Fix FWP_E_MATCH_TYPE_MISMATCH 0x80320026 in 3 Steps

30-Second Fix: Restart the Windows Firewall Service

This is the first thing to try. The error 0x80320026 usually pops up when you try to turn on Windows Firewall or run a network program. It says a filter condition has a match type that's not compatible. Most of the time, it's a temporary glitch from a recent software install — like a VPN client or an antivirus that didn't uninstall clean.

What to do:

1. Press Windows + R, type services.msc, hit Enter.
2. Find Windows Defender Firewall in the list. Look for it under the Name column — it's usually near the top.
3. Right-click it and select Restart.
4. Wait 5 seconds. Then close that window.
5. Try turning on Windows Firewall again or run whatever program gave you the error.

What should happen: The service restarts and reloads all firewall rules. If this was a temporary hiccup, the error goes away. You won't see it again until the next reboot or software install.

If that doesn't fix it, don't bother restarting the whole computer — that's just a waste of time here. Move to the next step.

5-Minute Fix: Reset Windows Firewall with netsh

This is the real fix for 90% of these errors. The command netsh advfirewall reset clears all custom firewall rules and resets the policy back to default. This wipes out the bad filter that's causing the mismatch. You'll lose any custom firewall rules you created yourself, but you won't lose any network settings or connections.

Here's the step-by-step:

1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator. Right-click the Start button and pick Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows Terminal (Admin). Click Yes on the UAC prompt.
2. Type this command and press Enter:
   

   netsh advfirewall reset

3. Wait for it to finish. You'll see a message that says Ok. That's it.
4. Close the command prompt.
5. Go to Control Panel > Windows Defender Firewall and turn it on if it's off. Or just try using your program again.

Expected outcome: The error 0x80320026 should be gone. Firewall will be back to its fresh-out-of-the-box state. If a third-party antivirus or VPN was the cause, this reset usually kills the bad filter permanently.

A real-world example: I saw this happen on a Windows 10 laptop after someone installed Norton Antivirus and then uninstalled it. The uninstall left a broken filter. The netsh reset cleared it right away.

If the error still shows up after the reset, your problem is likely deeper — a leftover driver or registry entry from old software.

15+ Minute Fix: Remove Stale Filters from the Registry

This is for the stubborn cases. Sometimes a third-party firewall or antivirus leaves behind a registry entry that keeps creating that bad filter. Even after a netsh reset, the filter comes back on reboot.

Before you start: back up the registry. I've seen people delete the wrong key and break their network entirely. Here's how to do this safely:

Step 1: Backup the registry

1. Press Windows + R, type regedit, press Enter.
2. In Registry Editor, click File > Export.
3. Choose All under Export range. Pick a location you'll remember, like your Desktop. Name it something like backup-2025-03-20.reg. Click Save.

Step 2: Find and delete the bad filter keys

Go to this path in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy

Look under FirewallRules and RestrictedServices — these are the two places where bad filters live. You're looking for any entry that mentions the name of an old antivirus, VPN, or firewall program you've removed. Like Norton, McAfee, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, that kind of thing. Delete those entries only. Right-click the entry and choose Delete.

Step 3: Clean up leftover drivers

Sometimes the registry isn't enough. Old firewall drivers can still be loaded even though the software is gone. Open Command Prompt as admin again, type:

fltmc instances

Look for any minifilter driver that looks like it belongs to an old security program — names like NIS, Symantec, McAfee, AVG, Avast. If you see one, note the name, then type:

fltmc unload <name-of-driver>

Replace <name-of-driver> with the actual driver name. This unloads it without a reboot.

Step 4: Reboot and test

Restart your computer. After it boots up, try turning on Windows Firewall or running the program that gave the error. The 0x80320026 should be gone for good.

What to expect: If you deleted the right keys and unloaded the driver, the filter won't come back. If the error does come back, you missed a driver. Go back to step 3 and check again.

If none of this works, your last option is a repair install of Windows 10 or 11. That re-installs the OS without losing your files, but it'll reset all firewall settings clean. That's not common — I've only needed it once in the last 5 years.