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How to Make Remote Desktop Work on Windows 10 Home

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Configure your Windows PC for remote access using Microsoft Remote Desktop assistant RRS feed

  • General discussion

    • Edited by Derrick Isoka (MSFT) Tuesday, December 15, 2015 8:31 PM
    • Edited by Haley Rowland [MSFT] Microsoft employee Wednesday, September 28, 2016 4:02 PM URL changed, small edits

All replies

  • I can only get this to work on my wireless network, not from outside the house. Is this intended or an issue?

  • The computer I wish to Remote Access is at my office. When I'm at the office on WiFi I am able to access my workstation fine however outside the network I am unable to do so. I tried TeamViewer and am able to access the workstation from home just fine however my trial subscription has expired and I'd rather use the built in free Remote Access rather than purchase a subscription to TeamViewer. Any suggestions as to how I can access the computer outside the my office network?

  • Your pc in the office is probably behind a router or firewall. You will need to open a connection from the internet through the router port forwarding, to your pc for the rdp (default port 3389) port in use. For security reasons this may not be a very good idea, as it leaves your office pc open for attacks from the internet. If you decide to do it, do not use the default rdp port! TeamViewer works in another way, where both parties connects out through the router to a server, which then establishes the interconnection between the two.

  • Which port number must be open for incoming requests through a firewall - I mean: on the machine, which should be remote controlled?

  • Port for RDP(Remote Desktop Protocol) is always 3389

  • There is a lot of confusion in this thread about what this app does. To be honest, it's totally worthless. This is not a free LogMeIn or TeamViewer type of app from MSFT. This does not allow you to connect to a remote PC just by installing this, all it does is configure the PC to ALLOW remote access connections, something that can be easily done without an app.

    If you are on the same local network - such as at your house or office, of course you can connect to your computers with no problem. If you are remote, on a different network than the computer you want to connect to, this app does nothing to help you do that. You will either need an app like LogMeIn that acts as an intermediary beween the two computers, or do a lot of legwork to set this up.

    For example, if you are at the office, and want to connect to your computer at home, you will need to know the IP address of your router. More than likely, this is dynamic for home users, meaning it changes. So you will need a Dynamic DNS setup. You will also need to configure your router to pass the connection over port 3389 to the computer you want to connect to. If you have more than one computer, and you only have one external IP address, you will either need to configure a gateway server, or you will need to configure RDP with different ports for each computer and map them accordingly.

    It's a LOT easier for the average user to just use LogMeIn or TeamViewer type apps than set all this up.

  • After running this app, I still can't connect to my pc running Win 10 Pro from another on the same LAN running Win 10 Home.  I used it to generate a file called "MyPC.rdp" on the pc I wished to use to initiate the RDP connection.  I double clicked that file on the originating pc, and it asked me for my password, which I entered.  It tried to connect, and produced a certificate error, something about not being able to verify the computer name, I checked allow, and it then said "securing connection" for a few seconds and then the RDP app closed.  There were no other error messages.  Further attempts to connect still ask for my password, even though I checked "remember my credentials", and the certificate error warning is gone, but the app just goes away after displaying the "securing connection" for a while.

    Each machine can see the other and access shared folders just fine, and they are ping-able by name.

  • The application is only going to allow an RDP session if you have access to the computer. If you are trying to connect to your home network from outside of your network (like say via the Internet) you need to ensure that your machine is somehow reachable externally (is in your home DMZ for example). It's a bit out of scope for this topic but some investigation on this site will lead you in the right direction, or general requests for how to add a machine to the DMZ. Though it's a high risk venture if you are putting your machine on the internet for everyone to access (risk of hack becomes significantly higher).

  • Maybe you can give some insight on my issue...I downloaded the RD Connection app on my iPhone, and from there am able to access my work computer on WiFi or my cellular data. I installed the RD Connection app on my Surface 3, entered the same login info as on my phone, and am able to connect to the work server...however, when I enter my password, it doesn't recognize this as being valid. I double and triple checked the PC name (host address) and my username and don't see any errors. Why does the app work on my phone but not on my tablet? Both the app on the phone and the Surface 3 are Microsoft Corp. RD Connection.

