Remote Desktop Frequently Asked Questions

Complete FAQ for the Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)

Remote Desktop shortcut key reference

When running the remote desktop client, some key combinations won't work on the remote machine, because they are intercepted and run on the client machine instead. To get around this, the RDP client has some useful shortcut key replacements:

Shortcut key Description
ALT+PAGE UP Switches between programs from left to right.
ALT+PAGE DOWN Switches between programs from right to left.
ALT+INSERT Cycles through the programs in the order they were started.
ALT+HOME Displays the Start menu.
CTRL+ALT+BREAK Switches the client between a window and full screen.
CTRL+ALT+END Brings up the Windows Security dialog box.
ALT+DELETE Displays the Windows menu.
CTRL+ALT+Minus (-) symbol on the numeric keypad Places a snapshot of the active window, within the client, on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing PrintScrn on a local computer.)
CTRL+ALT+Plus (+) symbol on the numeric keypad Places a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing ALT+PrintScrn on a local computer.)