How to Use the Telnet Client in Windows

Telnet connects your computer to a remote computer

Telnet is a network protocol that provides a command-line interface to communicate with a device. Telnet is used most often for remote management but also sometimes for the initial setup for some devices, especially network hardware such as switches and access points. Telnet is also used to manage files on a website.

How Does Telnet Work?

Telnet originally was used on terminals. These computers require only a keyboard because everything on the screen displays as text. The terminal provides a way to remotely log on to another device, just as if you were sitting in front of it and using it like any other computer.

Nowadays, Telnet can be used from a virtual terminal, or a terminal emulator, which is essentially a modern computer that communicates with the same Telnet protocol. One example of this is the telnet command, available from the Command Prompt in Windows. The telnet command uses the Telnet protocol to communicate with a remote device or system.

Telnet commands can also be executed on other operating systems such as Linux and macOS, in the same way that telnet commands are executed in Windows.

Telnet isn’t the same as other TCP/IP protocols such as HTTP, which transfers files to and from a server. Instead, the Telnet protocol has you log on to a server as if you were an actual user, then grants you direct control and all the same rights to files and applications as the user that you’re logged in as.

Although not the same as Telnet, if you’re looking for a way to communicate with another computer remotely, see this list of free remote access programs.

How to Use Windows Telnet

Although Telnet isn’t a secure way to communicate with another device, there are a reason or two to use it, but you can’t just open up a Command Prompt window and expect to start executing telnet commands.

Telnet Client, the command-line tool that executes telnet commands in Windows, works in every version of Windows, but, depending on which version of Windows you’re using, you may have to enable it first.

Enable the Telnet Client in Windows

In Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista, turn on the Telnet Client in Windows Features in Control Panel before any telnet commands can be executed.

Telnet Client is already installed and ready to use out of the box in both Windows XP and Windows 98.

Open Control Panel by searching for control panel in the Start menu. Or, open the Run dialog box via WIN+R and then enter control.

Select Programs. If you don’t see that because you’re viewing the Control Panel applet icons, choose Programs and Features instead, and then skip to Step 4.

Select Programs and Features.

Select Turn Windows features on or off from the left pane.

Select the check box next to Telnet Client.

Select OK to enable Telnet.

When you see the Windows completed the requested changes message, you can close any open dialog boxes.

Execute Telnet Commands in Windows

Telnet commands are easy to execute. After opening Command Prompt, enter the word telnet. The result is a line that says Microsoft Telnet>, which is where Telnet commands are entered.

If you don’t plan to follow the first telnet command with additional commands, type telnet followed by any telnet command, such as the ones shown in the examples below.

To connect to a Telnet server, enter a command that follows this syntax:

telnet hostname port

For example, entering telnet textmmode.com 23 connects to textmmode.com on port 23 using Telnet.

The last portion of the command is used for the Telnet port number but is only necessary to specify if it’s not the default port of 23. For example, telnet textmmode.com 23 is the same as running the command telnet textmmode.com, but not the same as telnet textmmode.com 95, which connects to the same server but on port 95.

Microsoft keeps this list of telnet commands if you’d like to learn more about how to do things like open and close a Telnet connection, display the Telnet Client settings, and more.

Telnet Games & Additional Information

There are a number of Command Prompt tricks you can perform using Telnet. Some of them are in text form, but you may have fun with them.

Check the weather at Weather Underground with this Telnet command:

Use Telnet to talk to an artificially intelligent psychotherapist named Eliza. After connecting to Telehack with the command below, enter eliza when asked to choose one of the listed commands.

Watch an ASCII version of the full Star Wars Episode IV movie by entering this in Command Prompt:

Beyond the fun things that can be done in Telnet are a number of Bulletin Board Systems. A BBS provides a way to message other users, view news, share files, and more. Telnet BBS Guide lists hundreds of servers that you can connect to using Telnet.

Using telnet to Test Open Ports

When it comes to checking if a network port is opened or closed on a remote computer, there’s no easier way than to use Telnet. Ports that are left open for no reason are a security risk that can be exploited by malicious programs and viruses. At the same time, if a legitimate software communicates through a certain port, having that port closed will make the program throw errors and malfunction.

Many people find the challenge of checking if a port is opened to be too complex. However, one of the most efficient ways is to use the network protocol Telnet. Telnet allows the user to test individual ports and see whether they are open or not. In this article we’ll break down how Telnet can be used to check ports on Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, 2012 and 2008.

What is Telnet?

In a nutshell, Telnet is a computer protocol that was built for interacting with remote computers.

The word “Telnet” also refers to the command-line utility “telnet”, available under Windows OS and Unix-like systems, including Mac, Linux, and others. We will use the term “Telnet” mostly in the context of the telnet client software.

