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Fix – Unable to Copy and Paste to Remote Desktop Session

Fix – Unable to Copy and Paste to Remote Desktop Session

February 27, 2023 by Mitch Bartlett 32 Comments

I had a peculiar issue with copying and pasting files from my local computer to a Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop session. I could copy and paste locally, but the option to paste would be grayed out on the Remote Desktop computer. There are several ways to solve this problem depending on what you are trying to copy and paste.


Client Settings

  1. Right-click on the RDP icon that you use to connect, then select “Edit“.
  2. Select the “Local Resources” tab.
  3. Check the “Clipboard” option. To allow file copying and pasting, select “More…” and proceed to step 4. If you just need the ability to copy and paste text and not files, stop here and click “OK“.
    RDP Clipboard option and More button
  4. Select the “Drives” option. Click “OK“, then “OK” again.
    RDP Drives option

Server Settings

Windows 2022, 2018, and 2016

In these versions of Windows, these settings are controlled within Group Policy.

  1. Launch “gpedit.msc“.
  2. Navigate to “Computer Configuration” > “Administrative Templates” > “Windows Components” > “Remote Desktop Services” > “Remote Desktop Session Host“.
  3. Ensure “Do not allow Clipboard redirection” is set to “Not Configured” or “Disabled“.

Windows 2012

  1. Open “Server Manager“.
  2. Select “Remote Desktop” Services.
  3. Select “Collections“.
  4. Select “Tasks“, then choose “Edit Properties“.
  5. Under the “Client Settings” tab, ensure the “Clipboard” and “Drive” is enabled.

Windows 2008

  1. Launch “Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration” from the server.
  2. Under “Connections“, right-click the connection and select “Properties“.
  3. Select the “Client Settings” tab, and make sure the “Clipboard” box is unchecked. If  you want to allow copying and pasting of files, make sure the Drive selection is unchecked. Click OK when done.
    Server Side RDP Settings

I should also note that if you have all of these settings configured correctly and things still don’t work, you may need to restart the server or just kill the rdpclip process.


This should be all you need to enable copying and pasting of files to your Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop session. I hope this tutorial has helped you. Please share your experience in the Comments section below.


FAQ

I cannot copy and paste a large file over 2GB is size. What is the problem?

Copying files larger than 2GB to a Windows Remote Desktop session is not supported. For an alternative solution, see this post.

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Filed Under: Windows

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. John says

    March 9, 2023 at 8:27 am

    I still have a server running 2016 and ran into this problem. I had to use a combination of the above solutions, as well as the comments to resolve my issue. My group policy was alread set to disabled and I was unable to paste anything from a remote desktop connection. i tried killing the rdpclip but this did nothing. My solution was the 2012 server solution but with a catch. I kept getting an error that i could not save my changes becuase everything was setup in group policy. I had to go back into group policy (the 2016 solution) and change it to not configured. Then I could go into the 2012 solution, make changes, and save them. The first time I did this, it did not work but I read someone suggested logging out and back in. i did this and my paste is now working.

  2. James Arnn says

    August 30, 2021 at 6:54 am

    Worked like charm! Many thanks Mitch!

  3. Abo Amir says

    August 1, 2021 at 3:05 am

    Thank you so much

    killing the rdpclip process. solved the issue.

  4. Vinay says

    May 11, 2021 at 11:08 am

    How to implement same settings of server on a win10 desktop?

  5. Anurag deshmukh says

    March 22, 2021 at 2:49 pm

    Thanks dude, it helps alot and it works..

  6. David says

    January 7, 2021 at 12:55 pm

    Thank you so much. Killing the process worked for me.

  7. Raj says

    January 4, 2021 at 10:19 am

    I have a weird issue.. I can copy/paste various types of docs but not ooutlook files. I can not paste an email from outlook into RDP session, though I was able to do it in the past. any suggestion will be appreciated..
    Thanks,

  8. Gilbert says

    November 19, 2020 at 8:54 am

    Go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services and make fDisableCdm = 0.

