How to Enable Port Forwarding on Your Router for Remote Desktop

You may need to forward ports in your router when you use Remote Desktop. A port forward allows incoming connection requests from the internet to go straight to Remote Desktop.

Routers are not designed to allow incoming network requests. A port forward can overcome this limitation.

Warning: When you forward Remote Desktop to your computer, you are creating an extreme vulnerability risk. Make sure that you have a strong password set on your Windows login and also make sure that all updates are installed. You will also have to open a port in your Windows firewall in order to connect.

To open a port in your Windows firewall, first, hit the Windows key and type "allow". Next, click on "Allow an app through Windows Firewall". The screenshot below shows you what this step looks like in Windows 10.

Next, you will need to scroll through the list of apps and find Remote Desktop. Check the box next to Remote Desktop to enable it through your firewall.

Before forwarding a port make sure that you know these things:

• Your router's IP address.
• Your computer's internal IP address.
• A list of TCP and UDP ports that need to be forwarded.

Use a VPN Instead

Have you considered using a VPN instead of forwarding a port? For most users, a VPN is a much simpler and more secure choice than forwarding a port.

We use and recommend NordVPN because not only is it the fastest VPN, it includes a new feature called Meshnet that makes forwarding a port no longer necessary for most applications. With NordVPN Meshnet, you can connect to your devices from anywhere in the world, completely secure, over a highly encrypted VPN tunnel.

When shopping for a VPN, make sure that they meet the following criteria:

• Your VPN provider should have a no-logs policy. This means that they do not keep any logs of any kind.
• Make sure that your VPN provider has lots of exit nodes all around the world.
• Check that your VPN will not affect your speed.
• Verify that your VPN provider uses WireGuard as the underlying protocol.
• Many people prefer a VPN provider that is not based in the United States.

This is the list of requirements that we used when we were shopping around for a VPN provider. There are lots of free, shady VPN providers out there that we looked at and dismissed.

Based in Panama, using diskless servers, and with over 6,100 servers in 61 countries, we can safely say that NordVPN satisfies all of these requirements.

Once you've set up your NordVPN account on multiple computers and enabled Meshnet, you can seamlessly access all of your devices as if they were on the same network. You don't even have to log in to your router. It's very simple.

Every time you click on one of our affiliate links, such as NordVPN, we get a little kickback for introducing you to the service. Think of us as your VPN wingman.

We have free Router Detector software to help you find your router's IP address. The software is part of our Network Utilities suite of tools and it is completely free to use.

If you do not want to run the software, you can follow our Find Your Router IP Address guide.

We have Network Utilities software that can forward ports for you. With Network Utilities, you can easily forward ports and also un-forward ports quickly so that you can keep your network up to date with the ports that you need forwarded and maximize your network security.

You can also choose to set up port forwards manually. The way to forward a port is:

• Log in to your router.
• Look for the port forwarding section in your router.
• Type your computer's IP address into the correct box in your router.
• Put the TCP and UDP ports for Remote Desktop in the corresponding boxes in your router.

Some routers need to be rebooted in order for the changes to be saved.

You can choose your router from our list to see exactly how to forward ports for Remote Desktop:

List of Routers - Customized for Remote Desktop

The ports that need to be forwarded for Remote Desktop are listed here:

Remote Desktop - PC

• TCP: 3389
• UDP: 3389

Those are the steps for forwarding ports in your router for Remote Desktop.

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