What Can We Do to Remote Desktop not Responding?

My Remote Desktop not responding

"I'm RDPing to my company's PC (from my home) and the process is smooth fairly. I need to access a file, but Remote Desktop is not responding and the taskbar was missing. I can't click on anything. Any assistance is greatly appreciated."

Meeting with some problems when you tend to RDP into a server is kind of annoying for every user, let alone for those who are in a hurry. Apart from the aforementioned situation, some users also claim that the RDP is not responding and being stuck at “please wait”.

How to fix Remote Desktop not responding

To fix “Remote Desktop not responding and not showing taskbar on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, here we list 3 solutions for you. Before the operation, here are 2 workarounds for you.

▶ Check the network connectivity. It can save a large amount of time if it’s because of the network.

▶ If there are no important files that need to be saved, run command line “shutdown -f -r -t 1” in Command Prompt to restart the PC and reconnect.

Solution 1. Run Task Kill command line

It will be hard to operate if the Remote Desktop Connection not responding on Windows 11, 10, especially when the taskbar not showing. Therefore, we can take advantage of the keyboard to run the Task Kill command line to end the session and then reconnect.

Step 1. Press Win + R to open the dialog box, and then enter “cmd”. Click on “OK”.

Step 2. Input the following command line and then press the Enter key.

taskkill /im mstsc.exe /f

Step 3. Now the remote connection will be ended. The issue may have been fixed. Reconnect to the remote server again to see if it happens again.

Note: If you meet with the error that “mstsc.exe could not be terminated”, try the next solution.

Solution 2. Press Ctrl + Alt + ESC to end Task

We know that some keyboard shortcuts in Remote Desktop are different from the Windows shortcut. Therefore, we can use Ctrl + Alt + End/ESC to open Task Manager and end the process.

Step 1. Press Ctrl + Alt + End/ESC simultaneously and then click on Task Manager.

Step 2. Locate on the Processes tab. Scroll down and find “Remote Desktop Connection”. Click on “End task”.

Step 3. And then locate the Detail tab, scroll down and find “rdpclip.exe”, and then right-click on it, choose “End Task” again.

Now the task must be ended now. After that, reconnect the remote server and you may access files, run apps successfully.

Solution 3. Reconnect to another user

It is said that the reason is that your access rights on the server prevent it from working. You can try to create a second connection as yourself on the server by running MSTSC /admin from your Command Prompt.

Step 1. Press Win + R to run the dialog box. Input cmd and then hit “OK”.

Step 2. Enter the command line “MSTSC /admin” and then press the Enter key.

Step 3. Enter another PC’s IP address and the credentials to connect. Then go to Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + End/ESC simultaneously and then go to the Users tab.

Step 4. Now you can see the PC that is not responding showing Disconnected. Right-click on it and then Choose “Log Off” or “Connect” as you want to fix the issue.

Efficiently get remote access! Say No to limitations

RDP not responding will wear out the users’ patience. If the above ways are not working for you, and you need to remotely access a PC in a hurry, then you can use a free & less-limited third-party remote access software-- AnyViewer.  

Unlike RDP, AnyViewer can help you efficiently get remote access without the limitation of the same LAN, IP address and the Windows version, with which you can achieve one-click connections to access files once you log into the AnyViewer account.

Now, tick the button to get AnyViewer and let’s operate together.

Step 1. Install AnyViewer. Sign up for the AnyViewer account and then log in to this account on the two computers. Once logged in, the PC will be assigned to the account automatically. 

Step 2. On the client computer, go to "Device", locate and click the PC that you need to control. And then click "One-click control" to achieve a remote connection with one click. 

If you need to help your friends without signing the AnyViewer account, you can also go to the “Connect” tab to realize remote connection by inputting the device ID of the host PC and then realize remote connections via sending a request control.

Conclusion

This post mainly introduces 3 solutions on fixing Remote Desktop not responding. If you happen to run into the issue, the methods suit you to address it. Of course, if you are in a hurry to remote into a PC but the solutions fail, AnyViewer can offer you a better experience.