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How to CTRL+ALT+Delete in Remote Desktop

How to CTRL+ALT+Delete in Remote Desktop

By Mitch Bartlett 37 Comments

You may want to learn how to CTRL+ALT+Delete in Remote Desktop if you want to change a password, lock the RDP screen, or log off. The CTRL+ALT+Delete keystroke won’t work  though since your own operating system utilizes it. So, what is a poor tech who needs to access that screen to do when remoted in via a Remote Desktop session?

Method 1

  • In RDP, the “CTRL” + “ALT” + “End” combination will work.

If you have trouble finding the “End” key, it is normally located to the right of the “Enter” key. If you’re using a small keyboard on a laptop, you may have to hold down a function key to utilize it.
CTRL-ALT-DEL Screen in RDP

The key combination will also work in older Terminal Server sessions.


Method 2

  1. On the Remote Desktop, select “Start“.
  2. Type “osk“, then open the “On Screen Keyboard“.
  3. Press “Ctrl” and “Alt” on the physical keyboard, then select “Del” on the osk window..

Other Solutions

It should be noted that you aren’t limited to using this key combination if you want to do any of the options available on this screen. Here are some other options:

  • To change your password, you could go to “Control Panel” > “User Accounts”  > “Change your windows password“. In Windows 10, 7, 8, 2008, 2012, 2016, and Vista, you can simply select “Start” and type “change password” to access the option.
  • To access Task Manager, you could right-click the time on the taskbar and select Task Manager.
  • You can usually log off by selecting “Start” > “Log off“.
  • To lock the computer, you can create an icon.

Have any better shortcuts for these options in an RDP session? Please share them in the Comments section.

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Filed Under: Windows Tagged With: Remote Desktop

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. fasz says

    March 2, 2021 at 12:02 am

    Thanks man, I didn’t know about the ctrl alt end screen, not even sure what that is supposed to be, but it wasn’t caught by the outside Win10, so it’s fine.
    It’s very much annoying that when you write “password” into Start, it’ll bring up “Change your password”, and you can’t change your password on that page. How misleading that is!

  2. Andrew says

    February 24, 2021 at 8:18 am

    Great Info. Didn’t have to call support.

  3. Maria C. says

    February 15, 2021 at 8:20 am

    Method 2 is great, with On Screen Keyboard > Ctrl+Alt and “Del” on the osk window!
    I didn’t know about this option, “On Screen Keyboard”.
    Thank you so much for this awesome information, it was really helpful!

  4. Losi says

    February 4, 2021 at 2:10 am

    This instruction from Method 2 helped thx

  5. Daisy Amor says

    December 8, 2020 at 2:24 am

    Ctrl-Alt-End helped me! Thanks much

  6. JOHN D. MORGAN says

    December 7, 2020 at 10:31 am

    The method listed under “Other Solutions” does NOT work for Remote Desktop in Windows 10. In Windows 10, there is no way to open up the Change Password screen ON THE REMOTE COMPUTER by clicking on a link or button. CTRL-ALT-DEL/Change Password will change the password on the LOCAL computer NOT the REMOTE computer. The ONLY way to change the password on the REMOTE computer is using the On-Screen Keyboard.

  7. Amad says

    December 6, 2020 at 10:45 pm

    Save my day

    Thanks :)

  8. gentshbn says

    November 25, 2020 at 1:30 am

    AMAZING, this is great!

  9. SimonTemplar240 says

    September 11, 2020 at 10:25 am

    This was exactly what I need to find! It saved me a trip into the office, which, as you may imagine, I am trying to avoid. Thanks tremendously!

