Your Home Edition of Windows 11 (10) Does Not Support Remote Desktop: What to Do?

Your Home edition of Windows 11/10 doesn't support Remote Desktop

Remote Desktop (RDP), a useful app in Windows, allows you to connect to a Windows computer using a Remote Desktop client. It's well-known that you need to enable Remote Desktop on the host computer before you remote into it.

However, on Windows 11 Home computer, you'll see the warning - Your Home edition of Windows 11 doesn't support Remote Desktop after you go to "Settings" > "System Remote Dekstop".

And you can get a similar prompt on Windows 10 Home - Your Home edition of Windows 10 doesn't support Remote Desktop. 

Isn't Remote Desktop built with Windows computers? You may feel confused. Actually, Remote Desktop is available only on advanced editions of Windows, like Windows 10 Enterprise, Windows 11 Professional, etc. Windows 11/10/8.1/8 /7 Home and Windows 7 Standard can't support it.  Then, how can you enable remote desktop on Windows 11/Home and then access the computer remotely?

Enable Remote Desktop by upgrading Windows 11/10 Home edition to Pro

You can enable Remote Desktop on your computer after upgrading to the Professional edition. Here are the detailed steps. 

Step 1. On Windows 11/10 Home,  click "Start" > "Settings "> "Update & Security" > "Activation". 

Step 2. Under "Upgrade your edition of Windows", click "Go to the Store".

Note: If you already have purchased a Windows 11/10 product key, just click "Change product key" input the 25-character Windows 11/10 Pro product key and click "Next" to continue.

Step 3. Signed in with your own Microsoft account and purchase Windows 11 or Windows 10 Pro.

Step 4. Confirm your purchase, install Windows 11/10 Pro, and restart your computer. After that, you'll find that your Windows Home edition has been upgraded to Professional and you can enable Remote Desktop.

Switch to a free Windows Remote Desktop alternative for Windows 11/10 Home

It's expensive to upgrade to Professional from Windows 11/10 Home for enabling Remote Desktop. Here you can use a free alternative to Windows Remote Desktop, AnyViewer. It can work with all editions (Standard, Home, Professional, etc.) of Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 and Windows Server 2022/2019/2012 R2. Download it right now!

Note: To control Windows 10 Home from iPhone/iPad or Android, download AnyViewer for mobile devices.

Step 1. Install and launch AnyViewer on Windows 11/10 Home computer and the other computer. Create an AnyViewer account and sign in to the same account on the two computers.

Step 2. On the local computer, click "Device" and you can see all computers that have logged into this account. Find out the Windows 11/10 Home computer that you want to control, click it and click "One-click control".

Then you will take control of the remote Windows 11/10 Home computer and take operations as if you were sitting in front of it. 

If you just need to access the remote Windows 11/10 Home computer for offering one-time remote support, there is no need to log into the same account on the remote computer, you can click "Connect" and send remote control request.  

FAQs

Q: Does Windows 11/10 Home edition have Remote Desktop?

A: Windows 11 Home or Windows 10 Home doesn't have Remote Desktop.

Q: Do both computers need Windows 11/10 Pro for Remote Desktop?

A: Only the host computer needs Windows 11/10 Pro. The client computer can run Windows Home edition.

Q: Why is Remote Desktop not working Windows 10/11?

A: The reasons can be various, including inappropriate Windows setup on the host computer, poor network, and so on. To fix Remote Desktop not working, refer to [Fixed] Windows 11 RDP not Working.