You don't have to know where the Remote Desktop Connection is in Windows 8/8.1 computer, because you can create a shortcut for it on the desktop. And this article introduces four methods to create a Remote Desktop Connection shortcut in detail.
Video guide on how to create a Remote Desktop Connection shortcut in Windows 8:
Tip: Before applying this method, make sure the files automatically hidden in the computer are shown. For more info, please refer to Show Hidden Files on Windows 8/8.1.
Step 1: Right-tap the desktop, click New and choose Shortcut to start creating the shortcut.
Step 2: As the Create Shortcut window shows up, tap the Browse button. After that, select Remote Desktop Connection shortcut and click OK in the pop-up dialog box.
BTW, the shortcut is located in Computer/Local Disk [C:]/Program Data/Microsoft/Windows/Start Menu/Programs/Windows Accessories.
Step 3: Choose Next to continue.
Step 4: Select Finish to complete creating this shortcut.
Way 2: Make the shortcut with the help of its location info.
Step 1: Begin creating the shortcut according to the instruction above.
Step 2: In the Create Shortcut window, enter the following information in the empty box and click Next.
%windir%\system32\mstsc.exe
Step 3: Type a name for the shortcut [e.g. Remote Desktop Connection] and tap Finish.
The two methods above enable you to create a shortcut named Remote Desktop Connection on the desktop, as shown in the following screen shot.
Way 3: Create the shortcut by pinning the app to the taskbar.
Tip: If you want to learn more about how to pin it to the taskbar, please make reference to How to Pin A Program to Taskbar in Windows 8.
Way 4: Create a CMD file for Remote Desktop Connection to replace the shortcut.
Step 1: Open a new text document or turn on Notepad.
Step 2: Input mstsc.
Step 3: Name the document as "Remote Desktop Connection.cmd" [without double quotes], and tap Save.
After these steps, the CMD file shown in the picture below will turn up immediately.
Related Articles:
In this article, we will see how to create a shortcut to establish a connection to a PC with Remote Desktop protocol in Windows 10. This will allow you to make connections to the target computer over the Remote Desktop protocol faster.
Before we continue, here are some details about how RDP works. While any edition of Windows 10 can act as Remote Desktop Client, to host a remote session, you need to be running Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise. You can connect to a Windows 10 Remote Desktop host from another PC running Windows 10, or from an earlier Windows version like Windows 7 or Windows 8, or Linux. Windows 10 comes with both client and server software out-of-the-box, so you don't need any extra software installed.
First of all, enable Remote Desktop on the target PC as described here:
How To Enable Remote Desktop [RDP] in Windows 10
mstsc.exe is the built-in client software which allows connecting to a computer via Remote Desktop Protocol [RDP]. It is a special network protocol which allows a user to establish a connection between two computers and access the Desktop of a remote host. The local computer is often referred to as the "client". If you are running Windows, in most cases you use mstsc.exe to connect to another computer with RDP.
In the previous article, I covered command line options of mstsc.exe you can apply in the Run dialog. See
Remote Desktop [mstsc.exe] Command Line Arguments
There is a special /v option which allows specifying the remote PC address or its name.
/v: - Specifies the remote PC to which you want to connect.
You can use this option to make connections faster. For example, you can create a shortcut and set the /v argument in its target box.
To create a Remote Desktop shortcut for a PC in Windows 10, do the following.
- Right click the empty space on your Desktop. Select New - Shortcut in the context menu [see the screenshot].
- In the shortcut target box, type the following:mstsc.exe /v:computer-name
Alternatively, it is possible to pass the IP address of the target PC [Remote Desktop host].mstsc.exe /v:10.0.2.16 - Use any name you want for the shortcut. Click on the Finish button when done.
Now, you can move this shortcut to any convenient location, pin it to taskbar or to Start, add to All apps or add to Quick Launch [see how to enable Quick Launch]. You can also assign a global hotkey to your shortcut.
Repeat these steps for all the computers you want connect to.
Articles of interest:
Support us
Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options:
If you like this article, please share it using the buttons below. It won't take a lot from you, but it will help us grow. Thanks for your support!
If you repeatedly use the same Remote Desktop Connection, you may want to learn how to create an RDP shortcut icon on your Windows 10 Desktop or another place on your computer. Here’s how it’s done.
- Select the “Start” button and type “Remote“.
- Open the “Remote Desktop Connection” application.
- Select the “Show Options” arrow located in the bottom-left corner of the window.
- View each tab and ensure the settings are configured asdesired. All of the options under these tabs will be saved when you create the shortcut.
- Once everything looks right, jump back to the “General” tab. Ensure the “Computer” field is filled in. Select “Save As…”
- Select the location you wish to save your RDP icon to. Give the connection a name, then Select “Save” when ready.
- Your RDP icon is saved and is now ready to access quickly when needed.
FAQ
How do I edit an RDP icon I’ve already created?
You can right-click on the icon, then select “Edit” to make any changes to the RDP icon settings.
Some of the settings I change don’t seem to be taking effect. Why is this?
Some of the options like setting allowing printers and the clipboard may be locked down on the computer you’re connecting to. Check the settings on the remote computer to ensure such settings are allowed.