Windows Rdp For Macos

If you have to use Mac and Windows PCs regularly, you don’t need to physically switch computers to be able to use both of them. You can use Windows Remote Desktop for macOS, to allow you to use both machines at the same time.

Windows Remote Desktop for Mac uses Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Protocol, built into Windows 10, to display your Windows desktop on your macOS screen. You can run Windows apps, change settings, and share files and folders between your Mac and Windows devices.

Installing Windows Remote Desktop for Mac

There are two versions of Windows Remote Desktop for Mac, and which one you should use depends on your current version of macOS. In most cases, you should install Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac 10.

Mar 20, 2019 Connecting to Windows 10 from macOS over Remote Desktop Microsoft provides a native remote desktop client for the macOS, which you can download. Microsoft Remote Desktop (Formally Known as Remote Desktop Connection) in MacOS. Microsoft Remote Desktop, a free application from Microsoft, allows you to use a Mac laptop or desktop to connect to and work from a Windows desktop computer that you have RDP access to in your on-campus office or lab. If you aren't sure whether you have RDP access to a certain machine, feel free to check with ECN.

If it doesn’t work, try the older Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac 8 app instead, although version 8 is scheduled to be removed from the Mac App Store sometime in the near future.

To install it, open the App Store. You can find this in your Launchpad, located in the Dock at the bottom of your screen, or by searching for it the Spotlight Search tool in the top-right of your screen.

In the App Store, click on the search bar in the left-hand menu, and type in Microsoft Remote Desktop. Once you’ve located it in the search results, click the Get button to install it.

Windows Remote Desktop For Macos

The Get button will change to a green Install button. Click that too, then approve the installation by providing your Apple ID password. Click the second Get button to continue.

Once installed, click the Open button, or locate the app in the Launchpad.

You may need to approve some additional permissions once you’ve opened the Microsoft Remote Desktop app. Approve and accept these, and then you can begin using it.

Adding a Remote Desktop Connection

Once you’ve opened the Remote Desktop for Mac, you’ll be able to add a new remote desktop connection.

Click the Add Desktop button in the center of the window. Alternatively, click the plus button in the top menu, then click Add PC or Add Workspace.

Fill out the Add PC form with the relevant information for your remote Windows PC. To use the standard RDP settings, start by adding your Windows PC’s IP address in the PC Name text box. Provide a memorable name in the Friendly Name box. Click Add once the settings are confirmed.

Your connection will appear, saved and ready to connect in the main Remote Desktop for Mac window. Double-click on the entry to begin your connection. You’ll be asked to provide the username and password for your Windows PC at this point. Provide them, then click Continue to connect.

If it’s your first connection, you may need to accept a security warning. Make sure you only agree to this if you’re connecting to a server you trust. If you do, click Continue to disregard the message and make the connection.

After a few seconds, the remote desktop connection to your Windows PC will complete and launch, full screen, ready for you to use.

Configuring a Remote Desktop Connection

Further configuration options are available, including the ability to change the quality of the connection and to redirect local devices connected to your Mac to your remote Windows PC.

To edit a saved connection, hover over your server and click the pencil button. Alternatively, right-click on the saved connection and click Edit.

If you a Mac with a Retina display, you’ll want to optimize the resolution of your remote connection. In the Display tab, click to enable the Optimize for Retina displays checkbox. You can also customize the color quality of your connection from the Color quality drop-down menu. You can set the overall resolution of your connection from your Resolution drop-down menu. Click Save to complete.

In the Devices & Audio tab, you can select what local devices you want to be able to access on your remote Windows PC. Click to check any of the checkboxes listed. You can also select whether to play sounds locally or remotely from the Play sound drop-down menu. As before, click Save to complete.

Sharing Files & Folders Between Mac & Windows

It’s also possible to share files and folders between your local Mac computer and your remote Windows PC.

To do that, right-click your saved server and click Edit, then click the Folders tab. Click the Redirect Folders checkbox, then click the plus button at the bottom of the window.

Select the folders you want to share in the Finder window, then click Open to add them to your list. If you want to make them read-only, click the checkbox next to each folder entry under the Read-only column. Click Save once you’ve finished adding the folders you want to share.

Your shared Mac folders will then appear as network drives, listed as Redirected drives and folders, in the This PC section of Windows File Explorer once you make the connection.

Sharing a Remote Desktop Across Mac Computers

If you have multiple Mac computers and you want to share the same configuration file for your Windows remote desktop, you can save the file and place it in your iCloud storage for you to access.

This requires each Mac computer to use the same Apple ID for iCloud storage.

To export your remote desktop configuration, right-click your saved connection in the Microsoft Remote Desktop app, then click Export.

Exporting RDP configuration files removes any saved passwords, which the Microsoft Remote Desktop app will warn you. Accept this warning by clicking Browse.

