Last Updated on May 25, 2026
Ever since Windows 11 came out, many people have been complaining about how it’s not as customizable as Windows 10 and can be a bit buggy depending on what version you are using. So there has been a shift to people switching to Linux rather than running Windows on their PCs. If you are one of these people yet still have Windows computers on your network, you may have the need to connect to them remotely so you can take control of them.
Or you may be in a situation where you need to provide technical support for other users who are running Windows. If that is the case, you are in luck because it is possible to make a remote desktop connection to Windows from a Linux PC with some free software.
The app we will be using to make our remote desktop connection to Windows is called Remmina Remote Desktop Client and can be downloaded from their website here. There will be instructions for the various versions of Linux so you should be able to find the instructions that apply to you.
Once you install Remmina and run the app, you will be able to add your remote desktop connection as well as VNC and SSH connections if you are not able to use the Windows Remote Desktop service on the destination computer.
Configuring the Remmina Remote Desktop Client
1. Launch the Remmina Application
The image below shows the Remmina Remote Desktop Client app with a saved VNC connection to a Windows 11 Home computer. We will be clicking on the + button to configure a Remote Desktop (RDP) connection to a Windows 11 Professional computer. Windows Home edition does not support RDP connections so you would need to setup a VNC server on the Windows PC and then create a VNC connection in Remmina to connect to it.
Create a New RDP Profile
To make our new RDP connection, we just need to give it a name and enter the server information. This target data can be the specific hostname or local IP address of the Windows computer. Then we can enter the exact name and password for the Windows account if we do not want to type it in each time we connect.
3. Enter Your Windows Credentials
Even though we are using the credentials for a Microsoft account, we only need to type in the username rather than the Microsoft account email address. If you do not know your username, you can open a command prompt and type whoami to be shown this name immediately. The password will be the exact same one used with the Microsoft account. There are other options you can configure here if needed but we will be sticking with the basics just to get the connection configured.
Enabling Remote Desktop on the Windows Host
1. Open the System Settings
You must prepare the target machine to accept incoming network requests. On the Windows computer, we will need to go to the Remote Desktop settings under System. Make sure that the primary toggle switch is fully enabled.
2. Verify Authorized Users
Next, we will click on Remote Desktop users. We must make sure that the account we want to connect with is actually present in the authorized list. By default, all users that are part of the local Administrators group can connect to the computer remotely without manual additions.
Launching and Managing the RDP Session
1. Initiate the Connection
Once we have the connection configured properly in Linux, we can execute the launch command. We can simply double click on it directly from our list to make the connection. Remmina handles the network handshake and authentication silently in the background.
2. Control the Remote Windows Desktop
As you can see in the image below, we can now see the Windows 11 desktop and use the computer as if we were sitting at the console itself. At the left of the console window, you will have various options to do things. You can make the window full screen, duplicate the connection, grab keyboard events and capture screenshots.
1. Bypass DNS Resolution Failures
You might face a situation where you are unable to connect to the remote Windows computer by its hostname. If you do not have any way to use DNS to resolve hostnames to IP addresses, you can fix this locally. You can either use its direct IP address or manually edit the hosts file on the Linux computer.
2. Edit the Linux Hosts File
To do so, you can open a new terminal session on the Linux PC and type the following command. You will need a valid admin password to execute this step successfully. Type sudo nano /etc/hosts and press Enter to launch the text editor.
3. Add the Target IP and Hostname
Then add your entry at the bottom of the document in this exact format. Type the IP address followed by a space and then the machine name, like 192.168.231.130 win11-pro. Then you can save the file by typing Ctrl + O, and then Ctrl + X to exit the nano editor.
4. Understand Network Limitations
One thing to be aware of is that Remmina is used for local area connections for computers on the same network. If you want to use it over the internet, you will need to configure some type of VPN. You must establish a dedicated secure connection to the destination router where the remote computer resides.
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