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Question
Thursday, July 11, 2019 6:49 PM
Hi,
I am using the built-in Remote Desktop client (mstsc.exe) to connect from one Windows 10 Pro machine to another. The client machine has a 4k monitor and machine it is connecting to does not. I thought that in this case RDP would automatically scale the view of the remote display, but it does not - the RDP window is small with tiny icons, text, and so on. What is supposed to happen? If I'm scaling the display on my client machine to 150%, should it scale the view of the remote machine the same? I thought so (in fact, I thought I remembered that working even on Windows 8, with some limitations). If it is supposed to work, any idea how to figure out why it's not?
- Buck
All replies (7)
Friday, July 12, 2019 12:25 AM
I think Remote Desktop Connection Manager 2.7 works fine.
S.Sengupta,Microsoft MVP Windows and Devices for IT, Windows Insider MVP
Friday, July 12, 2019 3:05 AM
Hi,
Have you tried the Smart Resizing of Remote Desktop Windows yet?
1. Save the .rdp file of your remote connection.
2. Add below string in the end of the file and setup the connection:
smart sizing:i:1
Reference link:
https://support.smartbear.com/testcomplete/docs/testing-with/running/via-rdp/smart-resizing.html
Note: Since the websites are not hosted by Microsoft, the links may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.
Thanks,
Jenny
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Friday, July 12, 2019 5:28 PM
Unfortunately, for me Remote Desktop Connection Manager 2.7 behaves the same way.
Friday, July 12, 2019 5:41 PM
I can turn on Smart Sizing, but first, it only seems to allow me to scale the image DOWN - I can size the window as small as I want and everything will get smaller, but I can only size the window so big. Once the image is 1:1, it won't let me make the window any larger.
But in any case, this isn't exactly what I'm trying to do. I can use Zoom to make everything bigger, but everything will be fuzzy because it's being drawn at a lower resolution and then the whole image is scaled up. What I want is to the equivalent of going into the settings on the local machine and doing System -> Display -> Make everything bigger -> (choose a % size). In other words, configuring it for a HiHPI screen. You can't do this over Remote Desktop, because when you're logged in remotely it won't let you change that setting. I thought that in recent RDP versions, it would automatically tell the remote machine to use the same scaling factor as the machine you're coming from, but that doesn't seem to be working. It's very strange, because I'm quite sure this has worked for me in the past on other machines, even, with some limitations, in Windows 8.
Buck
Monday, July 15, 2019 6:35 AM
Have you tried to use remote desktop client for windows rather than start by mstsc?
According to below article, it introduced two resolution feature into the remote desktop client Windows.
- Change the size of the display: – When selecting a high static resolution for the session, you have the option to make items on the screen appear larger to improve readability. Note: This only applies when connecting to Windows 8.1 or above.
- Update the remote session resolution on resize – When enabled, the client will dynamically update the session resolution based on the size of the client. Note: This only applies when connecting to Windows 8.1 or above.
/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/clients/windows
Also kindly check if creating mstsc2. exe copy will be workable for your problem. You shall backup important data by before making changes or testing.
Remote Desktop client on HiDPI (Retina) displays: Work around pixel scaling issues
Note: Since the websites are not hosted by Microsoft, the links may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.
Thanks,
Jenny
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.
If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected].
Monday, July 15, 2019 3:42 PM
Yes, I have tried the Windows desktop client (I think mstsc is the same thing, that's just the name of the executable file). However, from you answer I think I've figured it out. If I set the resolution for the session to full screen/4k, then it does change the scaling appropriately. It does not change the scaling if I choose a smaller resolution, like 1920x1080 (which is what I was doing before). From what you quoted above, I guess this is how it is supposed to work. It does say (my emphasis) "When selecting a high static resolution for the session, you have the option to make items on the screen appear larger to improve readability." So I guess that solves the problem, it is working as designed. (Although I think it would be better if you had the option to scale any resolution, but that's more of a feature request than a question!)
Thank you for you answer, that explains it.
Tuesday, July 16, 2019 1:47 AM
Hi Buck,
Thanks for your update and please “Mark as answer” if any of above reply is helpful.
Meanwhile, for advice and suggestion, you could go to the User Voice site to give feedback, here is the link:
https://remotedesktop.uservoice.com/forums/266795-remote-desktop-services
Best Regards,
Jenny
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.
If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected].