Quickstart

Connect to a remote Windows desktop in minutes using xfreerdp or sdl-freerdp.

Prerequisites

• FreeRDP installed on your system. If you haven’t installed it yet, see the Installation guide.
• A Windows machine (or any host running an RDP server such as xrdp or gnome-remote-desktop) with Remote Desktop enabled.
• The hostname or IP address, a username, and password for the remote machine.

Connect with xfreerdp

1. Open a terminal

   Open a terminal on your Linux or macOS machine.

2. Run xfreerdp with your connection details

   Replace hostname, username, and password with your actual values:

   xfreerdp /v:hostname /u:username /p:password
   

   A window will open showing the remote desktop. If the server presents an unknown certificate, xfreerdp will prompt you to accept or reject it.

3. Accept the server certificate (first connection)

   On your first connection to a host, xfreerdp displays a certificate fingerprint and asks whether to trust it:

   Do you trust the above certificate? (Y/T/N)
   

   • Enter Y to trust and remember the certificate permanently.
   • Enter T to trust it for this session only.
   • Enter N to abort the connection.

   Only use /cert:ignore in trusted lab or test environments. Skipping certificate verification exposes your session to man-in-the-middle attacks.

Common connection flags

Flag	Description
/v:host[:port]	Server hostname or IP, with optional port (default: 3389)
/u:username	Username
/p:password	Password
/w:width	Window width in pixels
/h:height	Window height in pixels
/f	Start in fullscreen mode
/cert:ignore	Skip certificate verification
/sound	Enable audio output redirection
/drive:name,/local/path	Redirect a local directory to the remote session
+clipboard	Enable clipboard redirection

Example: set resolution and enable clipboard

xfreerdp /v:192.168.1.100 /u:JohnDoe /p:Pwd123! /w:1366 /h:768 +clipboard

Example: fullscreen with audio

xfreerdp /v:rdp.contoso.com /u:JohnDoe /p:Pwd123! /f /sound

Example: redirect a local drive

xfreerdp /v:192.168.1.100 /u:JohnDoe /p:Pwd123! /drive:home,/home/user

Example: connect on a non-default port

xfreerdp /v:192.168.1.100:4489 /u:JohnDoe /p:Pwd123! /w:1366 /h:768

Example: domain user

xfreerdp /v:rdp.contoso.com /u:CONTOSO\\JohnDoe /p:Pwd123!

Example: use a saved .rdp file

xfreerdp connection.rdp /p:Pwd123! /f

xfreerdp keyboard shortcuts

Once connected, the following keyboard shortcuts are available inside the xfreerdp window:

Shortcut	Action
Right Ctrl	Release keyboard and mouse grab
Ctrl+Alt+Return	Toggle fullscreen
Ctrl+Alt+M	Minimize the window
Ctrl+Alt+C	Toggle remote control in a remote assistance session

xfreerdp vs sdl-freerdp

FreeRDP ships two graphical clients. Both accept the same command-line flags.

xfreerdp

xfreerdp is the X11 client. It runs on any Linux desktop that provides an X display (including XWayland). It is the most widely used FreeRDP client and is available in most Linux distribution package repositories.

xfreerdp /v:hostname /u:username /p:password

sdl-freerdp

sdl-freerdp is built on SDL2 or SDL3. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows without depending on X11, making it the preferred choice on macOS or on Wayland systems without XWayland.

SDL2

sdl2-freerdp /v:hostname /u:username /p:password

The installed binary name depends on which SDL version was used when FreeRDP was compiled. Package managers typically install one version. Check with which sdl2-freerdp or which sdl3-freerdp.

Next steps

Installation

Install pre-built packages for Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS.

Building from source

Compile FreeRDP yourself with custom options.