The Remote Desktop Protocol is one of the most useful tools built into Microsoft Windows operating systems. It allows you to control a remote Windows machine as if it were straight in front of you. There are, however, some caveats you need to keep in mind. One such thing is the inability to use keyboard shortcuts by default. Although seemingly unimportant, Windows power users will notice the difference immediately.
Luckily, this setting can be changed when establishing a connection. If you wish to keep this setting unchanged, there are also several other methods that can be used to replace the famous CTRL+ALT+DELETE key combo.
Why use the CTRL+ALT+DELETE keyboard shortcut?
Along with CTLR+C and CTRL+V for copy and paste, CTRL+ALT+DELETE is one of the first keyboard shortcuts a new Windows user learns. The main use for it is to open the Task Manager, from which you can terminate and restart tasks & services that are not responding, as well as see the resource usage of your machine and edit what applications are run on startup.
However, there are other important uses for this shortcut. The menu that it opens also contains options for you to lock the computer [i.e. if you have a password set], switch the user account, and sign out of the current user. At the bottom right, you could also change the network you are connected to, access the Accessibility options, and put your computer to sleep, shut it down, or restart it. With all these features available at a click of a few keys, it can be seen how this is one of the most useful keyboard shortcuts.
What is an RDP?
RDP [i.e. Remote Desktop Protocol] is a protocol developed by Microsoft that allows you to remotely access and control a Windows OS machine over the internet. The feature is built-in to Windows operating system, thus it does not require you to install any additional applications and is easy to use. If you want to establish the connection from a non-Windows machine, however, you will need to install the Microsoft Remote Desktop App.
How to use CTRL+ALT+DELETE in RDP?
Now that you know why use this keyboard shortcut, let us show you how to use CTRL ALT Delete In Remote desktop?
Method 1:
Step 1: The first method is to enable keyboard shortcuts for RDP connections. To do so, when establishing a connection [Windows key + R, then type mstsc into the Run box and press Enter], click on the Show Options button.
Step 2: Then navigate to the Local Resources tab.
Step 3: Under Keyboard, you will see “Apply Windows key combinations”. Click on the drop-down menu and select On the remote computer.
Method 2:
Another way to use this shortcut is to use the on-screen keyboard feature within the RDP host.
Step 1: Type into the Windows search bar osk and select On-Screen Keyboard. From there you can use all the Windows keyboard shortcuts.
Step 2: If you are using CTRL+ALT+DELETE to access the Task Manager but want to keep using windows keyboard shortcuts on your computer instead of sending them through to the RDP, there are other ways to do it.
Step 3: Right Click on Taskbar
When you right-click on the taskbar in windows, one of the options in the newly-opened menu is to open the Task Manager. It can be seen here:
Step 4: Windows Search
If the RDP host is running Windows 10, you can open the Task Manager by simply typing in Task Manager into the Windows search bar.
Conclusion
If you belong to IT support, then RDP is one of the frequently used tools. It can be difficult to manage everything so frequently. Having shortcuts handy makes every task easy and time-saving. It is better to set up a few shortcuts for your applications.
In this article, we have mentioned how you can set up keyboard shortcuts for RDP.
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Category: Tutorials
Wenn Sie auf einem Remotedesktop [RDP] einen "Affengriff" [Strg+Alt+Del] ausführen möchten, muss dafür einfach die folgende Kombination benutzt werden:
Strg + Alt + Ende
Bei einer VMWare Session hilft Ihnen diese Tastenkombination:
Strg + Alt + Einfg
Eine Remoteverbindung können Sie unter Windows auch mit diesem Befehl starten:
mstsc
Remote Desktop is a nifty little windows feature that allows you to remotely connect to another PC and manage it as if you were physically at the console.
You can read my previous post on how to setup remote desktop in Windows XP. If you need to remote desktop into Windows 10, read this post.
When connecting to another machine, just about all keyboard actions are transmitted to the remote machine, i.e. pressing Enter, typing, pressing the Windows key, etc. However, that is not the case for some key combinations.