  • I can only get this to work on my wireless network, not from outside the house. Is this intended or an issue?

  • The computer I wish to Remote Access is at my office. When I'm at the office on WiFi I am able to access my workstation fine however outside the network I am unable to do so. I tried TeamViewer and am able to access the workstation from home just fine however my trial subscription has expired and I'd rather use the built in free Remote Access rather than purchase a subscription to TeamViewer. Any suggestions as to how I can access the computer outside the my office network?

  • Your pc in the office is probably behind a router or firewall. You will need to open a connection from the internet through the router port forwarding, to your pc for the rdp (default port 3389) port in use. For security reasons this may not be a very good idea, as it leaves your office pc open for attacks from the internet. If you decide to do it, do not use the default rdp port! TeamViewer works in another way, where both parties connects out through the router to a server, which then establishes the interconnection between the two.

  • There is a lot of confusion in this thread about what this app does. To be honest, it's totally worthless. This is not a free LogMeIn or TeamViewer type of app from MSFT. This does not allow you to connect to a remote PC just by installing this, all it does is configure the PC to ALLOW remote access connections, something that can be easily done without an app.

    If you are on the same local network - such as at your house or office, of course you can connect to your computers with no problem. If you are remote, on a different network than the computer you want to connect to, this app does nothing to help you do that. You will either need an app like LogMeIn that acts as an intermediary beween the two computers, or do a lot of legwork to set this up.

    For example, if you are at the office, and want to connect to your computer at home, you will need to know the IP address of your router. More than likely, this is dynamic for home users, meaning it changes. So you will need a Dynamic DNS setup. You will also need to configure your router to pass the connection over port 3389 to the computer you want to connect to. If you have more than one computer, and you only have one external IP address, you will either need to configure a gateway server, or you will need to configure RDP with different ports for each computer and map them accordingly.

    It's a LOT easier for the average user to just use LogMeIn or TeamViewer type apps than set all this up.


  • After running this app, I still can't connect to my pc running Win 10 Pro from another on the same LAN running Win 10 Home.  I used it to generate a file called "MyPC.rdp" on the pc I wished to use to initiate the RDP connection.  I double clicked that file on the originating pc, and it asked me for my password, which I entered.  It tried to connect, and produced a certificate error, something about not being able to verify the computer name, I checked allow, and it then said "securing connection" for a few seconds and then the RDP app closed.  There were no other error messages.  Further attempts to connect still ask for my password, even though I checked "remember my credentials", and the certificate error warning is gone, but the app just goes away after displaying the "securing connection" for a while.

    Each machine can see the other and access shared folders just fine, and they are ping-able by name.


  • Port for RDP(Remote Desktop Protocol) is always 3389

  • Which port number must be open for incoming requests through a firewall - I mean: on the machine, which should be remote controlled?

  • If you are trying to connect outside of your house you will need to port forward port 3389 to the PC you wish to connect.    You then use your home IP address and it forwards it to your internal IP.   PortForward.com gives step by step instructions by router type.

  • TightVNC is another option to reach desktop from outside.. I'm use VNC+SSH tunneling, or VPN+VNC/RDP, and for hardly reachable destination is there Google's RDP option..;)
    Secure variant is deploying SSH or VPN, less secure is set port forwarding on your router for example port 61832-> 3389 -> U'R PC. IP.. have you more PC's, set more port forwards..

  • i really like this new version compared to the other except for one big problem which i hope you can help with.  I use SSH port forwarding on my home pc to connect to various servers behind our firewall at work which prevents from having to open 3389 on the outside and adds an extra level of security.  so for example these three client to server forwardings allows me to connect to three different remote desktop servers

    127.0.0.1:3399 -> 192.168.1.2:3389

    127.0.0.1:3388 -> 192.168.1.3:3389

    127.0.0.1:3377 -> 192.168.1.4:3389

    With the old remote desktop i then connect to server 127.0.0.1:3399 and get connected BUT this new version doesn't allow me to put an alternate port so is there a trick or different syntax or have you guys just not accounted for this option?

