How To Use Microsoft Remote Desktop On Mac
Osoulo Lejeune
With Microsoft Remote Desktop clients, you can connect to Remote Desktop Services from Windows Server and remote PCs, and use and control desktops and apps that your admin has made available to you. There are clients available for many different types of devices on different platforms and form factors, such as desktops and laptops, tablets, smartphones, and through a web browser. Using your web browser on desktops and laptops, you can connect without having to download and install any software.
Some features are only available with certain clients, so it's important to check Compare the features of the Remote Desktop clients to understand the differences when connecting to Remote Desktop Services or remote PCs.
You can also use most versions of the Remote Desktop client to also connect to Azure Virtual Desktop, as well as to Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server or to a remote PC. If you want information on Azure Virtual Desktop instead, see Remote Desktop clients for Azure Virtual Desktop.
Here's a list of the Remote Desktop client apps and our documentation for connecting to Remote Desktop Services or remote PCs, where you can find download links, what's new, and learn how to install and use each client.
I use Microsoft Remote Desktop regularly on both Windows (Surface Laptop 5) and macOS (MacBook Pro M1 Pro), and the macOS client has some significant issues not present on the windows version. I was wondering if this is due to some misconfiguration on my end or the features just work better on windows. Here is a list of issues that I face in the macOS version of remote desktop but not on windows:
I also have issues with the client on macOS. On the windows client you can specify the resolution and color depth that you want to connect and have a wide range of options. This allows you to be able to use the client in low bandwidth situations.
The macOS client is unusable in low bandwidth situations since you have very limited options when it comes to setting the resolution and color depth. The resolution defaults to "default for this display" and it cannot be changed, which is 4K in my case. Lowest color depth is 16 bit which is too high.
I'm having similar issues with my new machine (MacBook Pro M3 Max) when multiple monitors are connected. Every 10-15 seconds, video and input for the RDP connection will freeze for a few seconds. No issues with my previous i9 MBP, and I've ruled out connectivity or other possible issues.
Hi, having similar issues when I have dual monitors connected. My mouse and keyboard that are connected through my docking station (same station that the monitors are plugged into) does not work when I have the Remote Desktop app opened across both screens. When I change the App to only be displayed on one screen the keyboard and mouse work.
For the last couple days (since upgrading to macOS 12.4, although I don't know whether this is related) I can no longer copy and paste between my remote computer on Microsoft Remote Desktop and other macOS apps. The remote desktop and my Mac appear to be keeping separate clipboards.
In the version of Remote Desktop Web client (Version 1.0.27.0) used by the organization I remotely connect to, there are no options to enable or disable clipboard transfer. (In fact, there are no useful options for users at all!) PATHETIC
I've been working on this problem for 5 days, Google doesn't seem to be helping and that is surprising. Lack of posts on the topic made me believe it was a differnt issue than this router, however this morning I have conclusively proved the problem is the TL-ER5120 V3 router. It may be a simple setup or configuration issue, but frankly I can't find it/figure it out. Yes I've RTFM. Yes i've googled the problem endlessly. Yes I've tried random things, yes I reversed those that failed before moving on. Yes, i've rebooted the router multiple times. Yes, I have disabled everything in "firewall" section of router setup. Yes, I have above average networking knowledge and can usually figure out the problem, however networking and/or IT is NOT my day job so i'm far from expert.
Used RDP via that setup locally and remotely for years. Locally RDP is available 24/7/365, when out of town, port forwarded and opened a high numbered port (49XXX) and forwarded it to the local machine IP:port 3389. Both setups, local and remote, worked perfectly--never had a problem. Therefor, I suspected it wasn't a problem with Windows Settings.
My cable providers connection is however problematic, and connectivity as a whole will randomly drop for awhile. For more than one reason, I decided to upgrade to a multi-WAN connection, thus the purchase of the TL-ER5120. The other WAN provider is a metered "unlimited" cellular connection with a 22gb/month high speed cap (i.e.weird American "unlimited but limited" cellular broadband).
