How to Access Remote Server Using IP Address RDP Windows 10/11
How to Access Remote Server Using IP Address RDP Windows 10/11.Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) has been an important part of the Windows operating system since Windows XP. Over the last few years, the ability to use computers remotely has become extremely important, not just for IT staff but for general employees too. The Covid-19 pandemic forced companies to change how they disperse their workforce. As such, many organizations in various industries have begun to adopt remote and hybrid work environments.
Consequently, remoting software has become an essential part of the business software stack. In most cases, you don’t even have to license third party remote desktop protocols or clients. The latest versions of Windows (10 and 11) feature built in remoting capabilities. You can take advantage of these features too. The following guide shows you how you to use RDP to access a remote server with nothing but an IP Address.
Well shall we start with article title How to Access Remote Server Using IP Address RDP Windows 10/11.
What is RDP?
Before you dive into learning how to access a remote server using your IP address through RDP, it’s important to understand what it is. Simply put, Remote desktop protocol (RDP) is Microsoft’s proprietary network communication protocol that allows you to access and control computers remotely through a graphical user interface or command line interface (CLI). Most major versions of Windows come with it either installed by default or as an installable feature.
There is seldom a need to access or use the protocol directly. Instead, you use to access it through what is known as a Remote Desktop Client. You can either download a third-party RDP client or use Microsoft’s proprietary client Remote Desktop Connection (RDC).
While every version of Windows connects to a Remote Desktop server, not every version of Windows allows you to run a Remote Desktop server. For instance, you can set up an RDP server for the Pro and Enterprise versions of Windows 10 and 11. Additionally, the latest versions of Windows Server (post 2008) such as Windows Server 2016,2019, and 2022 all feature RDP capabilities. Albeit, before you attempt to access server through an IP address, you must ensure that an RDP server is both installed and enabled. The next section of the guide shows you how to do this.
How to Setup a Remote Desktop Server on Windows 10 and 11
Before you verify or enable the RDP capabilities on your server, you must ensure that its running a compatible operating system first. Therefore, you must first ascertain that the machine is running the Pro or Enterprise edition of your Windows 10/11.
How To Check Windows 10 Edition for RDP Server Compatibility
You can check verify this for Windows 10 by doing the following:
- Right click on the Start Menu icon and select System from the list of options. It should launch the Settings/System screen on the About page.
- Next, scroll down until you reach the Windows Specifications. Your computer’s Windows edition is displayed on the first item on the list (Edition).
Once again, if you’re running a copy of Windows 10 Home, you won’t be able to set up a Windows RDP server on your computer. However, you will be able to use the RDC client to connect to a remote RDP server.
How to Check Windows 11 Edition for RDP Server Compatibility
- Open The Windows Run dialog (WinKey + R).
- Type winver into the Open text field and hit the Enter key.
This will open an uneditable screen containing the version information of your operating system.
Well, if the sentence under the copyright information begins with: The Windows 11 Pro operating system then you are running Windows 11 pro.
Also, Microsoft allows you to upgrade from Windows Home to Pro for both Windows 10 and 11. Of course, this comes at a fee.
How to Enable an RDP Server on Windows 10
Once you’ve ensured that you have the correct edition of Windows, you set up an RDP server for Windows 10 by performing the following steps:
- Click on the Start Menu.
- Next, select the Settings (⚙) item from the list.
- Scroll down the left panel until you encounter an item labelled Remote Desktop.
- Turn the switch marked Enable Remote Desktop to the on position.
How to Enable RDP Server for Windows 11
Whenever you enable RDP capabilities for Windows 11 are similar to Windows 10. Albeit, you can enable RDP for Windows 11 by using the following instructions:
- Right click on the Start Menu icon and select Settings from the menu.
- Next, select System from the left panel.
- Scroll down the main panel until you find the Remote Desktop.
- Next, click on the Remote Desktop.
- Toggle the Remote Desktop switch into the on position.
- Finally, confirm and then close the window.
