Frequently asked questions.

mobaXterm combines an enhanced Windows terminal with SSH, an X11 server, an SFTP browser, RDP, XDMCP and a network toolbox in one portable application — free for personal use. It takes the place of separate utilities such as PuTTY, WinSCP and Xming, while the Professional Edition unlocks unlimited sessions and enterprise features.

You'll need 64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11. The base installation takes roughly 200 MB of disk space, plus extra room for any packages you install via the bundled MobApt package manager. The portable edition needs no administrator rights.

Most people should choose the installer: it registers file associations and turns on automatic updates. If you need to run from any folder — even a USB stick — without touching the registry, the portable build is the better fit, especially in locked-down corporate environments.

This can happen with fresh releases while our code-signing reputation catches up. Every build we ship is digitally signed — check the signature yourself under the file's Properties → Digital Signatures tab. Still uncertain? Reach out to support.

Simply install the new version over the existing one — sessions, settings and saved passwords all carry over. Professional Edition includes an in-app updater that checks weekly, while Home Edition users grab updates from the Downloads page whenever they like.

Right-click any folder in the session tree, choose New Session → SSH, then enter the host, port, username and, if you use one, a private key. The session appears under that folder in the tree — double-click it whenever you want to connect.

Absolutely. Both OpenSSH keys (id_rsa, id_ed25519) and PuTTY .ppk files are supported — either point a session directly at the key file or load it into the built-in SSH agent and share it across sessions.

Save the gateway as its own session, then pick it from the SSH gateway dropdown on your target session — tunnelling happens automatically from there. Multiple gateways can be chained when you need nested bastion setups.

Open Tools → SSH Tunnels → New, choose local, remote or dynamic (SOCKS), and enter the source and target. A tunnel can be bound to a session so it opens and closes together with it, or left to run on its own.

No. The X11 server is part of mobaXterm and launches by itself whenever an SSH session has X11 forwarding enabled — nothing needs configuring on the Windows side.

Just connect via SSH — X11 forwarding is enabled by default — and run the graphical command you need, like xclock, gedit or code. Its window appears on your Windows desktop as though the app were installed locally.

Yes. Set up an XDMCP session aimed at the remote desktop manager, and the complete Linux desktop opens in its own tab, right beside your SSH terminals.

RDP sessions share the same window as your SSH and SFTP tabs. Store them in the session tree like anything else and open with a double-click; options such as resolution, drive redirection and full-screen mode live in each session's settings panel.

It shows up on its own in the side pane each time you connect to an SSH host. If you prefer, you can also launch SFTP as a standalone session for any host you hold credentials for.

Yes, in both directions: drop a file from Explorer into the SFTP pane to upload it, or drag a remote file onto your desktop to download it. Transfers continue in the background, and the status bar shows the queue.

In the SFTP browser, right-click the file and choose Open with embedded editor — your changes save back to the host automatically. Prefer another editor? That works too: the file is re-uploaded every time you save.

Big files travel over chunked SFTP and resume automatically after a disconnect. For multi-gigabyte jobs, SCP and rsync are also bundled — you'll find both in the same context menu.

Head to Settings → Terminal → Theme. Several built-in themes come with the app, and you can paste in any 16-color scheme — Solarized, Gruvbox, Dracula and the like — as JSON.

Choose Macros → Start recording, type the keystrokes, then hit Stop. Give the macro a name and either bind it to a keyboard shortcut or fire it from the macro panel — you can even have it run automatically when a session connects, which is handy for setup commands.

It colors log lines, code and config snippets in real time as they stream through the terminal. Common formats such as JSON, YAML, Apache/Nginx logs and Python tracebacks work out of the box, and you can extend it with custom patterns.

It produces a tailored build for your team — your theme, your logo, preloaded default sessions, gated features and pre-configured tools. Support organizations find it especially handy when every engineer should begin from the same workspace.

The Home Edition costs nothing and is meant for personal, non-commercial use. Professional includes a commercial license, the Customizer, unlimited saved sessions and priority support — sold as a one-time per-user purchase rather than a subscription.

No. Its license covers personal use only, so any work-related connection requires a Professional license. That purchase includes a year of updates, and whatever version you own keeps working indefinitely.

Send us a note through the contact form with "Sales" chosen, or write to [email protected]. Volume pricing starts at 5 seats, and we can invoice annually or against a purchase order.

Home Edition users can turn to the community forum and this FAQ. Professional customers get priority email support at [email protected], with replies inside one business day — often sooner.