Remote Desktop Raspberry Pi: Connecting from a Windows PC

If you’d rather not permanently attach a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to a Raspberry Pi, setting up Remote Desktop access from a Windows machine lets you manage it headlessly over the network instead.

Step 1: Install XRDP on the Raspberry Pi

Open a terminal on the Pi (directly, or via SSH) and run:

sudo apt-get -y install xrdp

Step 2: Install Samba for hostname resolution

This lets you connect using the Pi’s hostname instead of having to look up and type its IP address every time:

sudo apt-get -y install samba

Once both are installed, your Raspberry Pi is ready to accept incoming Remote Desktop connections.

Step 3: Connect from Windows

1. Open the Remote Desktop Connection app on your Windows machine.
2. In the Computer field, enter your Raspberry Pi’s IP address or hostname.
3. Click Connect.
4. When prompted, enter the login credentials for your Raspberry Pi.

A note on credentials: older Raspberry Pi OS images shipped with a default account (username pi, password raspberry), but for security reasons current Raspberry Pi OS no longer ships with this default — you set your own username and password during first-boot setup via Raspberry Pi Imager. Use whatever credentials you configured at that stage, not the old default, unless you’re working with a legacy image that predates this change.

Troubleshooting

• Confirm the Raspberry Pi and your Windows machine are on the same network — Remote Desktop won’t traverse most home router NAT without additional port forwarding, which isn’t recommended for security reasons on a home network.
• Double-check the IP address or hostname you’re connecting to — a DHCP lease renewal can silently change the Pi’s IP address between sessions if you haven’t set a static IP or DHCP reservation.
• Make sure you’re using your current password, not any default that may have shipped with an older image.

Resources

• remote desktop
• Browse our Raspberry Pi Projects picks on Amazon