In the Finder window, click iCloud Drive in the left-hand menu. Save your connection file by clicking Export.

On another Mac computer, open Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac, click the Settings icon in the top menu bar, then click Import from RDP file.

In the Finder window that appears, click iCloud Drive in the left-hand menu. Find and select your saved RDP file, then click Import.

Once you’ve imported your saved RDP file, you’ll then be able to connect to your remote Windows server as before.

Connect to Windows machine in AWS or any cloud from within MacOS, Linux

RDP clients on MacOS

This is a tutorial on the different ways to “remote into” a Windows instance from a MacOS or Linux machine.

Remote Desktop Connection on Windows machines

Remote Desktop Connection is installed with by default on all Windows machines.

Within Start Programs > Accessories, is a RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) client program that can be used without being an Administrator. It uses uses port 3389. The RDP is also known as “Terminal Services”.

If you are running a Windows virtual instance (under VMWare Fusion), etc.,

If you were given a rdp file, click on it because the RDP program is associated with the “rdp” file extension:
ec2-54-219-170-140.us-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com.rdp
This way you see the dialog filled in.

Alternately, open the program manually:

Click the Windows “Start” icon button at the lower left corner (or wherever you moved it).
Click the “Remote Desktop” icon on the Windows 10/2016 Desktop if it’s there:
Alternately, type enough of Remote to see “Remote Desktop Connection” appear for you to click.
Alternately, type mstsc to see “Remote Desktop Connection” appear for you to click.
Either way:
In the “Remote Desktop Connection” dialog, paste into the Computer Name: field the DNS name such as
ec2-54-219-170-140.us-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com
Click “Show Options” for a pop-up:
Type in User Name “Administrator” if you’re using an Amazon EC2 instance, since Amazon EC2 makes use of PEM files for security.
Alternately, if you are working within an enterprise environment, you may need to add a network domain name in front of your assigned named, separated by a “backward slash”. This is because enterprises create for the same person different accounts for internal and external use.
Click “Save”
Click “Connect” to see a “Welcome” screen.
Click “OK” on the Welcome screen.
CAUTION: Remember to Log off, especially if you are sharing a machine with others.

Save rdp file from Amazon

Click the “Connect” icon at the top of the Console.
Click “Download Remote Desktop File” such as:
ec2-54-219-170-140.us-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com.<strong>rdp</strong>
Double-click on the file to open the RDP client.
Back to the dialog:
Click “Get Password”.
Click “Browse…” and select Downloads, the .pem file downloaded earlier.
Click “Decrypt Password”.
Double-click on it to highlight it and press Ctrl+C to copy the string to your Windows Clipboard.
Open a Notepad file and paste it there so you won’t lose it.
Click “Close” to dismiss the dialog.
RDP Client
On Windows Explorer or MacOS Finder, double-click on the .rdp file saved earlier to invoke an RDP client program (if one is installed on Mac, see below).
On the RDP client, click on the Password input field and paste the Clipboard contents.
Leave the Domain blank and click OK to connect.
Click View Instances.
Scroll down to copy the IPv4 Public IP such as 54.219.170.140

Other operating systems

On other operating systems (such as MacOS or Linux), if you have no administrative rights on your corporate Windows laptop, spin up cloud instances in the cloud and access them via a client that uses RDP.

RDP clients on Linux

On Linux machines, there is RDesktop at http://www.rdesktop.org

RDP clients on MacOS

On the Mac, these RDP clients can reach into instances of Amazon EC2 or other cloud that house Windows servers.

A) Royal TS is the enterprise client, at $29 each.

B) Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Client Connection 2.1.1 for Macintosh is gone

B) Microsoft Remote Desktop from Apple AppStore

C) Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac from HockeyApp

D) Vagrant RDP

E) Chrome RDP Add-on is no longer supported?

F) CoRD from Sourceforge is obsolete

Royal TSX

The licensed client is available for Windows and Mac.

Get to their download page at:
Click the “Download” button for Mac to download a file such as:
royaltsx_3.2.6.1000.dmg (23.3 MB)
Click the file downloaded to unzip it.
Click the .dmg file to install it.
As this page says, those without a license can connect up to 10 application instances and a single document per application instance.
Using Finder, go to your Applications folder.
Drage the program to the Launch bar for easy access.
Open the app by clicking on the Launch bar or Applications folder.
Click Apply in the UI that pops up.
Drag the orange logo and drop it on the blue (Applications) folder.
Click Open to the confirmation.
Click the red dot to dismiss the installer pop-up.
Those who buy a perpetual license, have a way to store and retrieve the key string.
Click to apply it.
TODO: Install plugins
TODO: Create document.
TODO: Invoke.

Microsoft Remote Desktop Client gone

Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Client Connection 2.1.1 for Macintosh (installer RDC_2.1.1_ALL.dmg at 9.4 MB) is no longer available for download from here http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.

