Share folder Remote Desktop

It’s quite easy to transfer files between computers on the network, all you have to do is select the folder to be shared and other users can find and connect to that folder and the files inside. If you use the Remote Desktop Connection feature in Windows you can even gain control of the remote computer, find your shared folder from it, and then transfer files between the two computers as required.

Windows Remote Desktop actually has a feature built in that allows you to share any of the local drives on the host computer with the remote computer without having to manually share specific folders or drives. This is far easier and can be more secure because folders are not being shared permanently but only for the life of the Remote Desktop session.

Here we show you how to setup your Remote Desktop session to share some or all of your local drives.

1. You can start the Remote Desktop Connection from Start > All Programs > Accessories > Remote Desktop Connection or run Mstsc.exe from the Run dialog or Search box. The window will show the current connection in the computer box or you can select a previous session from the drop down.

2. Click the Show options button at the bottom left.

3. This will display the connection preferences, click on the Local Resources tab. Look near the bottom in the section “Local devices and resources” and click the More button.

4. An entry called Drives will be in the list, if you tick that all drives will be mapped to the Remote Desktop and shared. If you only want to share specific drives which is safer, click the + to the left and expand the drives list, then you can specifically tick which drives that need to be shared, including ROM drives and USB flash drives the haven’t been inserted yet (Drives that I plug in later). Click OK when you’re done.

5. Upon trying to connect you will be asked if you trust the remote connection and clicking Show Details will show that it’s trying to share your drives. If you’re happy then tick the box to not be asked again and press Connect.

After a successful connection go to Computer or This PC on the remote computer and under Other you should see the shared drives. Now you can start transferring files to and from your remote computer

Another option for transferring files in the Remote Desktop session is by using the Windows Clipboard so you can right click and Copy the file on the host computer and then right click and select Paste inside the Remote Desktop. This works just the same as if you are copying and pasting inside your own computer and obviously also works on text.

The option to use the Clipboard should be enabled by default but you can turn it off and on from the Local Resources tab in step 3.

Fastest Way to Transfer Files to a Remote Desktop Computer

As there is a copy and paste function from the host machine to the Remote Desktop and the option to use the mapped drives to transfer files, which one is the quickest? If you add a standard shared folder which may already be set up between the computers, there are three ways to get the files transferred over the network to the remote machine.

As a simple test we decided to see which copy method was fastest to copy a selection of files and folders from one computer to the other using the three methods above. Here’s what we copied:

Copy Test 1: An ISO image 1.36GB in size
Copy Test 2: 3,427 files and 371 folders totalling 1.46GB of data

The test was run using a 10/100 network and both computers were running Windows 7.

Copy Test 1 (ISO Image) Min:sec

Copy and Paste (Host > RDC) 02:32 Mapped Drive From RDC 02:10

Standard Shared Folder 02:04

Windows Remote Desktop Connection (RDC), is a tool used to remotely connect to, view, and manage a remote Windows desktop. While sharing data from a remote computer to a local desktop has its challenges, learning how to copy files from a remote desktop to a local machine is a simple matter with the help of RDC.

For anyone interested in Windows remote desktop file transfer capabilities to access folders, apps, or files from a remote PC, users must first configure their RDC setup.

How to copy files with Remote Desktop Connection

Step 1: Run Remote Desktop Connection. Users can find RDC from the Start menu, or by searching for the following: “mstsc” / “remote desktop” / “RDC”.

RDC is fairly straightforward upon the first launch. Usually, it’s necessary to enter an IP address for the desired remote PC, then hit “Connect”. However, if the user wants to let their remote desktop copy files, there are some additional steps required.

Step 2: Click “Show Options” within the RDC window (this displays the RDC configuration options).

Step 3: Go to the “Local Resources” tab (this will take you to the sharing settings for the remote session). In the “Local devices and resources” tab, click “More” (see below).

Step 4: Click the “+” arrow beside “Drives” to show more options. Users can share available Windows drives, portable storage drives (like flash drives), and optical drives (CDs, DVDs, DVD drives, etc) that they may want to utilize down in the future. Check any desired boxes to share storage with the remote computer and hit “Ok”.

Step 5: Return to the “General” tab once satisfied with the drive sharing settings.

Step 6: Enter the IP address of the remote computer into the “Computer” box (located under the section “Logon settings” (see below).

Step 7: Hit “Connect” to establish the connection.

Step 8: Open the “Windows File Explorer” after connecting to the remote device (do this by right-clicking the Start menu > File Explorer). Users should see all shared devices in the “Redirected drives and folders” section.

Step 9: Drag files between folders and drives as desired.

Please Note: If users receive a message reading: “Destination Folder Access Denied” when attempting to transfer files, it may be necessary to restart the RDP session. Users should then run the Remote Desktop Connection application as an administrator.

How to copy files between local and remote PC with Windows 10 Remote Desktop app

Local drivers used to show up in the remote sessions “File Explorer” tree view panel (in older versions of RDC clients).

This once permitted users (especially those interested in letting their RDP copy files) to open local drives from a remote system via File Explorer.

Windows’ new Remote Desktop app (found on the Microsoft Store) does not function in the same way.

Now the question is: how does someone use Remote Desktop to copy and paste files between a local and remote device?

According to Microsoft, it was once completely impossible. Previously, users could only paste text (not files) between sessions.

Microsoft’s solution?

Use the old application: Remote Desktop Connection.

Excitingly, the most recent versions of the app (10.1.1107 or later) offer this essential sharing feature.

Follow the steps below to copy files with the Remote Desktop Windows 10 app:

Step 1: Add a new remote PC.

Step 2: After scrolling down a bit, select “Show more”.

Step 3: Turn the “Clipboard” switch to “On”.

Step 4: Hit “Save” then connect to the remote machine.

From there, it’s a straightforward process. Just copy the desired files, then paste them to a folder (or desktop) located on the remote computer.

Is Microsoft Remote Desktop file transfer possible only between Windows machines?

Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) lets a remote desktop share files to a local machine and utilizes the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) by Microsoft. Remote Desktop Protocol is available for all Windows 10 (and Windows Server) editions.

Conveniently, Microsoft provides RDP tools that enable users to access a Windows PC from a Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS device. Mac users can enable remote desktop connection file transfer, sharing the resources to a Windows machine via the “Redirection” tab inside the Remote Desktop app.

On Windows OS, Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) is built-in by default, allowing users to customize their file/folder sharing settings before connecting. From there, users can easily transfer files over RDP.

As you can see, learning how to transfer files over a remote desktop can be quite easy! We hope this guide into Remote Desktop Connection and the Remote Desktop app has given you the insight and confidence to experiment with even more of what remote desktop sessions have to offer.