Send Ctrl-Alt-Delete in a remote desktop session
Posted on March 14, 2009 at 5:37 am
Remote Desktop is a nifty little windows feature that allows you to remotely connect to another PC and manage it as if you were physically at the console. You can read my previous post on how to setup remote desktop in Windows XP.
When connecting to another machine, just about all keyboard actions are transmitted to the remote machine, i.e. pressing Enter, typing, pressing the Windows key, etc. However, that is not the case for some key combinations.
One that has bothered me for a very long time when using Remote Desktop in Windows is when I press Ctrl + Alt + Del while logged into the remote computer. Instead of sending the key combo to the remote computer, it would instead perform the action on my computer!
This was actually intended by Microsoft because there are many cases where you may not want that to be sent to the remote computer. So, by default, Ctrl + Alt + Del will only work for the local computer.
So how does one perform this same action on the remote computer? It’s pretty easy actually! In order to send Ctrl + Alt + Del to the remote PC, just press the following alternate key combination:
Ctrl + Alt + End
That’s it! Pretty easy eh? Unfortunately, I tend to use Remote Desktop rarely and therefore forget this key combo all the time! Also, note that there are a bunch of other keyboard shortcuts you can use in Remote Desktop:
Alt + Page Up – Switch between programs (Alt + Tab is the local command)
Ctrl + Alt + End – Display the Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc is the local command)
Alt + Home – Brings up the Start menu on the remote computer
Ctrl + Alt + (+) Plus/ (-) Minus – Minus takes a snapshot of the active window and plus takes a snapshot of the entire remote desktop window.
Those are pretty much all of the remote desktop keyboard shortcuts you will ever need! If you know of anymore, post a comment! Enjoy!
» Filed Under Windows XP
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Thanks man for sharing the information. I read your previous posts and tried to setup a remote desktop connection and it worked perfectly.
Once again thank you
Thanks for your share:)
Here are some more special Remote Desktop key combinations:
Alt + Page Up
Switches between programs from left to right.
Alt + Page Down
Switches between programs from right to left.
Alt + Insert
Cycles through the programs in the order they were started.
Alt + Home
Displays the Start menu.
Ctrl + Alt + Break
Switches the client between a window and full screen.
Ctrl + Alt + End
Brings up the Windows Security dialog box.
Ctrl + Alt + Pause
Toggles between fullscreen and windowed mode
(note that this does not set the client desktop to the correct size)
Alt + Del
Displays the Windows menu
Ctrl + Alt + Num -
Places a snapshot of the client’s active window on the clipboard
Ctrl + Alt + Num +
Places a snapshot of the client’s entire desktop area on the clipboard
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Home
To invoke task manager for nested terminal services sessions (two levels deep)
To shut down or restart the remote computer, either bring up the Windows Security dialog , or use Task Manager.
Actually, the reason why the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combo is always sent to the local machine is not “because there are many cases where you may not want that to be sent to the remote computer”. The real reason is that this particular key combination is a special key combo that triggers the Windows operating system at a low level for security reasons. No software running on top of Windows (none, period) other than the Windows operating system itself can see this key combo when it is pressed and therefore no software running on top of Windows can respond to it.
This is to ensure that someone cannot just create a program that looks like the Windows logon dialog and then steal your password when you hit Ctrl+Alt+Del and enter your credentials. The idea is that, you can be sure the only program that can even possibly respond to this key combination is Windows and therefore you are safe inputting your password.
What if I use remote desktop to connect another remote desktop, like:
A -> B -> C
How can I send ctrl+alt+end to C ?
I also need to be able to do what PaulShell is talking about. How can you send a Ctrl+Alt+Del to a computer that is more than 1 remote connection away?
PaulShell,
I figured it out. Start the On-Screen Keyboard on computer B, and send a “Ctrl+Alt+End” with it. This will essentially send a “Ctrl+Alt+Del” to computer C.
Hi,
I’m trying to use ctrl+alt+minus to take a screen shot of the active window on the remote computer and paste it into a document (also on the remote computer) but it’s not working. When I go to paste, there’s nothing on the clipboard. The remote computer is running XP, the computer I’m remote desktopping from is Vista. Any ideas?
To send key combos via two rdps, I noticed if you add shift to the key combo it works.
So for ctrl-alt-del it would be ctrl-alt-end for rdp session 1 and ctrl-alt-shift-end for the rdp session a running under rdp session 1.
Just an FYI from what I’ve noticed. Doesn’t seem to work w/ alt-pageup, but works for task manager and ctrl-alt-del.
well;
I would prefer to right-click on the taskbar of the remote PC and run the Task Manager ….
Moosa,
Cute response. But there’s not always a taskbar to right-click on. My client thinks he’s making his server more secure by forcing the remote user to manually start Windows Explorer. To do that you have to run Task Manager before you ever see the taskbar. So you are forced to use a keyboard shortcut to run Task Manager (as opposed to just right clicking on the taskbar). Once Task Manager is up, you can then manually start Windows Explorer by [File --> New Task --> C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe].
We have to use Windows with Domain. Whenever we start PC; it asks for ALT + CTL + DEL command & then asks for Domain username & password. Now we do not waant to use physical keyboard & want to use On Screen keyboard to start log in into the system. Pls. advise.
Thanks for the info, it helps me to restart my VPS.
If you are connected remotely two machines in, i.e. A is remoted into B and B is remoted into C, I believe you can make the window full screen and then it responds to all keyboard strokes directly. Let me know if it works.
When using a remote app window on Server 2008, hitting the ‘Delete’ key acts like Ctrl+Alt+Delete. Does anyone know how to turn this off so the ‘Delete’ key acts normally, i.e. deletes characters in my application?
Can i know how to switch between the remote desktop and the host desktop. Any ideas? Using keyboard shortcuts. PLz help….If you know.
If you want to print the active window in a remote desktop session, I believe it is Ctrl-Alt-Minus. I’m still not sure how to print screen on a remote computer. Anyone know?
This is a great post. I really love your site.
What about with a Mac connection?