yes" (Kapil Arya, 2024). If that field still reads No, the manual configuration wasn't fully removed, and the steps above need another pass on the correct adapter.

Then check connectivity separately. Open an administrator Command Prompt, run ipconfig /all, and look at the adapter's IPv4 Address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway lines (Techdows, last week). The address should sit inside the router's normal range, something like 192.0.2.25 in Techdows' own example, and shouldn't begin with 169.254, which signals the adapter did not receive a usable address from DHCP (Techdows, last week). A blank Default Gateway field means the process didn't finish (Techdows, last week).

None of that proves how the address was assigned, only that it currently works. Ping the gateway address afterward to confirm the PC can actually reach the router (Techdows, last week).

Force a fresh lease with ipconfig (optional)

Once the adapter is confirmed as Automatic, an administrator Command Prompt can force an immediate refresh instead of waiting for Windows to renew on its own. ipconfig /release sends a DHCPRELEASE message to the DHCP server and discards the current address, disabling TCP/IP on that adapter until it's renewed. ipconfig /renew then asks for a new address, subnet mask, gateway, and DNS servers (Techdows, last week).

Run the adapter-specific form rather than the bare commands, so other adapters aren't touched:

Running the commands with no adapter name resets every DHCP-enabled adapter at once, including a VPN or virtual adapter that didn't need touching (Techdows, last week). The two commands can also be chained with &&, so renew only fires if release completed successfully (Techdows, last week).

A renewed lease doesn't guarantee a different numeric address. Many routers hand the same device the same address it had before, so an identical-looking address afterward doesn't mean the process failed (Techdows, last week). The connection returns within seconds once renew succeeds (Techdows, last week).

One firm rule: never run /release over a Remote Desktop session. The session drops before /renew can run, and there's no way to send the follow-up command once the connection is gone (Techdows, last week).

VPN adapters get one specific mention. One Microsoft Q&A post describes a VPN adapter showing an unexpected address after switching from manual to automatic (Microsoft Q&A, last year). That's a single reported case, not evidence of a general pattern, but it's a reason to check the specific adapter name in ipconfig /all rather than assume every adapter reacts the same way.

If the connection doesn't come back

Work through these in order. Each one rules out a different failure point: the setting itself, the lease, or the path to the router.

Still configured manually. Recheck the adapter that was actually changed, not a different one. If DHCP Enabled still reads No, or the Settings adapter still shows Manual, repeat the steps above on the correct adapter.

Set to DHCP but no usable lease. If DHCP is confirmed enabled but the address still starts with 169.254 or the gateway field is empty, try disabling and re-enabling the adapter before jumping to anything more disruptive. A documented fix for adapters stuck without a valid IP configuration lists this as a lower-impact step: right-click the adapter in Network Connections, choose Disable, then Enable again (Kapil Arya, 2024). Returning the adapter to DHCP and checking whether the connection returns is also the first troubleshooting move in a broader Windows 11 TCP/IP guide (Windows Forum, last year).

Gets an address but can't reach anything. If the adapter shows a normal-looking address and gateway but the ping fails, or an expected new address never shows up, the issue likely sits upstream of Windows. Check the router's client list for anything tying this device to a fixed address, and on a work or school connection, ask whoever administers it whether addressing is centrally controlled. Neither of those means the Windows-side fix failed; they're separate settings worth ruling out first.

Only after those three checks, consider a full network reset. Settings > Network & internet > Advanced network settings > Network reset, followed by restarting the router, is one documented path for stubborn IP configuration errors (Kapil Arya, 2024). The same source lists netsh int ip reset and netsh winsock reset, run from an administrator Command Prompt and followed by a restart, as command-line alternatives. Both reset networking components broadly. They're not the normal way to change a static address to DHCP, so treat them as a last resort for a genuinely stuck configuration rather than a routine step.

What to do now

Check DHCP status first, then the address, gateway, and a gateway ping, in that order, before assuming anything is wrong. A familiar-looking address afterward isn't automatic proof the change failed; routers can behave that way on their own.

If predictable addressing still matters for whatever this address was doing, a printer, a server, remote access, look at the router's own settings before typing a manual entry back into Windows. Keep the values recorded earlier on hand until whatever replaces the static configuration is confirmed working.