Summary

This article shows you how to use the built-in Remote Desktop Connection tool on Windows to connect to another computer remotely. This is commonly used to access your work desktop from home, connect to a shared workstation, or access a server that IT has granted you permission to use. No additional software is required — Remote Desktop is built into Windows.

Before You Start

• A Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer to connect from (the "client"). Connecting from a Mac instead? The client and the setup are different — see How to Use Windows Remote Desktop on a Mac.
• The remote computer must have Remote Desktop enabled by IT (this is an admin-level setting on the target machine).
• The computer name or IP address of the remote computer (ask IT if you do not know it — see How to Find Your Computer Name and IP Address).
• Valid login credentials for the remote computer (your work username and password, or a specific account provided by IT).
• A network connection to the remote computer — typically requires being on the same network (office LAN) or connected via VPN for remote access from home.

Instructions

1. Open Remote Desktop Connection

Windows includes the client already, under a name that is hard to find by browsing.

1. Click Start and type Remote Desktop Connection.
2. Click the Remote Desktop Connection app that appears in the results.
3. Alternatively, press Win + R, type mstsc, and press Enter.

2. Connect to the Remote Computer

You need the machine's name or IP address and an account that is allowed to sign in to it.

1. In the Computer field, type the computer name or IP address of the remote machine.
   • Example computer name: DESKTOP-4F7K2R1 or workstation-12.company.local
   • Example IP address: 192.168.1.100
2. Click Connect.
3. A login prompt appears. Enter your username and password.
   • If you are connecting to a domain-joined computer, use the format: DOMAIN\username (e.g., COMPANY\jsmith).
   • If prompted with a certificate warning ("The identity of the remote computer cannot be verified"), click Yes to proceed — this is normal for internal connections.
4. The remote desktop opens in a window on your screen. You are now controlling the remote computer.

3. Adjust Display Settings Before Connecting

You can configure the remote session to better fit your screen and workflow.

1. In the Remote Desktop Connection window, click Show Options (bottom left).
2. Click the Display tab:
   • Display configuration — Drag the slider to set the resolution. Drag it all the way to the right for Full Screen.
   • Use all my monitors — Check this box if you have multiple monitors and want the remote session to span all of them.
3. Click the Local Resources tab to configure:
   • Remote audio — Choose whether to play sound on your local computer or the remote one.
   • Keyboard — Choose where special key combinations (like Alt + Tab) are applied — on the local or remote computer.
   • Local devices and resources — Check Printers to use your local printer from the remote session. Check Clipboard to copy and paste between your local and remote computers.
4. Click Connect to start the session with your configured settings.

Tip: To save these settings for future use, click General > Save As and save the .rdp file to your Desktop. Double-click it next time to connect with the same settings automatically.

4. Work Inside the Remote Desktop Session

Once connected, you are interacting with the remote computer as if you were sitting in front of it.

• Full screen mode — The remote desktop fills your entire screen. A thin blue connection bar appears at the top with the computer name and window controls.
• Minimize the session — Click the minimize button on the blue connection bar to switch back to your local desktop.
• Switch between local and remote — Use the blue connection bar at the top, or press Ctrl + Alt + Break to toggle between full screen and windowed mode.
• Copy and paste — If you enabled clipboard sharing (Step 3), you can copy text and files between your local and remote computers using standard Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V.

5. Disconnect vs. Sign Out

Choosing the wrong one either loses your work or leaves a session running for days.

There is an important difference between disconnecting and signing out:

Action	What Happens
Disconnect (close the RDP window or click X on the connection bar)	Your remote session stays active in the background. Programs keep running. You can reconnect later and pick up where you left off.
Sign Out (click Start > Sign out on the remote computer)	Your session ends completely. All programs close. The remote computer returns to the login screen.

• Disconnect when you plan to reconnect soon and want to keep your work open.
• Sign out when you are done for the day or want to free up the remote machine for others.

DANGER

If the remote computer is shared with other users, always sign out when you are finished. Disconnected sessions consume resources on the remote machine and may prevent others from connecting.

6. Use Windows App (Microsoft's Current Client)

Microsoft's current client for remote connections is called Windows App, and it runs on Windows as well as several other platforms.

Windows App connects to Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365 Cloud PCs, Microsoft Dev Box, Remote Desktop Services, and remote PCs. Beyond Windows it runs on macOS, iOS and iPadOS, Android and Chrome OS, in a web browser, and on the Meta Quest headset. Signing in needs a work or school account — a personal Microsoft account will not work — though connecting to a remote PC does not require signing in at all.

WARNING

For reaching a remote PC from Windows, which is what this guide covers, Microsoft's advice is to stay with Remote Desktop Connection — the app that comes with Windows and that steps 1 to 5 above use. Remote PC connections in Windows App are still in preview on Windows, and Remote Desktop Connection is the generally available route.

The older Remote Desktop app from the Microsoft Store has been retired. Microsoft removed it from the Store on 27 May 2025 and ended support for it in September 2025, so it can no longer be downloaded or installed. If it is still on your machine it will not turn into Windows App on its own — Windows App has to be installed separately, and both can sit on the same computer while you get used to the new one.

