How to Enable Telnet Server on Windows 10

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Telnet is a classic remote access protocol that has been around since the early days of computing. Although it's not as widely used today due to security concerns, there are still situations where having telnet enabled can be handy.

In this article, we'll walk you through enabling Telnet Server on Windows 10 step-by-step using both PowerShell and traditional Control Panel methods.

### Using PowerShell

1. Open a PowerShell console with administrative privileges.

2. Type the following command to enable Telnet: `Set-NetFirewallRule -Name 'Telnet (local)' -Enabled True`

3. Press Enter to execute the command.

Alternatively, you can also use the following shorter version:

```powershell

Enable-WindowsFeature-TelnetClient,TelnetServer-All

```

### Using Control Panel

1. Open the Start menu and search for 'Control Panel'.

2. Click on 'System & Security' from the results.

3. In the left-hand side navigation, click on 'Windows Firewall with Advanced Security'.

4. Double-click on either 'Inbound Rules' or 'Outbound Rules', depending on whether you want to allow incoming connections.

5. In the new window, click on 'New Rule'.

6. Select 'Rule Type:': Choose 'Allow local traffic\Local ports' from the drop-down menu and then press Next>.

7. Under 'Specify Local Ports:', enter 80 or a range of port numbers that you want to allow Telnet connections on (default is port 22 for SSH, so change this if needed). Then click Finish.

### Enabling Telnet Server via Group Policy

If you're working in an Active Directory environment with multiple Windows machines and need to enable TelNet across all client computers using a single policy update:

1. Open the Local Computer or Domain Controller computer's Control Panel.

2. Click on 'Group Policy' (or 'Local Group Policy' if not part of a domain).

3. In the left-hand side tree, navigate to: `Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Networking > TelnetClient`

4. Double-click on 'Enable telnet service'.

5. Select Enable from the drop-down menu and click OK.

After making these changes, restart your Windows 10 machine(s) for them to take effect immediately.

Troubleshooting Tips

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- If you're still unable to connect via TelNet after enabling it using one of the methods above:

- Ensure that the telnet client is installed on both machines.

- Check if any firewalls or network devices are blocking port 22 (Telnet's default port).

- Verify that your Windows edition supports TelNet Server.

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That concludes our step-by-step guide to enabling TelNet Server on Windows 10 using PowerShell and the Control Panel. Remember that while telnet can be useful in certain situations, it's generally recommended to use more secure alternatives like SSH or Remote Desktop whenever possible due to its inherent security risks.

Enable telnet server windows 10