Blog · · 4 min read

Remote Desktop shortcut keys for Windows 11 and 10

The Remote Desktop keyboard shortcuts for Windows: Ctrl+Alt+Del, Alt+Tab, Start and full screen inside a session, the setting that decides where your keys go, and a ring for the awkward ones.

Inside a Remote Desktop session, two computers want the same keys. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and your own PC answers, not the server. Press Alt+Tab in a window and you may switch away from the session instead of inside it. Remote Desktop solves this with its own set of shortcuts, and once you know them, a remote session behaves almost like a local one.

Everything here is from Microsoft's documentation of the Remote Desktop shortcut keys and of the Remote Desktop client for Windows. It applies to Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe) on Windows 11 and Windows 10.

The three you need first

  • Ctrl+Alt+End opens the Windows Security screen on the remote computer. This is Ctrl+Alt+Delete for the session: lock it, change the password, sign out or open Task Manager.
  • Ctrl+Alt+Break switches between full screen and a window. On keyboards without a Break key, Ctrl+Alt+Pause, Ctrl+Alt+PrtScn or Ctrl+Alt+Fn+ScrLk do the same.
  • Ctrl+Alt+Home shows the connection bar at the top of a full-screen session, where you can minimize or disconnect.

Ctrl+Alt+End and Ctrl+Alt+Break work in every session, whatever the keyboard setting below.

Windows keys, the Remote Desktop way

When the session is in a window, these replace the usual Windows shortcuts so they reach the remote computer:

  • Alt+Page Up instead of Alt+Tab: switches between programs from left to right.
  • Alt+Page Down instead of Alt+Shift+Tab: switches from right to left.
  • Alt+Insert instead of Alt+Esc: cycles through programs in the order they were started.
  • Alt+Home instead of the Windows key: opens the Start menu of the remote computer.
  • Alt+Delete instead of Alt+Space: opens the system menu of the active window.
  • Ctrl+Alt+Plus instead of PrtScn: puts a picture of the whole session on the clipboard.
  • Ctrl+Alt+Minus instead of Alt+PrtScn: puts a picture of the active remote window on the clipboard.

Everyday shortcuts such as Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V and Ctrl+Z are the same in a session as at home. Copying between your PC and the session needs Clipboard ticked under Local Resources, and an administrator can turn it off for a server.

The setting that decides where keys go

In Remote Desktop Connection, click Show Options, open the Local Resources tab and look at Apply Windows key combinations. It has three choices:

  1. On this computer. Alt+Tab, the Windows key and the others always act on your own PC. In the session you use the Remote Desktop versions above.
  2. On the remote computer. The normal shortcuts go to the session whenever it is active. Your own PC gets them back when you close the connection.
  3. Only when using the full screen. The default. Normal shortcuts go to the session in full screen and to your PC when the session is in a window.

If Alt+Tab or the Windows key "does not work" in a session, check this setting first. Choose On the remote computer if you spend most of the day inside one server.

Two things that catch people out

  • Nested sessions. If you connect to one server and from there to another, the shortcuts do not reach the inner session. Microsoft's documentation says so plainly. Use the Start menu and the mouse in the inner one, or connect to it directly.
  • Laptop keyboards. Many laptops have no Break or Pause key, or hide it behind Fn. Use one of the alternatives listed above, or the connection bar's restore button.

How to remember them

  1. End is the new Delete. Ctrl+Alt+End sits where your hand already is for Ctrl+Alt+Delete.
  2. The navigation block is the remote keyboard. Page Up, Page Down, Insert, Home and Delete stand in for Tab, Shift+Tab, Esc, the Windows key and Space. They are all on the same small block above the arrow keys on a full keyboard.
  3. Ctrl+Alt is for the session itself: full screen, connection bar, screenshots, security screen. Alt alone is for programs inside the session.
  4. Change the setting once. If you work full-time in a session, the On the remote computer option means you can forget most of this list.

A Remote Desktop ring

The Remote Desktop keys are easy to understand and awkward to press: three-key combinations on a block of keys many laptops do not even have. RadialDeck is the radial menu for Windows that we make, and that is where a ring helps. When a Remote Desktop window is in front, the hotkey opens a ring with these slices:

  • In RDP: Ctrl+Alt+Del sends Ctrl+Alt+End.
  • In RDP: toggle full screen sends Ctrl+Alt+Pause.
  • In RDP: Alt+Tab inside the session sends Alt+Page Up.
  • In RDP: Start menu of the remote PC sends Alt+Home.
  • In RDP: Task Manager of the remote PC opens the security screen and picks Task Manager.

The Remote Desktop page lists them. For people who connect to many machines, the gallery also has Remote Desktop to the copied name: copy a server name from a ticket or a list, open the ring, and the connection starts. Variants open the console session (/admin) or use all monitors.

Quick reference

  • Security screen: Ctrl+Alt+End
  • Full screen: Ctrl+Alt+Break or Ctrl+Alt+Pause
  • Connection bar: Ctrl+Alt+Home
  • Switch programs: Alt+Page Up, Alt+Page Down, Alt+Insert
  • Start menu: Alt+Home
  • Screenshots: Ctrl+Alt+Plus, Ctrl+Alt+Minus

RadialDeck is free for two rings and has a 14-day trial of Pro, which adds a ring per program such as Remote Desktop. It is in the Microsoft Store.

Try it in RadialDeck

Free for two rings, with a 14-day trial of everything in Pro. Windows 10 and 11, from the Microsoft Store.

Get it from Microsoft or download the installer (.exe)