  • As for it being simple, as Nightgaunt mentioned, once you have access to the remote PC (and it's "On"; accessible via a network), this works like a charm and was relatively simple to use.  The key is having access.  In my example, I access my work PC via a VPN first (a Checkpoint product like Endpoint Security for example), then I set up the MS Desktop Remote (on a MAC) with my PC IP address and login information (just like the instructions above, though I don't even remember adding the MS Remote Desktop assistant, but why not).

    JEL

  • Hello. How to solve this problem?

    "Couldn`t connect.

    Something went wrong when we tried to connect. If this keeps happening, ask your admin or tech support for help"

    connect from win10mob (Microsoft Remote Desktop Preview) -> windows server 2008 R2 - this error

    connect from Android (Microsoft Remote Desktop) -> windows server 2008 R2 - OK

    connect from iOS (Microsoft Remote Desktop) -> windows server 2008 R2 - OK

    connect to windows server 2003 - no problem from all platform

    • Edited by igor242 Friday, November 4, 2016 2:07 PM

  • Not sure what you are confused about. It isn't worthless, far from it, I use to access remote workstations over VPN while working remotely.  I never thought an app from the store would replace any of my staple apps, e.g. MSTSC, but I was wrong. I haven't needed to or had any desire to use MSTSC for rdp'ing. The UX is makes all the difference, it doesn't have the needless granularity for behaviors never utilized and it has behaviors easily accessible that are heavily leveraged that aren't available in the MSTSC UI.

    It rocks!

    Your complaints are a result of ignorance and not a result of this app.

    P.S. An  average user using LogMeIn or TeamViewer to access home machines from work is a recipe for a pwnage disaster.  Stick with MSFT tools and disciplined security practices instead of using apps having the reputation and the history for increase the attack surface.  Especially, when at work; be responsible.

    Respectfully, Timorous


    • Edited by Timorous Thursday, November 10, 2016 4:35 PM

  • Not a Microsoft tech

    But it is intended - to access outside of your house you will have to configure port fowarding on your home router

    Another option is "log me in Hamachi" if you dont want to do that

    • Edited by pjakcity Friday, December 9, 2016 12:03 AM

  • The links to the "Assistant" app are broken. I have spent hours trying to download. Someone needs to get their thumb out.

    I have tried to download the Remote Desktop assistant from this link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=50042

    It downloads a file called "rdassistant.application" which obviously is not a Windows executable. (I get the message "The application is not properly formatted." when I try to run it.)

    Bill J

    • Edited by awjensen Thursday, December 22, 2016 2:50 PM Clarify

  • It appears that you understand how to utilize this feature effectively, whereas I am having a lot of difficulty.  I'm not a tech professional, but usually can find my way around Windows devices.

    Any chance you can help clarify the steps that need to be taken to connect two Windows 10 Home OS devices remotely from outside of a home network?  It would be greatly appreciated!

    Kind Regards,

    ReboPesako

  • you have to log into your internet router and add a NAT forwarding on port 3389

    point this to the internal IP address of the computer you want to connect to (it's best to set the PC address as static).

    Some routers will allow you to select the device\computer name rather than the IP address, if so select the computer you want to connect to.

    From another location enter your home internet routers IP address in the remote desktop app and then enter the remote computer login details to connect.

    you could also set your router up with a dyndns account if the router supports it then you can use a url instead of the external IP.

  • Hi there.....I'm sandeep...

    The fix for ur problem is this...

    1.Uninstall the teamviewer.

    2.reinstall it and when installing choose option as "PERSONAL USE"  rather than "business" or "both of the above".

    3.Team viewer does not charge for personal use....

    Hope this helps....

     Thank you


    • Edited by Sandeep28kumar Saturday, February 11, 2017 9:34 AM

  • Every time when I try to install, this says Application verification was not done, so installation can not continue! What's the problem here ?

  • "Totally worthless"?

    I disagree. I had gone through the usual steps to allow RDP (locally), and in fact I could connect as one user but not another. After running this app, it worked for me. Sure, I would have found the solution, but this app was quicker and easier.

