On Windows 11, I usually have to enable the “Remote Desktop” feature to use the RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) to connect to other computers in the network or offer assistance without being physically present at the site using the modern “Remote Desktop” or legacy “Remote Desktop Connection” app.
If you must connect to a device remotely, Windows 11 includes multiple ways to configure the feature using the Settings app, Control Panel, Command Prompt, and PowerShell commands.
In this guide, I will teach you how to enable the feature to remotely manage other computers on Windows 11.
Important: This feature is not available on Windows 11 Home. It is only available on Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise. If you have the “Home” edition of Windows 11, you can use the Chrome Remote Desktop as an alternative.
To enable Remote Desktop on Windows 11 from the Settings app, use these steps:
- Open Settings on Windows 11.
- Click on System.
- Click the Remote Desktop page.
- Turn on the Remote Desktop toggle switch.
- Click the Confirm button.
Once you complete the steps, you can connect to your computer using the modern Remote Desktop app (recommended).
The system will grant the current user permission to access the computer remotely. If you want to grant access to another user, click the “Remote Desktop users” setting on the page, click the “Add” button, and specify the user.
The Remote Desktop feature uses the “Network Level Authentication” option to make the connection more secure. Also, the settings page displays the current “Remote Desktop” port in case you need to configure a router to allow remote connections outside the network. The port number should always be 3389 if nothing changes on your device.
This video outlines the different ways to enable the feature on your computer.
Enable Remote Desktop from Control Panel
To turn on the Remote Desktop with the Control Panel, use these steps:
- Open Control Panel.
- Click on System and Security.
- Under the “System” section, click the “Allow remote access” option.
- Under the “Remote Desktop” section, select the “Allow remote connections to this computer” option.
- Click the Apply button.
- Click the OK button.
After you complete the steps, you can use one of the available clients from another computer to connect to your device remotely.
When you enable the feature using the Control Panel, the option to require “Network Level Authentication” also gets selected by default, which is an option you want to allow anyway.
Enable Remote Desktop from Command Prompt
To enable the remote desktop protocol with Command Prompt on Windows 11, use these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
- Type the following command to enable the remote desktop protocol and press Enter:
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlTerminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
- (Optional) Type the following command to enable remote desktop through the Windows Firewall and press Enter:
netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="remote desktop" new enable=Yes
Once you complete the steps, the features will be enabled, and the firewall will be configured, allowing you to access the computer remotely.
Enable Remote Desktop from PowerShell
To turn on the Remote Desktop feature with PowerShell commands on Windows 11, use these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
- Type the following command to enable the remote desktop protocol and press Enter:
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:SystemCurrentControlSetControlTerminal Server' -name "fDenyTSConnections" -value 0
- (Optional) Type the following command to turn on the remote desktop feature through the Windows Firewall and press Enter:
Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "Remote Desktop"
After completing the steps, you can use the Remote Desktop app on Windows 11 to access the device remotely, even when the firewall is enabled.
Connect to a remote computer on Windows 11
Regardless of the method you choose, you can use the Remote Desktop app to access the computer without being physically present at the location, and here’s how:
- Open Start.
- Search for Remote Desktop and click the top result to open the app.
- Click the Add button from the top-right corner and choose the PCs option.
- Confirm the computer or IP address (recommended).
Quick note: You can find the remote computer’s name on Settings > System > About and the IP address on Settings > Network & internet > Ethernet. If you have Wi-Fi, choose the connection and access the network properties to find the IP address.
- Click the Plus button under the “User account” setting.
- Confirm the remote computer’s user account credentials.
- Click the Save button.
- (Optional) Confirm a nickname for the connection.
- Click the Show more setting.
- Turn on the “Connect to admin session” toggle switch.
- Click the Save button.
- Click on the computer to establish a remote desktop connection.
Once you complete the steps, the remote desktop connection will be established.
If you cannot connect to the computer after entering the correct username and password, your Windows 11 account is configured with a Microsoft account. In this case, you can use two workarounds. you can switch to a local account and back to a Microsoft account. Or you can create a new local account on the remote computer you can use to authenticate using the Remote Desktop app.
If you must connect to a device from the internet, you have to set a static IP address and then configure port forwarding on the router to establish the connection. Also, in the computer’s name, you will have to specify the remote network’s public IP address instead of the computer’s address or name.