I initially attempted to just hang the R7000 as is on port 5, disabling DHCP on the 5120, hoping that the 5120 could be a "failover" router and I could just continue to use the Netgear R7000 as the local network router. That worked somewhat, but I had a few devices (camera's and a dedicated equipment controller) that just didn't get along with double NAT.
Next the R7000 got switched to AP mode, and the TL-ER5120's DHCP server got turned back on. Some 50 devices are connected... windows laptop, iPhones, iPads, dedicated home automation equipment, Alexa devices, picture frames, sprinkler controllers, garage door contollers, etc. One device was problematic and didn't want to connect (phone home essentially). In following the troubleshooting steps on the manufactures site, I disabled everything possible in the Firewall section of the TL-ER5120 and got it working. (and haven't yet gotten to the step where i try rechecking the boxes one by one.)
Satisfied that every device was correctly connecting to the internet as it should, I moved on to my final setup steps, making certain I can reach my single windows 10 PC via Remote Desktop and setting up DDNS for that specific purpose. (everything else that connects at this point handles inbound connections by making an outbound connection to a cloud server instead.)
That should open the external port 3389. It doesn't, the port stays closed from the Public IP. Confirmed closed using GRC's Shields up (an online port scanning tool) and specifiying 3389, GRC actually returns "Stealth" which means it doesn't even reply as closed.
Additionally I can't connected via RDP on the local network!! Specifically with my laptop connected via WIFI or cable, and attemting to open a remote desktop at 192.168.1.10 or the machine name. I checked that both machines can Ping each other (they can). I located a troubleshooting steps to verify that 3389 was listenening on the target machine using ipconfig -a -o and looking up the PID of the listening PID to see what was listening. All good. I located a Microsoft page that suggested using telnet to see if 3389 was open from the remote machine--It's not. Yet remember both machines can ping each other.
In the TL-ER5120's interface the page that looks like it could have an effect is Preferences -> Service Type. I tried various entries on that page, with no luck. Firewall section is all still disabled at this point.
I then suddenly remembered that I had a brand new Netgear R7000 that was purchased long ago for a family member and never used. I popped open the still in factory shrink wrap R7000, connected it to the Cable modem and my laptop and upgraded the firmware to the current version. Then without even an address reservation I connected the WIN10 RDP target machine. Switched my laptop from cable to wifi and opended Remote Desktop from laptop to target on the first try. THE ONLY CHANGE IS THR ROUTER, I didn't even reboot either computer.
So in CONCLUSION: the TL-ER5120 breaks communication on port 3389. WHY? Is there a work-around or do i need to return the TL-ER5120, because no remote desktop is a deal breaker. I need it to work both Lan->Lan and Wan->Lan.
If you need to use a remote computer lab, your instructor will list web addresses on your D2L course site. (Learn more about D2L.) Be sure to use the web address for connecting to remote computers via desktop application. Connecting via web browser uses a different web address.
Hey, My company allows my new contractor to use Microsoft remote desktop in order to use Figma. He tells me that the performance of Figma is very slow through the remote desktop. Is there anyway to fix or improve this? Did anyone else encountered this issue?
You can also use other remote desktop connection software for secure remote connection. One of them is networking client PuTTY. It allows to establish SSH connection. To see the process on connection click here.
Firewall configurations that restrict outbound access to Duo's service with rules using destination IP addresses or IP address ranges aren't recommended, since these may change over time to maintain our service's high availability. If your organization requires IP-based rules, please review Duo Knowledge Base article 1337.
The Duo username (or username alias) should match the Windows username. When you create your new RDP application in Duo the username normalization setting defaults to "Simple", which means that the if the application sends the usernames "jsmith," "DOMAIN\jsmith," and "jsm...@domain.com" to Duo at login these would all resolve to a single "jsmith" Duo user.
Duo for Windows Logon supports Duo Push, phone callback or SMS passcodes, and passcodes generated by Duo Mobile or a hardware token as authentication methods. Duo users must have one of these methods available to complete 2FA authentication.
Before moving on to the deployment steps, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with Duo administration concepts and features like options for applications, available methods for enrolling Duo users, and Duo policy settings and how to apply them. See all Duo Administrator documentation.
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