How to grant Remote Desktop access

Estimated reading time: 1 min

When we set up a new Windows Server, a default Administrator account is created for us. While this is fine initially, you should always create a separate user for day to day purposes. In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a new user in Windows Server 2016 and allow it to use RDP [Remote Desktop Protocol].

Prerequisites

• Cloud VPS or Dedicated Server with Windows Server 2016 installed.
• You must be logged in via RDP as an administrative user. If you are on Windows 10, you can follow our guide on how to connect to your server using RDP.

Step 1: Create a User

Right-click on the Start menu and click on Computer Management.

Expand the Local Users and Groups option and click on Users.

Right-click and select New User.

Now fill in the details of the new user account you want to create. Disable the User must change password at next logon option and enable the Password never expires option so you can use your password without being reminded constantly by Windows to change it.

Click Create to finish adding the new user. Remember the username you chose here because you will need it later!

Step 2: Add the User to Remote Desktop Users

Click on the Groups option and Select Remote Desktop Users.  Adding our newly created user to this Group will allow it to access the server via RDP.

Double click on the Remote Desktop Users option and click Add.

Type in the username you created earlier in the Enter the object names to select box and click Check Names.

You will see your fully qualified username. Click OK twice to finish adding the user to Remote Desktop User.

Step 3: Test the new user

Disconnect from the server and login again with the newly created Username to check if everything is working okay.

Conclusion

Congratulations. You created a new user and gave it RDP permissions on your Windows Server 2016.

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On Windows 10, you can enable Remote Desktop to allow remote access to a computer using the Remote Desktop Protocol [RDP]. Usually, you would use this feature to offer assistance or control a device or server without being physically present at the location using the modern “Remote Desktop” or legacy “Remote Desktop Connection” app.

The ability to allow external access to a device has been available for many years, but it was a feature you have to configure using the Control Panel. However, on Windows 10, the settings to enable remote access are now included in the Settings app.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to enable Remote Desktop to manage a device or access your files and apps remotely using the Settings app as well as using Control Panel on Windows 10.

Important: Remote Desktop is not a feature available on Windows 10 Home, only on Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. If you’re running Windows 10 Home, you can use the Chrome Remote Desktop as an alternative.

To enable Remote Desktop on Windows 10 using the Settings app, use these steps:

1. Open Settings on Windows 10.

2. Click on System.

3. Click on Remote Desktop.

4. Turn on the Enable Remote Desktop toggle switch.

5. Click the Confirm button.

Once you complete the steps, you can connect to the computer using the modern Remote Desktop app [recommended] or the Remote Desktop Connection app included with Windows 10.

You’ll also notice two new additional options to ensure you can always connect when you’re away, including “Keep my PC awake for connection when it is plugged in” and “Make my PC discoverable on private networks to enable automatic connection from a remote device.” 

In the “Advanced settings” page, you’ll also find additional options, such as the ability to require computers to use “Network Level Authentication” to connect. This feature makes the connection more secure by requiring users to authenticate with the network before they can connect to the device.

The settings page also displays the current Remote Desktop port if you need to configure a router to allow remote connections outside the network. If nothing changes on your device, the port number should always be 3389.

Enable Remote Desktop on Windows 10 using Control Panel

Although the Settings app makes it easy to allow remote access to your computer, it’s still possible to enable RDP using Control Panel.

To enable Remote Desktop with Control Panel, use these steps:

1. Open Control Panel.

2. Click on System and Security.

3. Under the “System” section, click the Allow remote access link.

4. Under the “Remote Desktop” section, select the Allow remote connections to this computer option.

5. Click the Apply button.

6. Click the OK button.

After you complete the steps, you can use one of the available clients from another computer to connect to your device remotely.

It should be noted that as you enable the feature using Control Panel, the option to require Network Level Authentication also gets selected by default, which is an option you want to have enabled anyway.

While you can use Control Panel to configure Remote Desktop on Windows 10 and previous versions, such as Windows 8.1 and Windows 7, the ability to turn on the feature using the Settings app is only available starting on Windows 10.