Copy file Remote Desktop Windows 10

There are two RDP clients for Windows 10:

• the old Remote Desktop Connection client [built-in]
• the newer Remote Desktop client [windows store].

While I have no trouble to copy and paste files around with the old client, I cannot manage to do the same thing with the newer client. How do I copy and paste files between machines with the Remote Desktop app?

I had a peculiar issue with copying and pasting files from my local computer to a Remote Desktop session. I could copy and paste locally, but the option to paste would be grayed out on the Remote Desktop computer. There are several ways to solve this problem depending on what you are trying to copy and paste.

Client Settings

1. Right-click on the RDP icon that you use to connect, then select “Edit“.
2. Select the “Local Resources” tab.
3. Check the “Clipboard” option. To allow file copying and pasting, select “More…” and proceed to step 4. If you just need the ability to copy and paste text and not files, stop here and click “OK“.
   
4. Select the “Drives” option. Click “OK“, then “OK” again.
   

Server Settings

Windows 2016

In Windows 2016, these settings are controlled within Group Policy.

1. Launch “gpedit.msc“.
2. Navigate to “Computer Configuration” > “Administrative Templates” > “Windows Components” > “Remote Desktop Services” > “Remote Desktop Session Host“.
3. Ensure “Do not allow Clipboard redirection” is set to “Not Configured” or “Disabled“.

Windows 2012

1. Open “Server Manager“.
2. Select “Remote Desktop” Services.
3. Select “Collections“.
4. Select “Tasks“, then choose “Edit Properties“.
5. Under the “Client Settings” tab, ensure the “Clipboard” and “Drive” is enabled.

Windows 2008

1. Launch “Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration” from the server.
2. Under “Connections“, right-click the connection and select “Properties“.
3. Select the “Client Settings” tab, and make sure the “Clipboard” box is unchecked. If you want to allow copying and pasting of files, make sure the Drive selection is unchecked. Click OK when done.
   

I should also note that if you have all of these settings configured correctly and things still don’t work, you may need to restart the server or just kill the rdpclip process.

This should be all you need to enable copying and pasting of files to your Remote Desktop session. I hope this tutorial has helped you. Please share your experience in the Comments section below.

Windows Remote Desktop Connection [RDC], is a tool used to remotely connect to, view, and manage a remote Windows desktop. While sharing data from a remote computer to a local desktop has its challenges, learning how to copy files from a remote desktop to a local machine is a simple matter with the help of RDC.

For anyone interested in Windows remote desktop file transfer capabilities to access folders, apps, or files from a remote PC, users must first configure their RDC setup.

How to copy files with Remote Desktop Connection

Step 1: Run Remote Desktop Connection. Users can find RDC from the Start menu, or by searching for the following: “mstsc” / “remote desktop” / “RDC”.

RDC is fairly straightforward upon the first launch. Usually, it’s necessary to enter an IP address for the desired remote PC, then hit “Connect”. However, if the user wants to let their remote desktop copy files, there are some additional steps required.

Step 2: Click “Show Options” within the RDC window [this displays the RDC configuration options].

Step 3: Go to the “Local Resources” tab [this will take you to the sharing settings for the remote session]. In the “Local devices and resources” tab, click “More” [see below].

Step 4: Click the “+” arrow beside “Drives” to show more options. Users can share available Windows drives, portable storage drives [like flash drives], and optical drives [CDs, DVDs, DVD drives, etc] that they may want to utilize down in the future. Check any desired boxes to share storage with the remote computer and hit “Ok”.

Step 5: Return to the “General” tab once satisfied with the drive sharing settings.

Step 6: Enter the IP address of the remote computer into the “Computer” box [located under the section “Logon settings” [see below].

Step 7: Hit “Connect” to establish the connection.

Step 8: Open the “Windows File Explorer” after connecting to the remote device [do this by right-clicking the Start menu > File Explorer]. Users should see all shared devices in the “Redirected drives and folders” section.

Step 9: Drag files between folders and drives as desired.

Please Note: If users receive a message reading: “Destination Folder Access Denied” when attempting to transfer files, it may be necessary to restart the RDP session. Users should then run the Remote Desktop Connection application as an administrator.

How to copy files between local and remote PC with Windows 10 Remote Desktop app

Local drivers used to show up in the remote sessions “File Explorer” tree view panel [in older versions of RDC clients].

This once permitted users [especially those interested in letting their RDP copy files] to open local drives from a remote system via File Explorer.

Windows’ new Remote Desktop app [found on the Microsoft Store] does not function in the same way.

Now the question is: how does someone use Remote Desktop to copy and paste files between a local and remote device?

According to Microsoft, it was once completely impossible. Previously, users could only paste text [not files] between sessions.

Microsoft’s solution?

Use the old application: Remote Desktop Connection.

Excitingly, the most recent versions of the app [10.1.1107 or later] offer this essential sharing feature.

Follow the steps below to copy files with the Remote Desktop Windows 10 app:

Step 1: Add a new remote PC.

Step 2: After scrolling down a bit, select “Show more”.

Step 3: Turn the “Clipboard” switch to “On”.

Step 4: Hit “Save” then connect to the remote machine.

From there, it’s a straightforward process. Just copy the desired files, then paste them to a folder [or desktop] located on the remote computer.

Is Microsoft Remote Desktop file transfer possible only between Windows machines?

Remote Desktop Connection [RDC] lets a remote desktop share files to a local machine and utilizes the Remote Desktop Protocol [RDP] by Microsoft. Remote Desktop Protocol is available for all Windows 10 [and Windows Server] editions.

Conveniently, Microsoft provides RDP tools that enable users to access a Windows PC from a Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS device. Mac users can enable remote desktop connection file transfer, sharing the resources to a Windows machine via the “Redirection” tab inside the Remote Desktop app.

On Windows OS, Remote Desktop Connection [RDC] is built-in by default, allowing users to customize their file/folder sharing settings before connecting. From there, users can easily transfer files over RDP.

As you can see, learning how to transfer files over a remote desktop can be quite easy! We hope this guide into Remote Desktop Connection and the Remote Desktop app has given you the insight and confidence to experiment with even more of what remote desktop sessions have to offer.