Keyboard shortcut to minimize Remote Desktop

Is there a way, using the keyboard, to switch from a maximized (full screen) Remote Desktop Connection back to the main computer?

I have about 4 Remote Desktop connections that I am switching between and it would be nice to not have to go to the mouse each time I want to switch.

I know I can press Ctrl+Alt+Break and that normalizes the remote desktop screen. That is close, but I would like a way to just minimize it (so I don't have to normalize->switch->maximize each time I want to switch screens)

14 Answers

CTRL + ALT + BREAK will un-maximize the fullscreen connection window on the host PC.

4

Ctrl + Alt + Home will bring focus to your local machine (at least in Win 8). Ctrl + Alt + Home then Win will open the windows menu on your local machine.

With virtual machine use, I often have multiple RDP sessions open, and switch by Ctrl + Alt + Home then Win + T then arrow keys to pick the RDP session I want to be in.

7

This bugged me for the longest time as well.

Initial attempts to solve it with AutoHotkey failed, because the Remote Desktop client installs a keyboard hook and swallows all input.

I finally discovered that the Caps Lock key gets passed through to the local system.

So, this AutoHotkey script will do the trick, making Ctrl+Shift+CapsLock minimize Remote Desktop:

#IfWinActive ahk_class TscShellContainerClass ^+CapsLock:: ; Need a short sleep here for focus to restore properly. Sleep 50 WinMinimize return
#IfWinActive

Corrected version that works for me:

#IfWinActive ahk_class TSSHELLWND ^Capslock:: ; Ctrl+Caps Lock (couldn't make Ctrl+Shift+Caps Lock work for some reason ; Need a short sleep here for focus to restore properly. Sleep 50 WinMinimize A ; need A to specify Active window ;MsgBox, Received Remote Desktop minimize hotkey ; uncomment for debugging return
#IfWinActive

3

It is possible to use the normal, comfortable, Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut to get out of a full screen Remote Desktop, but requires a slightly different setup before connecting. Instead of minimizing the remote system, I just switch to another local program and leave the remote system in the background with the following:

1. Before connecting to the remote machine with Remote Desktop Connection, on the "Local Resources" tab, I set "Keyboard" to "On this computer". This allows using Alt+Tab to get you back to any other program on the local system.
2. When I want to switch between programs on the remote system, I use Alt+Page Up, which works just like Alt+Tab would, but only on the remote system.

In addition, you can use Alt+Page Down (or Alt+Shift+Page Up) to cycle through the active programs on the remote system in reverse.

One caveat Luc mentioned should be pointed out: using this setup, all keyboard shortcuts using the Windows Key are sent to the local system. An example would be Windows Key+E to open Windows Explorer, which will get you to the local file system, not the remote one.

It took a short amount of time to get used to, but this setup has worked well for me without the need for additional software or more than one shortcut.

4

For me in Windows 7 64 bit to make scrip work I had to change 1st line from #IfWinActive ahk_class TSSHELLWND to "IfWinActive ahk_class TscShellContainerClass so the full script now looks like:

#IfWinActive ahk_class TscShellContainerClass ^Capslock:: ; Ctrl+Caps Lock (couldn't make Ctrl+Shift+Caps Lock work for some reason ; Need a short sleep here for focus to restore properly. Sleep 50 WinMinimize A ; need A to specify Active window ;MsgBox, Received Remote Desktop minimize hotkey ; uncomment for debugging return
#IfWinActive

1

CTRL+ALT+Home brings focus to the Remote Desktop Connection bar. The connection bar includes the minimize button.

In Windows 7, if I un-check "Display the connection bar when I use the full screen" option when making the connection, then the keys to minimize the RPD session are CTRL+ALT+Home Spacebar.

If the connection bar is set to show (which is the default) then it requires hitting Tab a couple of times to minimize the RDP session: CTRL+ALT+Home Tab Tab Spacebar.

1

Not quite what you asked for, but might be helpful enough:

CTRL + ALT + ← - switches you to the host computer

CTRL + ALT + → - switches you back to the remote computer

Source

3

I found that you need two combinations of shorcuts. It works in Windows 7.

1. CTRL + ALT + BREAK will minimize the maximized window to the host PC.
2. Win + M Minimize your remote Desktop window

or in the first step you can change of window with ALT + TAB.

2

Bring up the host's Task Manager, then task-switch:

• Ctrl+Alt+Delete (Windows Security)
• T (Task Manager)
• Alt+Tab (task-switch on host computer)

I do the same thing. The best solution I found in XP was virtual dimension with the virtual desktops always on top. Then I can switch among 4 remote desktops in full screen with one mouse click each. However, Virtual Dimension doesn't work quite right in Windows 7 (at least in 64 bit). It seems to work but it loses the "always on top" though the checkbox stays on, the virtual desktop switcher does not. It is so close to what we both want, but so far.

Ctrl+Alt+Home worked for me. I am using Windows 10 host with teamviewer to Windows 8 machine which has a terminal server running. I was able to pin the terminal server connection bar.

1

You can use Dexpot and Autohotkey to set up a shortcut like Alt + Caps Lock, without Caps Lock annoying state changes (Good if you don't have Scroll Lock)

At first annoying to set up, but in the long term the most comfortable. I like to be able to quickly switch with left hand only

Dexpot

1. Set next desktop to Alt + Scroll Lock (If like I you don't have scroll lock use windows on-screen keyboard to press "ScrLk")
2. Set previous desktop to Alt + Scroll Lock
3. Set screens overview to Ctrl + Scroll Lock

Now use Autohotkey to make redirections (this way Caps Lock will be prevented from changing it's state):

 GetKeyState, state, Capslock ; ; Alt + Caps Lock becomes Alt + Scroll Lock !Capslock:: send !{ScrollLock} return ; Alt + Shift + Caps Lock becomes Alt + Shift + Scroll Lock !+Capslock:: send !+{ScrollLock} return ; Ctrl + Caps Lock becomes Ctrl + Scroll Lock ^Capslock:: send ^{ScrollLock} return

Done. Now you can use Alt + Caps Lock to switch between screens without Caps Lock changing its states.

Also if you only need 2 screens you can set dexpot to use only 2 desktops which will make alt + caps lock quick toggle for remote desktop.

I found this workaround using a mutli-desktop manager:

1. Install Dexpot
2. Configure Hotkey for "Next Desktop" to ALT+ScrollLock
3. Configure Remote Desktop to Capture all Keys in Fullscreen Mode

Then you can switch between Fullscreen Desktops mit ALT+ScrollLock.

I set the number of Desktops to 2, as I only have 1 remote desktop.

Additionally, I have installed Clavier, which allows me use just ScrollLock to switch between desktops. (Clavier config: Add-> Write Text... -> Shortcut: ScrollLock -> OK -> Write-Text: [ALT+ScrollLock] )

With Vinagre (The standard Remote Desktop application on Debian and debian-based OS) there should be a menu showing up when you bring the mouse at middle the top of the screen.

You can also use the Super + Esc key combination to send the next keystroke to the host (this is mentioned in the popup when you start a fullscreen session), so you can then use Alt + Tab or Super again to switch to another app or terminate the session.

Super is the Win key (logo) on Microsoft™ keyboards.

Note: for me the top menu didn't seem to work at all; I noticed later that the tooltips would show up as I hovered around where the menu buttons should be, so the menu is there but not visible and the tooltips might be sufficient to find the right button.