  10. Mavrick says

    August 6, 2020 at 3:01 am

    Run the shell
    You can directly launch the shell to get the Windows Security Options displayed. To do so, open the Run-box or open a command prompt and copy-paste:

    C:\Windows\explorer.exe shell:::{2559a1f2-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}

  11. Joshi naveen says

    August 4, 2020 at 2:49 am

    thank you so much this commend is very useful

    On the Remote Desktop, select “Start“.
    Type “osk“, then open the “On Screen Keyboard“.
    Press “Ctrl” and “Alt” on the physical keyboard, then select “Del” on the osk window..

  12. Guy says

    July 30, 2020 at 2:15 pm

    Great! Thanks

  13. Jon says

    April 20, 2020 at 11:02 am

    For Mac users:

    1) left click on an empty part of the desktop (like your desktop background); and

    2) press function + option + F4

    This will bring up a new menu in a popup that allows you to trigger a restart of the computer.

  14. MahenderDhaka says

    April 19, 2020 at 5:14 am

    Great !! Thanks.. Its working.

  15. Rohit Upadhyay says

    April 18, 2020 at 7:24 am

    Thanks for your help.

  16. Trev says

    April 9, 2020 at 6:01 am

    You should also add instructions for how to do a Ctrl-Alt-Del equivalent when running the RDP Remote Desktop to a windows machine from a Mac

  17. Gisela says

    April 6, 2020 at 8:59 am

    THANK YOU!!!

  18. LivingCoronaRDP says

    April 1, 2020 at 6:04 am

    Ctl-Atl-End Rocks!!!!

  19. Rupa says

    March 22, 2020 at 11:32 pm

    Thanks Method 2 helped me

  20. Jezz says

    January 16, 2020 at 6:16 am

    Method 2 worked perfectly – thanks very much for your help! :)

  21. Mete says

    January 15, 2020 at 6:05 am

    Method 2 has worked very good ! thanks ;)

  22. mpho says

    January 10, 2020 at 1:20 am

    Method 2 works!! thank you.

  23. Maracine Ion says

    December 31, 2019 at 12:34 am

    Hello everybody! It works for by the Method 1. Thank you very much! You are great people, with great heart! Because you sent time posting very useful tricks to help other people in need!
    God bless you all!
    A Happy New Year for you and your beloved! :)

  24. Dimitri says

    November 25, 2019 at 4:48 am

    Thanks ?

  25. Raj says

    November 18, 2019 at 11:44 am

    Method 2 worked. Thank you !!!

  26. Klaus Schulze says

    October 22, 2019 at 6:10 am

    If Ctrl-Alt-Del and Ctrl-Alt-End don’t do, try Ctrl-Alt-Insert (worked in a VMware Horizon browser session).

  27. Geoff Crompton says

    October 7, 2019 at 7:27 am

    Nice. Method 2 worked for me. Literally nothing happened when pressing ctrl alt end, or ctrl alt insert
    Thanks!!

  28. Zsolt says

    September 2, 2019 at 3:14 am

    Method 2 worked, thank you !!!

  29. Richard Simpson says

    August 22, 2019 at 11:06 am

    Ctrl-Alt-End for the Win.

  30. Tom says

    July 9, 2019 at 11:09 am

    Thank you!

  31. shanthi says

    May 17, 2019 at 5:01 am

    i am missed the remote desk top connection administrator password
    my system ctl+alt + del format no change please help me

  32. Aftab says

    April 10, 2019 at 5:28 am

    Thank you dear, very informative…

  33. chitra says

    April 9, 2019 at 11:50 pm

    Was very helpful..

    thanks

  34. Tim says

    April 5, 2019 at 1:45 pm

    Awesome information; thank you!!

  35. Lars J. says

    February 28, 2019 at 3:45 am

    Very good information, short and accurate descriptions.

  36. Jean-Claude DuBois says

    February 22, 2019 at 11:07 am

    Ctrl-Alt-End.. Wow.. I’ve supported Windows for years, and never knew about that shortcut.

    Proof even an old timer (me) can learn new tricks.

  37. Suresh Kumar says

    January 2, 2019 at 1:47 pm

    Great help – thanks a lot

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