Fix: Remote Desktop can't Connect to the Remote Computer for one of these Reasons (2024)

The error ‘Remote Desktop can’t connect to the remote computer for one of these reasons’ can occur due to lots of reasons including wrong login credentials, connectivity issues or the use of HTTP/UDP protocol. The error message indicates three of the following reasons:

1. Remote access to the server is not enabled
2. The remote computer is turned off
3. The remote computer is not available on the network

Remote desktop is a very handy feature which allows you to connect to other computers running Windows and use them without the need to be physically in front of that computer. The computer with which you want to connect can be in any part of the world and you will be able to access and use it if you have the right credentials and needed software. Having a working internet connection is mandatory on both systems for a successful connection. In this article, we’ll be discussing a generic issue of Remote Desktop where it fails to connect to the remote connection i.e. causes of the issue along with solutions that you can use to get rid of the error for good.

What causes Remote Desktop connections to fail in Windows?

Although there can be a number of reasons due to which the Remote Desktop connection can fail in Windows, the most frequent cause is having an unstable internet connection or mismatching login credentials. Apart from these reasons, there are some other known causes for the Remote Desktop functionality to break in Windows 10. These are:

You can follow some of these solutions below in order to get your RDP in Windows to work correctly.

Solution 1: Change/Tweak your Firewall Settings

This thing is a must to do if you are having problems with RDP. Most of the times your firewall will block some incoming and outgoing connections by default. If you have a strict firewall policy setup, then, unfortunately, you will not be able to connect to a remote computer.

If the Remote Desktop feature has been blocked or not allowed through Windows Firewall, then you need to allow it. To do that, it is pretty simple and easy, follow the instructions given down below:

1. Open Start Menu and type “Allow an app through Windows Firewall” without the quotes.
2. Click on the first selection that comes in it.
3. Next click on the Change Settings on the top right corner of the window that comes up.

   

4. There you will see a list of applications or features that have been allowed or not allowed in Windows Firewall.
5. Scroll down until you see Remote Desktop and check the checkbox in front of it (Private one).

   

6. Close the window and you are done with allowing Remote Desktop through Windows Firewall.

Solution 2: Allow Remote Desktop Connections if not allowed

Another thing you need to check is whether the Remote Desktop connections are allowed in your Windows or not. If that functionality is blocked, even if you allow Remote Desktop through Firewall, Remote Desktop connections would not work. To check that, do the following:

1. Type ‘Allow Remote Desktop Connections’ in Start Menu.
2. Then, click on the first selection.
3. A window will appear; scroll down until you see the heading Remote Desktop. Click on ‘Show settings’ in front of ‘Change settings to allow remote connections to this computer’.

   

4. Make sure the option ‘Allow Remote Assistance Connections to this Computer’ is checked. Click on Apply and then OK to close the window.

Solution 3: Reset your Remote Desktop Credentials

Most of the time, when you have saved the credentials for a specific remote computer and you want to connect to another remote computer, then you will get an error because the credentials are not matching. It is because you have saved the Remote Desktop credentials and the other computer with whom you are connecting to, has different credentials.

In order to reset or remove RDP credentials in Windows 10, perform the following actions:

1. Type Remote Desktop Connection in Start Menu.
2. Then click on the first selection which is “Remote Desktop”.
3. Type in the computer IP address. If there are any credentials saved for this specific computer, you will be given the option to either edit or delete
4. Click on delete to remove the credentials.

   

Solution 4: Add the Remote Computer’s IP address to your hosts file

One more thing that you can do is to add the remote computer’s IP address to your hosts file. Some users have problems when they want to connect to a remote computer whose IP address is not in their hosts file. To do that, do the following:

1. Press Windows Key + X and select Command Prompt (Admin) from the list to open an elevated command prompt.
2. Once in cmd, type this command:

   cd C:/Windows/System32/Drivers/etc

3. Afterward, type this command:

   notepad hosts

4. 

5. Once the hosts file opens in notepad, add the IP address of the Remote computer to the end of the file. Finally, click on close button and when asked to save changes, click on Save.

Solution 5: Adding the RDGClientTransport Key

Some users have been able to fix their problem with Remote Desktop Connections in Windows by doing a registry tweak. You will have to create a new DWORD key in the Windows Registry which will force the RDP to use RPC/HTTP connections instead of HTTP/UDP. Here’s how to add the key:

1. Press Windows + R to open the Run
2. Type regedit and press enter.
3. Next, navigate to the following path in registry editor by pasting it in the address bar:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SoftwareMicrosoft/Terminal Server Client

4. Once there, right click on the right side of the pane and click on New→ DWORD (32-bit Value) and name it RDGClientTransport.

   

5. Then, double click on this new key which has been created to open its properties. Now you will see an option to set value data. Set it to 1. Then click on OK and close the Windows Registry.

Solution 6: Changing Network Properties

In some cases, the error might be triggered due to the network that has been set up as Public. Therefore, in this step, we will be changing it to private. For that:

1. Press “Windows” + “I” to open settings.
2. Click on the “Network and Internet” option and select “Status”.

   

3. Click on the “Change Connection Properties” option.

   

4. Select the “Private” option.

   

5. Check to see if the issue persists.