The Windows File Explorer has been included and shipped with every generation of the Windows Operating System and has gone through a lot of changes. The File Explorer that comes in with Windows 11/10 is not just to browse the local hard drive partitions. It can be used to browse files and folders in a local or even a remote network. This makes is one of the most important components for Windows for regular as well as power users.
Can’t see other computers on network
Unfortunately, some users tend to report that File Explorer gets some issues while connecting to other devices on the Local Network. This is due to the fact that, the Windows Service that supports this feature gets issues in triggering up. The name of this service is fdPHost and is called as Function Discovery Provider Host. It is not to be confused with a similar service called as Function Discovery Provider which has similar functionality.
About this service, Microsoft describes it as,
The FDPHOST service hosts the Function Discovery (FD) network discovery providers. These FD providers supply network discovery services for the Simple Services Discovery Protocol (SSDP) and Web Services – Discovery (WS-D) protocol. Stopping or disabling the FDPHOST service will disable network discovery for these protocols when using FD. When this service is unavailable, network services using FD and relying on these discovery protocols will be unable to find network devices or resources.
Explorer cannot connect to other devices on the local network
First of all, you need to local this service in the pool of services.
Hit the WINKEY + R button combination or search for Services in the Cortana search box. This will launch the Services window.
Now locate the service named Function Discovery Provider Host.
Right-click on it and click on Properties.
If the service is already running, stop it.
Then change the Startup Type to Automatic (Delayed Start) and then Start the service.
Click on Apply and then click on OK to save the changes.
Reboot the computer for the changes to take an effect.
Now check if your issue is solved.