Telnet utility allows users to test connectivity to remote machines and issue commands through the use of a keyboard. Though most users opt to work with graphical interfaces, Telnet is one of the simplest ways to check connectivity on certain ports.

Enabling telnet client in Microsoft Windows operating systems

One of the most important things to remember is that Telnet is disabled by default in Window’s settings, so you need to turn it on before you can do anything. Turning it on will help you to run the required diagnostics and check if a port is open. If you try to use telnet without turning it on first, you’ll receive a message like:

‘telnet’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or C:\>

In order to turn Telnet on, you need to use the command line or the graphical interface of your computer.

Enabling telnet client through Command Prompt:

If you want to enable Telnet via the command line, open the Command Prompt with elevated privileges (“as Administrator”) and run the following command:

Dism /Online /Enable-feature /FeatureName:TelnetClient

After you’ve put this in, Telnet will be ready to use to check your ports.

Alternatively to Command Prompt, you can use the following PowerShell command to achieve the same result:

Install-WindowsFeature -name Telnet-Client

If you want to use the graphical user interface you need to:

Windows 7, 8. 10:

Open Windows Start menu > Type «Control Panel» > Press Enter > “Programs” > «Programs and Features» > Turn Windows features on or off > Select «Telnet Client» > Press “OK»

Windows Server 2008:

Open “Server Manager” > Features > click “Add Features” > enable “Telnet Client” checkbox > click “Next” > click “Install” > when the feature installation finishes, click “Close”

Windows Server 2012, 2016:

Open “Server Manager” > “Add roles and features” > click “Next” until reaching the “Features” step > tick “Telnet Client” > click “Install” > when the feature installation finishes, click “Close”.

Using Telnet to Test Open Ports

One of the biggest perks of Telnet is with a simple command you can test whether a port is open. Issuing the Telnet command telnet [domainname or ip] [port] will allow you to test connectivity to a remote host on the given port.

Issue the following command in the Command Prompt:

telnet [domain name or ip] [port]

Put the IP address or domain name of the server you’re trying to connect to in place of [domain name or ip], and replace the second brackets with the port number on the remote machine, connection to which you want to test.

For example, to verify connection to 192.168.0.10 on port 25, issue the command:

telnet 192.168.0.10 25

If the connection succeeds, a blank screen will show up, meaning that the computer port is open.

A failed connection will be accompanied by an error message. It can indicate either a closed port or the fact that the indicated remote server is not listening on the provided port.

Example

telnet rpc.acronis.com 443

How to Check if a Port is Open on Mac

High Sierra users: Apple removed telnet client from macOS 10.13 High Sierra. There is no official way to return it, but you can still copy it from an older OS or compile from sources and use on High Sierra. See more details here and here.

Just like on Windows, telnet can be accessed through Terminal, the command prompt on macOS. To open telnet, click “Go” > “Utilities” > «Terminal», then run the following command (the numbers are example IP address and port):
telnet [domainname or ip] [port], e.g.>telnet 192.168.1.1 443

When a computer port is open a blank screen will show up, meaning that the connection has been successful. An unsuccessful connection will be accompanied by an error message.

An alternative to telnet in checking ports is Network Utility. In order to check ports on a Mac, follow the plan below:

Open «Network Utility» > Click «Port Scan» > Indicate the hostname and ports to scan the remote host e.g. myserver.com from 995 to 995 > Check the output

Acting on the results obtained from the Telnet test

Many times when you try to use Telnet, you may find that your own network is blocking your connection. It’s quite common for users to be running a firewall, which blocks connection, outbound ports. A basic way to test whether your firewall is interrupting your Telnet is to disable your firewall and run a Telnet test.

If you want to check for closed ports on your router, enter your router management console. Open a web browser and enter the IP address or name of the router, for example “192.168.0.10”. If the page does not open, try replacing “http” with “https” at the beginning of the address.

Next, enter your username and password, and click “Enter” or “Log in”. Head to the Security section to open or close ports and access other firewall settings of the router.

If you need to make resources in the internal network accessible from the outside, enter “External access”/”Port forwarding” section. Consult the router manufacturer’s documentation for the detailed instructions.

Related Acronis resources

Read further on what ports are used in Acronis software and how to open them:

A summary page about the network ports used in Acronis software

Instructions for using Acronis software with Microsoft Azure (the required ports part).

Troubleshooting instructions: what you need to do to proper configure the network environment and in which order

List of ports used in Acronis Cyber Backup Cloud, Acronis Backup Service, Acronis Backup 12, Acronis Backup 12.5

List of ports used in Acronis Backup 11.7 and earlier versions, and Acronis True Image

Alternative to Telnet, a specialized tool for testing ports for Acronis Cyber Backup Cloud, Acronis Backup 12 и Acronis Backup 12.5

Alternative to Telnet, a specialized tool for testing ports for Acronis Backup 11.7 and earlier versions, and Acronis True Image