  9. umer says

    September 16, 2020 at 2:51 am

    ( Moky says

    May 11, 2020 at 6:41 pm

    Kill rdpclip.exe worked for me. But you have to do it on both computers (i.e. local and remote computers))

    thanx man it helped

  10. phil says

    July 22, 2020 at 4:42 am

    It did not help… But reducing the size of the RDC from full screen to 1366×768 (second tab) did the trick ! I then had my local desktop and applications visible, and I could click on Notepad text area : the text was actually in the clipboard and bridge-Paste worked !!
    Hope it can help some of you !!!

  11. Jan G says

    June 8, 2020 at 4:52 pm

    Yes, it helped, thank you

  12. SB says

    May 28, 2020 at 7:35 am

    Working very well. thanks

  13. Moky says

    May 11, 2020 at 6:41 pm

    Kill rdpclip.exe worked for me. But you have to do it on both computers (i.e. local and remote computers)

  14. Donna says

    May 6, 2020 at 1:20 pm

    YAY thank you so much!!!! I couldn’t believe a quick google search and picking the first link I found would actually solve my problem!!!!-

  15. Aurelio Silvestroni says

    April 20, 2020 at 6:41 pm

    I did edit the RDC (indeed DRIVE was not selected) but still doesn’t work. Do you think the problem is in the other end, that the administrator have to give permission? It worked a few days ago and suddenly stop working.
    Please help

  16. Ana says

    March 16, 2020 at 1:53 am

    Thanks a lot!!! I’ve made only ‘Client Settings’ and it’s helped

  17. chris kershaw says

    December 18, 2019 at 3:04 am

    perfect thx!!

  18. debabrata Mandal says

    November 28, 2019 at 7:51 am

    For Me the solution provided for Windows 2012 worked on Windows 2016

    Thanks for sharing this article.

    **************Working *************

    Open “Server Manager“.
    Select “Remote Desktop” Services.
    Select “Collections“.
    Select “Tasks“, then choose “Edit Properties“.
    Under the “Client Settings” tab, ensure the “Clipboard” and “Drive” is enabled.

  19. christine says

    August 7, 2019 at 1:13 pm

    Thank you very much for sharing. This is very insightful.
    I know about the killing the rdpclip clip process but somehow I keep forgetting “rdclip”.
    I have to google it all the time with “i can’t copy from remote access”

  20. Maryps says

    July 12, 2019 at 11:23 am

    Thanks for all the help!
    Kill rdpclip.exe worked for me.

  21. Erik Grahn says

    May 15, 2019 at 7:53 am

    This was relevant for me today;
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/2258090/copying-files-larger-than-2-gb-over-a-remote-desktop-services-or-termi

  22. 7-elephant says

    April 2, 2019 at 6:16 am

    Kill rdpclip.exe then close and reopen remote connection. It works, nice.

  23. anudeep says

    March 6, 2019 at 12:45 am

    Thanks Mitch , it solved my problem.

  24. Dheeraj says

    February 26, 2019 at 12:53 pm

    How can i do this only for users not for administrator

  25. ahmed says

    January 16, 2019 at 2:11 am

    Thanks bro
    The problem solved after killing rdpclip process

  26. CML says

    January 9, 2019 at 11:00 am

    Problem solved thnk you

  27. Tejal says

    January 9, 2019 at 6:21 am

    thank you so much.
    kill the rdpclip process worked for me.

  28. gabriel says

    December 28, 2018 at 11:58 am

    Not work for me.
    The option is under “Device and Resource Redirection”

    regards

  29. Arun C says

    December 17, 2018 at 1:24 pm

    You are awesome Mitch, saved me in the nick of the time. I did exactly what is mentioned here and it did exactly what it was mentioned, problem solved!!

  30. Michel says

    November 30, 2018 at 5:17 am

    Bingo!! you solved my issue here, really appreciated bud!

  31. Supaporn says

    October 2, 2018 at 10:14 am

    Thank you so much. This post is very helpful.

  32. JM says

    September 11, 2018 at 5:31 pm

    Thanks for your help, Mitch. This is exactly what I need.

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Baby and Daddy My name is Mitch Bartlett. I've been working in technology for over 20 years in a wide range of tech jobs from Tech Support to Software Testing. I started this site as a technical guide for myself and it has grown into what I hope is a useful reference for all.

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