Want to use the telnet client in your Windows 10 machine? Follow these steps to turn on the telnet client in Windows.
The telnet client is disabled by default in modern Windows operating system. That is one of the reasons why you will not see a trace of it in Windows 10. One of the main reasons for this is that the Telnet protocol is outdated and vulnerable to several exploits and attacks. This is especially true when you compare it to modern protocols and purpose built applications.
In case you don’t know, Telnet protocol dates back to the early 70s and is used to connect to remote computers on a local network or on the internet. While the telnet served its purpose pretty good when the internet is in its early stage, it became apparent that it can no longer keep up with modern features and security requirements. As a result, it was deprecated and disabled in all modern Windows versions.
The good thing is, Windows is very good at backward compatibility. That means, if you ever need to use the telnet client to connect to a remote computer, you can do that. All you have to do is turn on telnet in Windows 10.
In this quick and simple guide, let me show you the steps to turn on telnet in Windows 10.
Turn on telnet in Windows 10
To turn on telnet in Windows 10, you can have to install the telnet client feature. Once installed, you can use telnet protocol in Windows 10. Here’s how you can do it.
- Open the Start menu.
- Search and open “Turn Windows features on or off.”
- Scroll all the way down.
- Select the “Telnet client” checkbox.
- Click on the “Ok” button.
- Windows will auto-install the telnet client.
- Restart Windows 10.
The first thing we need to do is open the Windows Feature tool. This is where you can enable the telnet feature. To do that, open the Start menu, search for “Turn Windows features on or off” and click the top search result. Alternatively, open the Settings app and go to the “Apps -> Apps & features -> Optional features” page.
In the Windows Features page, scroll all the way down. Next, find the “Telnet” option, select its checkbox, and click on the “Ok” button. If you are in the Settings app, click on the Telnet option and then click on the Install button.
As soon as you click the button, Windows will install the telnet client. If it needs any additional files, it will automatically download them and proceed with the installtion. Once the installation is done, click on the “Finish” button to close the window.
Finally, restart Windows 10. This makes sure that all components are installed and enabled properly. After restarting, you can search for “Telnet” in the Start menu and start using it.
Important note: As I said earlier, telnet is outdated and no longer secure. Unless it is absolutely necessary, I don’t recommend you DON’T enable telnet. If you have already enabled telnet and not using it, I recommend disabling it completely. You can do that by unchecking the “Telnet” checkbox in “Windows Features”.
That is all. It is that simple to turn on telnet in Windows 10. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible. If you like this article, check out How to See Network Data Usage in Windows 10 (Monitor Bandwidth)
