Using the new Microsoft Remote Desktop app

Every Windows 10 machine comes shipped with the ability to access other Windows computers on your network remotely. This is known simply as the “Remote Desktop Connection”. For years I would use this to access my remote computers in my office, and it worked pretty well all and all. A few years ago, Microsoft has released a Remote Desktop app that is a successor to it named “Remote Desktop app”. This does not come shipped with the computer however, but it is easy enough to download from the Microsoft Store for free. I have been using the new app for a few months now, and I find it quite easy to use. At first glance it works very similar to the older “Remote Desktop Connection” software with just a more jazzed up User Interface (UI). However, I find it seems to work a little bit better. With the old software my session would get dropped periodically or sometimes not connect at all. With the new app I have not run into any connection problems. I do think it does lag a little bit, but nothing really too severe.

To install the Remote Desktop client. Simply go and download it for free from the Microsoft Store. To get to the store all you do is press the Windows key on your keyboard and start typing “Store” into the search bar.

The basics of using the new Remote Desktop client:

1. Once the Remote Desktop client is installed, open it from your start menu. If it is newly installed, then it will probably show up at the top of the menu under “Recently Added”.

2. You will be presented with a window that shows all the computers you have set up to remote into. If this is a fresh install and you will only be looking at a blank white screen.
3. To start a new remote session, click on the “+Add” button at the top of the window and select the “PC” option from the drop-down menu.

4. You will be presented with a new screen where you fill out the login information of the computer you would like to remote to. Including the name of the PC (this must match exactly with the name you gave it when you first set up that computer), and the user account information.
5. If you leave the “User Account” option set to the default, then the program will ask you for your account credentials every time you connect to that machine. To permanently save your user account credentials just click on the + next to the drop-down menu.
6. To change any audio or display settings for this connection click on the down arrow that says, “Show more”.

7. Once you have saved everything you will be brought back to your home screen where you will see an icon that represents that computer that is ready to connect. To start your new remote session, it is as simple as left clicking on the name of the machine you would like to work with.

For more information on the new Remote Desktop client app here is the link directly to the Microsoft documents page.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/clients/windows