To install Windows App:

1. Open the Microsoft Store and search for Windows App.
2. Install it, then open it.
3. Windows App offers a short tour the first time you open it. Take it or skip it.
4. To remove the old app, right-click the Remote Desktop icon and select Uninstall. If IT installed it for you, you may not have the rights to remove it — give them your computer name and ask them to replace it with Windows App.

There is also a standalone .msix installer for Windows App if your organisation prefers not to use the Store.

Troubleshooting

TIP

The most common reason users cannot connect via Remote Desktop is that they are not on the right network. If you are working from home, you almost always need to connect to your company's VPN first before Remote Desktop will work.

Symptom / Error	Potential Cause	Solution
"Remote Desktop can't connect to the remote computer"	One message, three causes: remote access off, PC off, or PC unreachable	Windows does not say which. Rule them out in order using the sections below.
The name is not found, or the connection times out	Typo in the computer name, or name lookup failing	Retype it character by character, then try the IP address instead. See The Remote PC Cannot Be Found.
Nothing responds and the PC is at the office	The PC is asleep or shut down	A sleeping PC is unreachable. See The Remote PC Is Asleep or Powered Off.
"Remote access to the server is not enabled"	Remote Desktop switched off, or your account not permitted	Both are administrator settings on the target machine. See "Remote Access to the Server Is Not Enabled".
"Your credentials did not work"	Username format, not the password	Try username, then DOMAIN\username, then [email protected]. See Your Credentials Are Rejected.
Works at the office, fails from home	VPN not connected, or connected after Remote Desktop	Connect the VPN first, then open Remote Desktop. See It Works at the Office but Not from Home.
Certificate warning ("identity cannot be verified")	Self-signed certificate on the remote machine	Normal on an internal PC. Check the name in the warning matches the PC you meant before clicking Yes. See The Certificate Warning Before the Session Opens.
Black screen after connecting	Session rendering issue or locked remote session	Wait 30 seconds. Press Ctrl + Alt + End. If it persists, disconnect and reconnect.
Session disconnects frequently	Unstable network or VPN connection	Check Wi-Fi stability. Reconnect to VPN. Reduce display resolution in RDP settings.
Cannot copy/paste between computers	Clipboard sharing not enabled	Disconnect, open RDP settings > Local Resources > check Clipboard, and reconnect.
"Another user is currently logged on"	Someone else has an active session on the remote PC	Ask the other user to sign out — most work PCs allow one session at a time. If you cannot reach them, send IT: "Please sign out the active session on DESKTOP-4F7K2R1 so I can connect."
The PC will not accept any connection	Windows Home edition cannot host a remote session	Windows Home works as the computer you connect from, but cannot be connected to — that needs Pro, Enterprise, or Education. Check the edition at Settings > System > About, then send IT: "DESKTOP-4F7K2R1 runs Windows Home and cannot host Remote Desktop. Can it be upgraded to Pro, or is there another way in?"

The sections below take the failures one at a time, in the order worth ruling them out.

The Remote PC Cannot Be Found

The connection fails immediately, before any password prompt, or it sits on Initiating remote connection and gives up.

1. Retype the computer name character by character. There is no autocorrect behind the Computer box, and DESKTOP-4F7K2R1 fails exactly the same way as DESKTOP-4F7KZR1.
2. Try the IP address instead of the name. If the IP connects and the name does not, the fault is name lookup on your network rather than anything wrong with the PC — worth telling IT, because it usually means you are on the wrong network or the VPN is not passing internal name lookups. See How to Find Your Computer Name and IP Address.
3. If the address you were given ends in a colon and a number, such as pc.company.local:3389, type the whole thing including the number. Dropping it produces a connection that times out with no explanation at all.
4. Confirm you are on a network that can reach the machine before you blame the address — from home, that means the VPN.

The Remote PC Is Asleep or Powered Off

Microsoft's own prerequisite list starts here: the remote PC has to be powered on and connected to the network. As far as Remote Desktop is concerned a sleeping PC is a switched-off PC, and nothing you change on your own computer will wake it.

1. If a colleague sits at that machine, ask them to leave it powered on and signed out rather than shut down at the end of the day.
2. If it is your own desk PC and you know you will work from home, leave it on when you leave. Signing out is fine; shutting down is not.
3. If it puts itself to sleep overnight, its power settings need changing on the machine itself, and on a managed work PC that is an administrator change. Ask for it in the same ticket as everything else — see "What to send IT" below.

"Remote Access to the Server Is Not Enabled"

This is the first of the three reasons Windows lists in the can't-connect dialog, and it is the one you cannot fix from your own desk. Two separate settings live on the target machine: Remote Desktop has to be switched on, and your account has to be in the list of users allowed to connect. Microsoft lists both as prerequisites. Turning the feature on does not, by itself, let you in.

