So you have a printer installed on your Microsoft Windows computer, but the printer is not showing in your Remote Desktop session? There are a few things to check when you experience this issue.
1. Check that Printers Are Enabled on Connection
Ensure that you have the Printers option selected in your Remote Desktop settings. You can check this by bringing up the Remote Desktop Connection screen, selecting Local Resources and ensuring the Printers option is selected.
2. Check Server Settings
If you are connecting to a Windows Server box, ensure the settings on the server don’t disable the sharing of Printers.
Windows 2008
- Go to “Start” > “Administrative Tools” > “Remote Desktop Services” > “Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration“.
- Select “Connections“, right-click the name of the connection > “Properties” > “Client Settings” > “Redirection“. Ensure that “Windows Printer” is not checked.
Windows 2012
- Open “Server Manager“.
- Select “Remote Desktop” Services.
- Select “Collections“.
- Select “Tasks“, then choose “Edit Properties“.
- Under the “Client Settings” tab, ensure the “Windows Printer” is enabled.
3. Ensure Drivers Are Installed On Server
Check that the printer drivers are installed on the computer you are connecting to. If the drivers haven’t been installed, on the computer you are connecting to, the printer won’t appear at all.
samitis says
This was a very concise to the point article. I have been using RDP blindly. Now I have a lot of redirected printers in the remote win10 PC.How do I delete them.
Mex says
I’am upgrade to Windows 10, and I connect for RDP to windows server 2003 and i can’t see the printers from local windows 10, although in windose 7 I see them all printer and work fine with me. What could be the problem?
Matt Phelps says
This was a WONDERFUL article. My issue was the server settings and I had no Idea that those options could be disabled on the server. Even hairier my TCP RDP redirection options were grayed out and I could not change them under the RDP TCP properties. With RSOP.msc I was able to find the policy that was denying making changes to the redirection settings. I disabled the policy in Group Policy Management then I was able to uncheck the printer options for the RDP TCP redirection properties. Installed the printer driver to the server and had the user connect to RDP again and voilà redirected printers were now showing in Devices and Printers on the terminal server connection.. Thanks again!