Since you’ve followed the above steps, you should be able to use RDC from a compatible Windows computer to connect to the RDP server. Whilst, you employ identical steps to ensure that the RDP is server is running for your post 2008 Windows Server. With that being said, you now access the sever or computer using the PC name or IP address. Again, this guide primarily focuses on accessing the remote server using through the latter. But what if you don’t have the server’s IP address and how do you find it? The next section answers this question.
How to Find a PC’s IP Address
Specifically, IP addresses are used to identify computers and other devices on local and wide area networks. Every single computer connected to a network (such as the internet) has an IP address. Incidentally, there are a few ways you find your server’s IP address. The easiest is by using your internet connected network device.
Using a Network Device to Find Your IP Address
- Click on your primary internet connection from the quick launch menu. The icon reflects your primary network connection. In some cases, it may be a Wi-Fi symbol, in others, it may be an ethernet one.
- Click on Properties option located underneath the connection you’re using to connect to the internet. This opens the Settings screen.
- Scroll down through the main panel until you find the Properties.
- Your machine’s IP address will be located next to the IPv4 property. Make a note of it and close the window.
While the above steps were originally performed on Windows 10, they are adapted for Windows 11. The process is largely the same. Notwithstanding, there is an alternative method to obtaining your IP address that’s nearly independent of the Windows version you’re using. This includes the latest versions of Windows Server.
Using Command Prompt to Find a Server's IP Address
The following method uses Command Prompt to reveal your IP address. Run this from the server you want to connect to.
- Open the Windows Run dialog (WinKey + R).
- Type CMD into the open text field and hit your keyboard’s Enter. This runs the terminal on your computer.
- Type ipconfig /all into the command line interface and hit the Enter
This should produce a long list of details (depending on the list of devices on your PC). Once again, the machines IP address will be denoted by the IPv4 tag. Thus, you notice that there are several IPv4 addresses from different network devices. Use the IPv4 address from the device you use to connect to the internet or your local area network. In this case, it’s the wireless LAN adapter.
Once you’ve acquired the IP address for the server, you can use it to log into your server remotely with RDP.
Get Servers IP Address using Ping Command
Another command to get a servers IP address is to use Ping. Lets say for example your server is called ‘Server01’ and you want to get the IP address using the Ping command, we would run the following command from your CMD command prompt:
ping server01
If the server is reachable from your PC you should see a reply with the IP address of your server.
Using an IP Address to Log on a Server Through RDP
- Open the Windows Run Dialog (WinKey + R).
Next step is to type mstsc into the Run Dialog open text field and hit Enter. This opens the Remote Desktop Connection Dialog. Additionally, you run this command from Command Prompt or PowerShell. Microsoft provides users with a helpful mstsc guide for users who want to learn more about what flags and parameters are used with the command.
- Click on Show Options.
- Enter the IP Address into the Computer Name text field.
- Next, enter the username credentials you have been authorized to use to log into the computer.
- You can choose to check the Allow me to save credentials.
- Go through each tab and configure each option to suite your requirements.
- Click on the Connect button.
Surely, if you’ve followed the steps correctly, the Remote Desktop Connection app brings up a window that gives you a view into the RDP servers desktop. You can then control it from here.
Thank you for reading How to Access Remote Server Using IP Address RDP Windows 10/11. We shall conclude this article now.
How to Access Remote Server Using IP Address RDP Windows 10/11Conclusion
Summing up, how to Access Remote Server Using IP Address using RDP on Windows 10 / 11 – If you find that you’ve somehow removed or RDP from your computer or it has been corrupted, you can use Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Assistant to connect to that computer. Unfortunately, Microsoft does not allow you to directly download and install RDP anymore.
However, if you’re authorized to do, you should be able to repair your Windows installation using the official Windows setup files. This fixes any issues with the Operating System and restores any lost packages. Additionally, if you find that you don’t have the default Windows Remote Desktop Connection application, you can download a more updated version from the Microsoft Store.
Nevertheless, the above guide covers what the RDP and how you can use it along with an IP address to connect to a remote server. It also covers how to find the IP address of a computer. We hope that you’ve found this guide to be useful. If you have any comments or corrections, please leave them below. As always, thank you for reading.
To read more of our RDP and RDS content please navigate to this section of our blog.
