In the Remote Desktop Users window, press Add and search for the user account. To allow additional users to connect, press Select users that can remotely access this PC.

By default, the Microsoft account you use to sign in will be the account you use to connect to your PC remotely.

The slider will turn blue when Remote Desktop has been enabled.

Press the Enable Remote Desktop slider to move it to the On position.

From here, press System > Remote Desktop. To do this, click the Start button, then press the Settings icon. Thankfully, configuring Windows to enable Remote Desktop is a fairly straightforward process.

To use RDP to connect to another Windows PC or server, you’ll first need to enable it on the remote server or PC. How to enable Remote Desktop connections on Windows This also offers increased security, replacing the need for an internal virtual private network (VPN). If you want to establish RDP connections to a secure enterprise network from a remote location, you’ll also need the Remote Desktop Gateway service installed and configured on a suitable Windows Server installation. To connect multiple users at once, you’ll need a Windows server with the Remote Desktop Services (RDS) component installed and enabled. You can only establish a single connection to Windows PCs that have remote desktop enabled. Not all versions of Windows do-Windows 10 Home, for instance, can only be used as a client to connect to other Windows Remote Desktops, not the other way around. RDP is a Windows-only protocol, and you can only establish remote connections using RDP with Windows PCs and Windows Server installations that support it. Microsoft offers its own client for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, with various third-party options available for Linux and other platforms.

The client is a PC or mobile device with an RDP client app installed, from which you control the server. A typical RDP server is the Windows PC or server you’re connecting to and will control. Key peripherals like your keyboard and mouse are shared with the remote machine, allowing you to use and control it as if you were sat right in front of it.įor RDP connections to work, you need two components-an RDP server and an RDP client. The Remote Desktop Protocol allows remote users to see and use Windows on a device in another location. This proprietary protocol rivals the open-source Virtual Network Computing ( VNC) protocol commonly used on Linux and other platforms. This is made possible by Microsoft’s own Remote Desktop Protocol (or RDP for short).Īll Windows PCs and servers can use RDP to connect to another Windows device, but only certain versions of Windows allow RDP connections. The Windows Remote Desktop Connection tool gives users the ability to connect to a remote Windows PC or server over the internet or on a local network, giving them full access to the tools and software installed on it.

How to access rdp in mac