One that has bothered me for a very long time when using Remote Desktop in Windows is when I press Ctrl + Alt + Del while logged into the remote computer. Instead of sending the key combo to the remote computer, it would instead perform the action on my computer!
This was actually intended by Microsoft because there are many cases where you may not want that to be sent to the remote computer. So, by default, Ctrl + Alt + Del will only work for the local computer.
So how does one perform this same action on the remote computer? It’s pretty easy actually! In order to send Ctrl + Alt + Del to the remote PC, just press the following alternate key combination:
Ctrl + Alt + EndThat’s it! Pretty easy eh? Unfortunately, I tend to use Remote Desktop rarely and therefore forget this key combo all the time!
Some people have also followed up with me and asked about multiple RDP sessions, i.e. A – B – C. So A is remotely connected to B and B is remotely connected to C. In this case, you have to load up the On-Screen Keyboard on the final machine [C]. You can do that by running osk.exe [press Windows key + R and typing in osk].
Now on your host machine [A], press and hold the CTRL and ALT keys on your physical keyboard and then press the DEL key on the on-screen keyboard. That’s one way to do it.
You can also open the on-screen keyboard on computer B and then type CTRL + ALT + END, which will send CTRL + ALT + DEL to computer C.
Also, note that there are a bunch of other keyboard shortcuts you can use in Remote Desktop:
Alt + Page Up – Switch between programs [Alt + Tab is the local command] Ctrl + Alt + End – Display the Task Manager [Ctrl + Shift + Esc is the local command] Alt + Home – Brings up the Start menu on the remote computer Ctrl + Alt + [+] Plus/ [-] Minus – Minus takes a snapshot of the active window and plus takes a snapshot of the entire remote desktop window.Those are pretty much all of the remote desktop keyboard shortcuts you will ever need! If you know of anymore, post a comment! Enjoy!
How can I send ctrl+alt+del to a remote computer over Remote Desktop?
For example, if I wanted to change the local admin password on a remote PC using a Remote Desktop connection, it would be helpful to be able to send the ctrl+alt+del key sequence to the remote computer.
I would normally do this by pressing ctrl+alt+del and selecting the change password option. But I can't send ctrl+alt+del using Remote Desktop since this "special" key series is always handled by the local client.
You may want to learn how to CTRL+ALT+Delete in Remote Desktop if you want to change a password, lock the RDP screen, or log off. The CTRL+ALT+Delete keystroke won’t work though since your own operating system utilizes it. So, what is a poor tech who needs to access that screen to do when remoted in via a Remote Desktop session?
Method 1
- In RDP, the “CTRL” + “ALT” + “End” combination will work.
If you have trouble finding the “End” key, it is normally located to the right of the “Enter” key. If you’re using a small keyboard on a laptop, you may have to hold down a function key to utilize it.
The key combination will also work in older Terminal Server sessions.
Method 2
- On the Remote Desktop, select “Start“.
- Type “osk“, then open the “On Screen Keyboard“.
- Press “Ctrl” and “Alt” on the physical keyboard, then select“Del” on the osk window.
Other Solutions
It should be noted that you aren’t limited to using this key combination if you want to do any of the options available on this screen. Here are some other options:
- To change your password, you could go to “Control Panel” > “User Accounts” > “Change your windows password“. In Windows 10, 7, 8, 2008, 2012, 2016, and Vista, you can simply select “Start” and type “change password” to access the option.
- To access Task Manager, you could right-click the time on the taskbar and select Task Manager.
- You can usually log off by selecting “Start” > “Log off“.
- To lock the computer, you can create an icon.
A Dialog Appears Saying “click your user tile”
Sometimes when you attempt to use CTRL + ALT + delete in Remote Destop with the On-Screen Keyboard, you will receive a message that says:
To use the commands available when you press Ctrl+Alt+Del, click your user tile and choose an option.
The only problem is, there is no “user tile”, or clear way out of this problem.
In this case, method 2 should work. Press and hold CTRL + ALT on your physical keyboard, then click “Del” on the On-Screen Keyboard.
Have any better shortcuts for these options in an RDP session? Please share them in the Comments section.