You can use the clipboard in an RDP session to copy/paste text and files between a local computer and a remote host (this can be either a Windows workstation or a Windows Server on an RDS farm). Sometimes the clipboard stops working in a Windows Remote Desktop session (or RemoteApp) and you cannot move (copy/paste) your text or files between your computer and the RDP server.
Several scenarios are possible: check that clipboard redirection is enabled on the RDP client, check that the RDS host allows files/data to be copied via the RDP clipboard, or restart Failover rdpclip.exe
The process in the user’s current terminal session.
Restart the Rdpclip.exe (RDP Clipboard) process in Windows
if the clipboard suddenly stops working in an RDP session, and Paste it The easiest way is to gracefully end the current RDP session (logoff) and reconnect if the option is disabled in the context menu. This will definitely fix the Remote Desktop clipboard issue. However, this is inconvenient as you have to restart all applications in the RDP session. Fortunately, there is a way to restore correct clipboard operation without logging off the RDP session.
Rdpclip.exe Responsible for the operation of the clipboard between your computer and the Remote Desktop host. When a remote user connects to Remote Desktop, a separate rdpclip.exe process is started for each session. you can use task manager to killrdpclip.exe
,rdp clipboard monitor) process and start it again manually (Task Manager -> File -> Start new task -> rdpclip -> Enter).
Usually, this helps to quickly restore remote clipboard operation. check that copy/paste (Ctrl+C
, Ctrl+V
) now works in RDP session.
Enable Clipboard in Remote Desktop Client on Windows
Check that your RDP client settings allow you to use the clipboard in a terminal session. If you are using the built-in Windows RDP client (Remote Desktop Connection, mstsc.exe
) To connect to a remote terminal host, check that its settings allow copying via the RDP clipboard.
go to local resources tab, and make sure clipboard option” is enabledChoose the devices and resources you want to use in your remote session” section.
If you want to allow files to be copied via the RDP clipboard, click More button and check Drive Option. This will allow the use of the local drive in the RDP session for file copying operations.
If you are using a pre-configured *.RDP file with settings to connect to a remote computer (for example, to connect to a RemoteApp published on RDS), verify that it has the following options configured :
redirectclipboard:i:1 redirectdrives:i:1 drivestoredirect:s:*
- redirectclipboard – Allows to use local clipboard in remote session;
- drivestore direct And red drive – Enable redirection of all local drives for the RDP session (required if you want to copy/paste files via RDP).
How to enable or disable copy/paste via RDP clipboard on Windows?
You can enable or disable the use of the RDP clipboard for copy/paste operations on Windows hosts through Group Policy or Registry settings.
- Run Local Group Policy Editor:
gpedit.msc
- Go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Remote Desktop Services -> Remote Desktop Session Host -> Device and Resource Redirection;
- To prevent copying data to/from a remote server using the RDP session’s clipboard, set the following policies in Active,
Do not allow clipboard redirection – Clipboard redirection is used to copy text or files using the RDP clipboard;
Do not allow drive redirection – Allows the user to access his local drive over an RDP session. It is also used to copy files between the local computer and the RDP host;When these policies are enabled, the following DWORD parameters are created in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services registry key:
fDisableCdm
, 1 (disable local drive redirection on RDP host)fDisableClip
, 1 (disable clipboard between RDP server and client)The corresponding policy settings are in the User GPO section. This means you can disable the use of the clipboard and mapped drives for specific RDP users. You can disable the RDP clipboard for non-administrator users on a standalone (workgroup) computer by using the Multiple Local GPO (MSLGO). - If you want to force the use of the RDP clipboard, change the settings values to disabled (By default, RDPClipboard is allowed to be used for copying data between the local computer and the remote RDP host);
- Update Group Policy settings using
gpupdate /force
, For the new settings to be applied to users, they must end their RDP sessions (using logoff instead of disconnect) or wait for user sessions to automatically disconnect according to the RDS timeout.
You can use the registry to completely disable RDP clipboard and local drive redirection for all users on an RDP-enabled Windows host. To do this, create a REG_DWORD parameter in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server registry key:
- disable clipboard redirection = 1
- disable drive redirection = 1
and the two parameters that were discussed above HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services Registry Branch:
- fDisableCdm =1
- fDisableClip = 1
To quickly disable the ability to copy data via the clipboard between the computer and the remote RDP host, run the following command:
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server” /v “DisableClipboardRedirection" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server” /v “DisableDriveRedirection" / t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services" /v fDisableCdm /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services" /v fDisableClip /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
These registry settings must be unavailable (by default) or set to 0 if you want to allow RDP clipboard access
You can check the value of the registry setting by using PowerShell:Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services' | Select fDisableClip,fDisableCdm
If you are using an RDS host running Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2012R2, you can enable or disable clipboard and local drive redirection in RDS storage settings. Open Server Manager -> Remote Desktop Services -> Storage -> Tasks -> Edit Properties -> Client Settings. uncheck clipboard And Drive options in Enable redirection for the following section.
Drive The option allows you to use the clipboard to copy files (the local drive will be used in the RDS session).
You can change RDS storage settings with PowerShell:
Set-RDSessionCollectionConfiguration -CollectionName munRDSApp1 -ClientDeviceRedirectionOptions "Clipboard,Drive"
If you are using a Remote Desktop Gateway to connect to the RDS host, note that you can disable or allow clipboard use in your CAP (Connection Authorization Policy) settings. As a default, Enable device redirection for all client devices The option is enabled in the Device redirection section. Here you can disable RDP clipboard and local drive redirection.
If you want to prevent users, but not administrators, from copying to/from an RDP session, you can change the NTFS permissions on the executable C:\windows\system32\rdpclip.exe
, To do this, uncheck read/execute permissions for the built-in Users group in the security properties of the file (you must first change the file owner from the trusted installer to another).
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