I keep a heavily tuned Windows 11 install, yet a fair amount of what Windows can do sits switched off. Microsoft leaves a whole set of components uninstalled until you ask for them, which I think is the right call. My complete Windows 11 tweaking guide covers what to change on a PC you already use. This one covers what to add, and when to take it back off again.
OpenSSH Server turns your PC into something you can log into
The OpenSSH client has shipped with Windows for years, so most of us already have half of this. The server half is the part you install, and it changes what the PC is. Instead of a box that only connects out, it becomes one that other devices connect into. I switch it on to reach my desktop from a laptop in another room, or to copy a folder across with scp.
Windows keeps its spare components on three separate pages: Optional features, Virtual Workspaces, and Windows Features dialog, and this one sits on the first. Open Settings, go to System > Optional features, and click View features. Then click See available features and type ssh into the search box, tick OpenSSH Server, click Next, then click Add. In an administrator terminal, Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0 does the same in one line.
Installing it doesn't start it, though, and that catches plenty of first attempts. Run Start-Service sshd to bring the service up, then add Set-Service -Name sshd -StartupType Automatic if you want it back after every reboot. Windows normally creates the inbound firewall rule for port 22 during setup, so check Windows Defender Firewall if you get a connection refused.
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I leave the startup type on Manual because an SSH server listening all day on a laptop that joins hotel Wi-Fi is exposure I don't need. When the job is done, the same Optional features page has an Uninstall button. Your host keys stay behind in %ProgramData%\ssh until you delete that folder.
Hyper-V gives you a real virtual machine without paying for one
Hyper-V is Microsoft's own hypervisor, and it does what VirtualBox and VMware Workstation do. You get full virtual machines that keep their state, boot again tomorrow, and take snapshots you can roll back to. I keep a Windows VM for installers I would rather not run on my desktop, and a Linux VM for tools that never got a Windows build. It needs Pro plus virtualization enabled in firmware, so if you're a Home user, you won't see it.
You can find it in Virtual Workspaces. Open Settings, go to System > Advanced, and open Virtual Workspaces, which Microsoft added in the December 2025 update. Switch on Hyper-V Hypervisor and Hyper-V Services under the Hyper-V group for the engine itself, add Hyper-V GUI Management Tools for Hyper-V Manager, then click Restart now. The same page carries Windows Sandbox, a disposable Windows desktop that most people never switch on, which throws everything away the moment you close it. From an administrator terminal, Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All switches the whole set on.
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If you need to enable virtualization in the firmware first, note what that screen looked like beforehand.
Frequently Asked Questions
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How do I enable OpenSSH Server in Windows 11 and make sure sshd starts automatically after a reboot?
Does Hyper-V work on Windows 11 Home, or do you need Pro and virtualization enabled in firmware first?
Which Hyper-V components should I turn on if I only want the VM engine and Hyper-V Manager?
How does enabling Hyper-V affect third-party virtualization software and games with kernel-level anti-cheat?
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Enabling Hyper-V also changes how Windows runs, since the hypervisor loads underneath it. Some third-party virtualization software and a few games with kernel-level anti-cheat behave differently once that happens, so I turn it off again afterward. Create a restore point before you remove it, then flip the toggles back to Off.
.NET Framework 3.5 is the box old software makes you tick
This is not a component you go looking for. Old software finds it for you. Programs built against .NET 2.0 through 3.5 will not run on the newer .NET that Windows carries, so Windows offers to fetch the older runtime when one of them launches. I have run into it with an aging CAD utility and a couple of game mod tools nobody has touched in years.
Letting Windows handle that prompt is easiest. If you would rather do it yourself, this one sits on the old Windows Features dialog. Press optionalfeatures, and press DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx3 /All does the same from an administrator terminal, and either way the PC must be online.
One version note before you go hunting for that checkbox. Starting with Windows 11 26H1, build 28000, .NET Framework 3.5 stopped being an optional Windows component altogether, so the checkbox is gone, and a standalone installer built for that release takes its place. Since 26H1 only ships preinstalled on select new hardware, 24H2 and 25H2 keep the checkbox where it always was.
Support ends in January 2029, so I treat it as a bridge, not a permanent fixture. Before unticking it, make sure nothing you run still depends on it.
Telnet Client still answers a question nothing else does
Telnet has a poor reputation and deserves most of it. The protocol sends everything in plain text; it has no business logging into anything in 2026, and Windows leaves it uninstalled for that reason.
Even so, I switch it on a few times a year, because it does one small thing well. Test-NetConnection -ComputerName example.com -Port 25 already tells you whether a port is open, and nine times out of ten that settles it. When it does not, Telnet opens a raw connection and shows you what the service sends back, such as a mail server's greeting or a switch's plain-text console. That is the difference between knowing a port is open and knowing the thing behind it is the thing you expected.
It sits in the same Windows Features dialog as the .NET runtime. Press optionalfeatures, press telnet with a host and port. From an administrator terminal, dism /online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:TelnetClient installs it instead.
Then take it straight back out by unticking that box or swapping Enable-Feature for Disable-Feature. I borrow this one for an hour rather than own it, because a plain-text client sitting installed on a PC that needs it twice a year is a door left open for no reason.
Check what is already switched on before you add anything
Open all three pages and read what is enabled today. Most PCs carry a component or two that somebody turned on years ago and never removed, and each one is a surface nobody is using. After that, pairing OpenSSH with key-based sign-in is the sensible follow-up, along with rewriting any old scripts that still call WMIC, which Windows has already taken away.
