How to Install Telnet to Remove ‘not recognized’ Error on Windows

How to fix the telnet not recognized error when you execute on a Windows desktop and server?

Telnet is one of the popular commands to check network connectivity, and for some reason, the higher Windows OS version doesn’t have it installed by default. That results in showing an error when you run telnet on the command prompt.

C:\Users>telnet
'telnet' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\Users>

It’s easy to fix.

You have to install telnet to get this working.

Installing Telnet on Windows 10 & 11

#1. Using Control Panel

Open the Control Panel from the taskbar search.

Click Programs.

Enter into Turn Windows features on or off.

Scroll down to check Telnet Client, and click OK at the bottom.

#2. Using Command Prompt

Type “cmd” in the taskbar search and open Command Prompt as an administrator.

Paste dism /online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:TelnetClient, and press enter.

Likewise, you can use dism /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:TelnetClient to disable telnet.

#3. Using Powershell

Type “powershell” in the taskbar search and open it as an administrator.

Paste Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName TelnetClient and press enter.

This will give a success message shortly. To undo, paste Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName TelnetClient and press enter.

Installing Telnet on Server

If you are running the server edition, then you can install it by following the steps.

• Go to start and launch for “Server Manager.”
• It will open a server manager dashboard where you have to click on

• It will prompt “Add Roles and Features Wizard.”

• Let the default settings be there and click Next on Before You Begin, Installation Type, Server Selection, Server Roles
• On Features selection, select “Telnet Client” and Next

• Click on Install on the Confirmation window to begin the installation

It will take a few seconds, and you will get a confirmation of installation success.

• Click close and launch Command Prompt to rerun the telnet.

There you go, have fun!

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