Image credit: https://hpc.nrel.gov/users/systems/winhpc/getting-started

Microsoft’s Remote Desktop for Mac OSX from Apple

Click this link at the Apple Store.
NOTE: This is newer than the edition that comes with Microsoft Office for Mac 2011.
Click the blue “View in Mac App Store”.
Within the Mac AppStore app, click Get.
Click Install.
Click Open.
Click + New

BLAH: This UI version is difficult because there are no favorites or sorting by last use, aliases, etc. (that I know of). I now have to scroll down the list every time, and remembering which of many cryptic names I want, which is difficult if you have a lot of servers on the list.

NOTE: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/quickstart/latest/rd-gateway/welcome.htmlQuick Start for Remote Desktop Gateway that explains how to configure RDGW in detail

Microsoft HockeyApp Remote Desktop for Mac

This enables you to run the most powerful of servers from a ChromeBook laptop with minimal RAM and hard disk.

Click this link to the
Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac webpage, which is part of the HockeyApp.net used by Xamarin developers for Crash Reporting, User Feedback, User Metrics and In-App Updates.
Click “Download”.
Select “Save” folder to receive file
Microsoft_Remote_Desktop_Beta.app.zip (it’s 20.4 MB).
CAUTION: This is in Beta as of August 30, 2017. The history shows weekly builds.
In Finder, navigate to Downloads folder to double-click on that zip file to unzip it.
Scroll to “Microsoft Remote Desktop Beta”.
If you’re the suspicious type, run md5 on the file to see if the hash created matches the one on the website.
Double-click on the unzipped file to invoke it.
If the “Help us make your experience better?” appears, click “not now” or “Yes”.
Click “Add Desktop”
In the Quick Connect dialog, click on the white field and press Ctrl+V to paste the EC2 DNS Addressor click “Skip” if you don’t have an address yet.
Close and Open again
Click the program name “Microsoft Remote Desktop Beta” at the top and select “Quit”.
In Finder, Downloads folder, right-click and Move to Trash
- Microsoft_Remote_Desktop Beta
- Microsoft_Remote_Desktop_Beta.app.zip
Get to the Mac Launcher by squeezing your fingers and thumb together on the Touchpad.
Type “Mi” until you see “Microsoft Remote Desk”, then click it.
First time
TODO: Verify this.
Click “Add desktop”.
Click “Connect”.
Copy the password from where you saved earlier.
Click on Password field. Press Ctrl+V to paste it.
Click “Continue” to get see the Windows start-up screen.
Click on the icon (in case you have several instances). You should now see a desktop.
Success!
In Finder’s Devices left pane under, click the eject button for the “Microsoft Remote Desktop Beta” installer.
In Finder, drag the “Microsoft Remote Desktop Beta” from within Downloads to drop on the Applications folder.
If you are using the program often, drag the “Microsoft Remote Desktop Beta” from within Applications to drop on the Task Bar so that it is visually avaiable.
Click the red “Add desktop” icon.
For User Account, select “Administrator” because that’s what Amazon does.
For PC Name, paste the name such as
Click “Save”.

Vagrant RDP

If you are getting into a Vagrant instance containing Windows:

VIDEO:

Set the communicator and network ports in your Vagrantfile, such as:
On a Terminal:
vagrant rdp

Chrome Add-on

If you don’t have a Chrome browser, install it from the default Internet Explorer.
Open a Chrome browser to this site.
PROTIP: The fusionlabs.net web page does not use https. Use http://www.fusionlabs.net (the https on this doesn’t resolve).
rdpsupport@fusionlabs.net or 214.739.5454
Click the green “Launch App” button at the upper-right.
CAUTION: I get this running forever:
Highlight the DNS address (such as “ec2-52-53-218-39.us-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com”) and press Ctrl+C to copy it into your Windows Clipboard.
Click on the blank field and press Ctrl+V to paste.
PROTIP: If you can’t connect, make sure RDP port 3389 is open among Inbound port rules.
For Domain:
For UserName:
For Password:

CoRD on Sourceforge

CoRD on Sourceforge, which is for Mac OS X 10.5—10.8 (obsoleted when 10.12 Sierra is out).

CoRD_0.5.7.zip is 3.4 MB

After running this, drag it into your Applications folder.

To add a new server, click on the menu File.

Android Chrome Remote Desktop

Although it has a related named, the Android phone appChrome Remote Desktop securely accesses your computers from your Android device.

Macos Windows Rdp

Set up remote access on desktop computers using the Chrome Remote Desktop app from Chrome Web Store:
https://chrome.google.com/remotedesktop
Click Add to Chrome, then Add at the pop-up.
Launch the app.
Select Remote Assistance providing user-to-user screen sharing for technical support.
On your Android device, open the app and tap on any of your online computers to connect.