Check one thing before you raise a ticket. Windows Home editions cannot host a Remote Desktop connection at all — they work perfectly as the computer you connect from, but no setting makes one accept an incoming session. To see which edition a PC runs, open Settings > System > About and read the Edition line. Pro, Enterprise, and Education can host; Home cannot.

Everything else in this section is a ticket, and the wording is below.

Your Credentials Are Rejected

The message reads Your credentials did not work, and the password is one you know is right because it opened your email five minutes ago.

Almost always this is the format of the username rather than the password. Microsoft's clients accept three forms, and the error message never tells you which one your company expects. Try them in this order:

1. username on its own — this works for a local account on that PC.
2. DOMAIN\username, for example COMPANY\jsmith. This is the form most work PCs expect, and the backslash key sits above Enter.
3. [email protected] — your full work email address.

If all three are refused:

• Check Caps Lock and your keyboard layout. A password typed on the wrong layout looks identical on screen.
• If your password changed recently, a saved sign-in on your own machine may still be offering the old one. Open Credential Manager from the Start menu, click Windows Credentials, find the entry beginning TERMSRV/ followed by the computer name, and click Remove. Removing it is safe — it is a saved copy of your sign-in, not your password, and Remote Desktop asks you for the credentials again the next time you connect.
• If you have never successfully connected to this PC, being allowed to connect is a permission somebody grants. That is the ticket below, not a password problem.

It Works at the Office but Not from Home

This is an ordering problem rather than a Remote Desktop problem. Your work PC lives on the office network; at home you are not on that network, so the address never resolves and the connection never reaches the machine. Microsoft's answer for reaching a PC from outside its own network is a VPN.

1. Connect your company VPN first, and wait until it reports that it is connected.
2. Then open Remote Desktop Connection. Starting it before the VPN is up produces the same "can't connect" error as a mistyped computer name, which is why this one gets misdiagnosed so often.
3. If the session dies the moment the VPN reconnects, the VPN is the thing to fix. See How to Troubleshoot VPN Connection Issues (User-Level Steps).
4. If your company does not use a VPN, ask IT how they expect you to reach the PC from outside the office. Some publish it through a Remote Desktop Gateway or a portal, and the answer changes what you type into the Computer box.

The Certificate Warning Before the Session Opens

The dialog says the identity of the remote computer cannot be verified, and asks whether you want to connect anyway. Read it before you click through it.

It means your computer could not trace the remote PC's certificate back to an authority it trusts. On an internal company machine that is normal and expected — the certificate was generated by the PC itself rather than issued by a certificate authority, so there is nothing for your computer to check it against. Microsoft lists the other routine causes as the name you typed not matching the name on the certificate, and the clocks on the two computers disagreeing.

1. Check that the computer name shown in the warning is the machine you meant to connect to. That comparison is the entire security value of the dialog.
2. If it matches, click Yes and carry on.
3. If your own clock is wrong, fix that first. Open Settings > Time & language > Date & time and turn Set time automatically on. A clock that is days out makes every certificate look invalid.
4. If the name is one you do not recognise, or this warning has appeared on a connection that never showed it before, stop and do not tick Don't ask me again for connections to this computer. Send IT the exact name shown on the certificate and ask them to confirm it before you connect again.

Connected but the Screen Is Black

The session opens, the blue connection bar appears, and the desktop never draws.

1. Wait 15–30 seconds. A session that is loading a profile or a slow application can take that long to render.
2. Press Ctrl + Alt + End — the remote equivalent of Ctrl + Alt + Delete — and select Task Manager to see whether the session is responsive behind the black screen.
3. Disconnect and reconnect. Nothing is lost by doing this: disconnecting leaves your programs running, as covered in step 5.

The Session Drops Every Few Minutes

1. Check the stability of your own internet connection first. See How to Troubleshoot Slow Internet or Network Performance (User-Level Steps).
2. If you are on a VPN, the VPN is the usual culprit — the remote session cannot outlive the tunnel it travels through. See How to Troubleshoot VPN Connection Issues (User-Level Steps).
3. Reduce the display resolution in the Remote Desktop settings (step 3). A smaller screen sends less data and survives a weaker connection.

What to Send IT

Three of the branches above end at a switch only an administrator can throw. One message covers all of them — replace the example computer name with your own:

"I cannot connect to DESKTOP-4F7K2R1 with Remote Desktop. Please confirm three things: that this is the correct computer name, that Remote Desktop is enabled on that machine and my account is in its Remote Desktop Users list, and whether I need the VPN connected first when I am working from home."

Asking for all three at once is deliberate. They are three separate settings, an administrator checks all three in the same two minutes, and asking one at a time turns a five-minute job into three days of replies.

Related Articles

• How to Use Windows Remote Desktop on a Mac
• How to Find Your Computer Name and IP Address
• How to Troubleshoot VPN Connection Issues (User-Level Steps)
• How to Lock Your Computer Quickly on Windows
• How to Troubleshoot Slow Internet or Network Performance (User-Level Steps)
• How to Use Virtual Desktops on Windows

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