  • Port for RDP(Remote Desktop Protocol) is always 3389

    Thank you

  • where is the data kept as you add in more remote servers? I want to be able to back up that data file in case my laptop crashes

  • My pc desktop always was untidy when I used this app, at a time.

  • The Remote Desktop and Remote Desktop Preview apps (UWP?) no longer seem to work with non-standard RDP port numbers. For example, I sometimes run headless VirtualBox VMs on ports 5000-500x and using the "server:port" syntax no longer works. I have to use something like "mstsc /v:localhost:5000" to connect. I hope Microsoft fixes this, and adds file sharing to the apps (if possible).

  • After many attempts at getting Remote Desktop installed and running, I found this instruction.  With all due respect, three steps are inadequate to get this product to work.

    Best practices would include step by step instructions.  For example, step 2 above includes many steps and requires identification of a number of fields of information in order to make the software work.

    I appreciate the author's generosity and attempt at being helpful and supportive.  Microsoft, however, should take responsibility for at least a first pass attempt to provide instructions.

    Another software program may or may not be a better alternative to RD, but will probably be the one I end up using.  It shouldn't take several hours to try to decipher numerous blogs and still be left without a solution.

  • Not valid for Windows 10 Home

  • hey I tired to connect the RDC ver 8.x from Mac to Windows 7 pc

    I used the windows assistance software --> which reported that everything is fine.

    but I still could not connect, then to see if I can even ping the machine , I enabled the ping , by creating a new Inbound rule , in firewall--> advance settings, , custom rule,ICMPv4,

    As soon as the ping service enabled, the RDC started working for me.

    so give it a try if the remote assistance does not work for you.

  • A good step from RDPmanager on high resolution, scaling, etc. Nice. A few things I miss:

    - Is it possible to keep the pane with connected desktop/computers open? It show up fine when I hit the three dots beside the zoom-too, but disappears when I select a computer. I want to keep it open to switch easy as in RDCman.

    - How about keyboard short-cuts, is there any? Where/how to find them? In RDPman to connect a new computer I hit ctrl-q, type name of computer, tab, down arrow to select saved credentials and enter - pof! Connecting. In this new tool I have to hit and click several icons

    Nice tool! With a little more daily-work-features I might switch from RDPman, but so far this new thing takes too long time to work with. I try to get used to now and then :)

  • I would aslo love to be able to backup and restore my configuration for when i switch computer. Any way to do it already?

  • i used to work with microsoft remote desktop (v 8.0.42) without any problems for quite while. cause of beeing interested i've tryed rdp beta and figured out that mulitple-monitor support didn't work for me. based on some google search i've finally installed remote desktop assistant on the windows machine ... and i am locked out since then. the error messatge is " „the credentials are correct, but the host cannot log you on for another reason. please check if your password has expired or contact your system administrator for assistance."

    login on the windows machine works as usual - remote desktop sessions don't. (testet with the reconfigured settings on both remote desktop 8.0 and remoted desktop beta (8.2.35)

  • I wouldn't say this app is "totally worthless". Using it for what it was created for, accessing workstations on a LAN, it is great. You can fast-switch between workstations, control the environment, and it saves your credentials making it easy to switch between accounts. If you want to remotely connect to your workstation from the WAN, then, sure, there are other software programs that one can use but don't knock this software because users want to use it outside of the typical development scope.

  • Hello,

    I like this app, but :

    Can I export the configuration?
    I have a lot of machines, and I would like to be able to import them on another PC.

    Thank you for your help.

    Jerome

  • I have a similar, if not the same issue. Using Windows 10 Pro, I can use the original Remote Desktop Connection application and it works fine inside my company network to connect to misc. servers. The legacy application also works from through VPN connection.

    When I first got my new Windows 10 laptop the Remote Desktop App worked great and I feel in love with it. Now I have the Win10Pro Remote Desktop App (Preview) on my Laptop and my iPad. From my iPad I can connect to the misc servers after connecting through VPN. From my laptop I can't connect from internal or external network. It seems like it resolves the SERVER NAME or IP address and asks for the login credentials. I enter them the same on every device and it can't connect. Error states "The username and password that were used to connect to the remote PC didn't work. Try a different account."

