How to Turn On and Use Remote Desktop on Windows 11

Want to use your Windows 11 desktop in another room inside your home? Instead of walking there, you can remotely access it from your phone or tablet. But first, you need to enable Remote Desktop on your computer.

How Remote Desktop Works

You can use the Remote Desktop feature in Windows 11 to connect and access your computer using a remote access tool. After that, you can carry on simple tasks like checking downloads, app installations, or even copy files from your computer.

We recommend using the Remote Desktop only on your home network with the Network Level Authentication, which acts as a secure login layer at the network level. So you’ll need to use your Windows user account password to authenticate yourself on the network before you can access the remote computer.

Turn on Remote Desktop on Windows 11

To begin, click the “Start” button and select “Settings” from the pinned apps. Alternatively, press Windows+i on your keyboard to launch the Settings app quickly.

Choose “System” on the sidebar and select “Remote Desktop” from the right-hand side.

Toggle on the switch for “Remote Desktop.”

Select “Yes” on the User Account Control (UAC) prompt and click the “Confirm” button on the window that pops open.

Next, select the drop-down button next to the switch.

Check the box for “Require devices to use Network Level Authentication Connect (Recommended).” After enabling this option, you’ll need to add the Windows user account password of the remote PC to authenticate yourself on the local network. Only after successful authentication will you see the Windows login screen.

Select “Yes” on the UAC prompt and choose the “Confirm” button to enable that extra layer of security for using Remote Desktop.

Use the Remote Desktop App to Access Your PC

You can try any free remote access tools to use your PC remotely, but only a few have a mobile app. We’ll demonstrate how to access Remote Desktop using Microsoft’s Remote Desktop app available on Windows, macOS, Android, iPhone, and iPad.

Open the Remote Desktop app and tap the plus (+) icon in the top-right corner.

Then, type in your PC Name and Windows user account details. Next, you may toggle on other options like “Clipboard,” “Microphone,” “Storage,” and others.

Hit “Save” in the top-right corner to finalize all changes.

After this, tap on the card with your PC name to start a remote desktop session.

That it! Keep in mind that you should disable Remote Desktop if you don’t plan to use it for a while.

RELATED: 5 Free Remote Access Tools for Connecting to a PC or Mac