  • I have the nearly the same problem, I have a redirection gateway that opens ports on the local computer an connects through a GW-server (non windows) to the windows machine. So I have a custom rdp port, which works with mstsc and other mstsc using programms, but not with this, I like this new remote desktop manager, because of the reconnection and resize features, but without working custom ports it not usable for me.

  • Your response ended hours of research and failed attempts to remote access.  After reading your response, I was able to remote access within 5 minutes.  Just wanted to show my appreciation.

  • I get a very blurry image with this app, and I can't find any image quality settings, unlike r"emote desktop connection". Is there any image quality settings, and if so, where can I find them?

  • We've been using the RDP via the "Remote Desktop Connection" app to allow access to a server, and it supports pass-through redirection printing, to a local printer.  We were thrilled to see the beauty of the new Remote Desktop which comes with Windows 10 Pro - Microsoft Remote Desktop Version 10.1.1027.0.

    We have since discovered that local printing option appears to be deprecated?   I have searched and searched, and after nearly 8 hours of struggling this weekend, I have found no solution to the issue. Somebody tell me this isn't true!  I can't believe MS would provide such a nice upgrade but leave out the ability to redirect a print job!?

    • Edited by obiwan1250 Sunday, March 18, 2018 10:51 PM

  • We've been using the RDP via the "Remote Desktop Connection" app to allow access to a server, and it supports pass-through redirection printing, to a local printer.  We were thrilled to see the beauty of the new Remote Desktop which comes with Windows 10 Pro - Microsoft Remote Desktop Version 10.1.1027.0.

    We have since discovered that local printing option appears to be deprecated?   I have searched and searched, and after nearly 8 hours of struggling this weekend, I have found no solution to the issue. Somebody tell me this isn't true!  I can't believe MS would provide such a nice upgrade but leave out the ability to redirect a print job!?

    I have just the same error, but I´ve found nothing.

  • You should do port mapping

  • I'm using the Remote Desktop assitant for Windows Phone, version 10.1.1046.0.
    Please can you tell if there is a manner to connect to remote access using a specific port (not 3389).

    If not can it be an evolution of the product (for Windows Phone)

  • Yep, totally agree, just spent best part of a sunny day to get this junk to work.

    MICROSOFT why do you bother with this complicated rubbish? how do you expect ordinary Joe to set this up?

    I was try to connect to my pc via my android phone.

  • I installed RDAssistant.aplication on my pc and I remote to it by my tablet successfully but the color of my pc's screen is changed to black and white.

    Even it doesn't change to be colorful after restarting.

  • I thought that this feature was already built in, because I enabled the setting. Why do I have to install an app?

  • I can use any other computer to connect to this computer except for one computer which REFUSES to connect! I've reentered the microsoft password 3 times I've used the computer name and IP address, nothing!

  • Hello,

    Just to clarify, None of these tools will work with Win 10 Home.

    Looking for a way to share and sync my desktop with my laptop

    without the required upgrade to Win Pro.

    Any suggestions would be very welcomed.

    Thank you,

    Ken

    kdr

  • Unsupported Windows Versions and Editions

    The Remote Desktop client will not connect to these Windows Versions and Editions:

    • Windows 7 Starter
    • Windows 7 Home
    • Windows 8 Home
    • Windows 8.1 Home
    • Windows 10 Home

    If you want to access computers that have one of these Windows versions installed, we recommend you upgrade to a Windows version that supports RDP.

    kdr

    • Edited by ataraxia89 Friday, January 3, 2020 9:10 AM

  • I typed in my PC's IP address and it didn't work btw I was connected to the same network with my PC

  • I think its intended. Because the connection can only bei build in the Same Network!

  • did you get this resolved? i am running into same issue. mstsc works fine, but app from store does not connect

How to Make Remote Desktop Work on Windows 10 Home

Source: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/b52ddd9b-c765-4b80-9409-c5f155443f6a/configure-your-windows-pc-for-remote-access-using-microsoft-remote-desktop-assistant?forum=winRDc