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Remote Desktop Shift, Alt, Ctrl doesn't work in Full Screen after Anniversary Update Windows 10

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Tuesday, October 11, 2016 7:29 PM | 5 votes

After the Anniversary Update I and many others have the Problem that the Shift, Alt and CTRL Key doesn't work in Full Screen Anymore. In Window Mode they work but the right Alt Key not.

This is a Problem I face for more than 2 months now and nothing happens. 

Markus A. Litters

All replies (21)

Wednesday, October 12, 2016 6:09 AM

Hi,

Thanks for your post.

Are you using 32 bit machine?

We have got several reports that the remote desktop feature on a Windows 10 32 bit machine won't work well.

Please try to use the on-screen keyboard and check the symptom again.

Also check your "Keyboard" configuration:

Best Regards,

Alvin Wang

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Wednesday, October 12, 2016 9:08 AM | 1 vote

No - I am using 64 Windows 10 Pro and the same in Windows 10 Enterprise.

I don't mean the MSTSC - I mean the Remote Desktop App from the App Store. The one which was really good until that issue.

I tried out the old Remote Desktop Preview - this one doesn't have the Problems at all but has other Problems.

Many People already face this Problem and posted it in other page of Microsoft but someone told me to put it here.

Markus A. Litters

Wednesday, October 12, 2016 1:27 PM

We are having problems with number lock in the remote desktop app. If you sign into a new session, num lock doesn't work, it acts like it is off and moves the cursor like arrow keys instead of typing numbers.

If we close and connect with Remote Desktop Connection num lock works, and if we then sign in with e the remote desktop app to the existing session then num lock works. This started after installing the Anniversary Update (1607). Happens on different PC models, 64-bit and 32-bit, and different keyboards.

Thursday, October 13, 2016 3:51 AM

Hi,

I think here is a good approach to post the feedback.

Microsoft Remote Desktop Download page

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/microsoft-remote-desktop/9wzdncrfj3ps

Best Regards,

Alvin Wang

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Thursday, October 13, 2016 6:24 AM | 1 vote

Thanks Alvin for the info but I can't see how the Rating of the App in the App Store can fix the Problem?

The Microsoft customers who use this app need an urgent fix. The Problem now exists for more than 80 days and RDP is an App for professionals - isn't it?
I have several customers who are very angry right now. You can also find a lot of post about this everywhere in the Internet. The Problem already exists one year ago and was fixed. Now it is back.

Who can be contacted to Report this bug?

I installed the latest Updates yesterday but the Problem still exists.

I am wondering that Microsoft is wondering that so many People look for alternatives. And the consequence is not to make Windows and it's App's better but to support other platforms - very clever.
I really believed that Windows 10 will bring the one OS for everywhere and it has this Chance but therefore it has to be stable and the Microsoft App's have to work.
So many Problems in the past and present. Still there are a lot of App's in the App Store which can't be found. You have to search over Google to find them - this is not professional and at Microsoft there are a lot of good developers who would (or will) laugh about such simple things.
I am really angry about MS as you can see and this Problem and the way it is handled is that one drop too much...

Markus A. Litters

Thursday, October 13, 2016 6:46 AM | 2 votes

I am having the same problem. Many other users are, too. Here is my post from elsewhere on TechNet a few days ago that got no replies:

The RD Client (Store App) worked right up until the Anniversary Update 1607 installed a week ago. Immediately after the update, the Shift, Ctrl, and Alt keys no longer work properly on the remote desktop. Not a hardware issue because the keyboard works fine on the local desktop.

Details:

  • Using 64-bit Windows 10 Pro Version 1607 OS Build 14393.321
  • Shift and Ctrl don't work with the app window maximized (or in full-screen mode), Alt key works ok.
  • Shift and Ctrl keys do work when the app window isn't maximized, but Alt key doesn't work.
  • If the window isn't maximized, but I resize the sides to make the window almost as wide as the screen, the Shift and Ctrl keys stop working and the Alt key starts working (as if the window were maximized) when both window side edges get close to the side screen edges. The same does not happen, however, when I drag the top and bottom window edges maximally up and down to fill the screen vertically.
  • With the app window maximized, even though the Shift key doesn't work to make capital letters, it still pops up the sticky keys dialog box on both the remote desktop and my local desktop simultaneously if I hit Shift five times.
  • The behavior is the same regardless of whether I use the right Shift key or left shift key, etc.
  • The Caps Lock key still works normally to make capital letters with the app window maximized or not maximized.
  • Uninstalling and reinstalling the app did not fix it.
  • The keyboard layout and languages match on both the local and remote desktops.
  • Uninstalling the keyboard driver and rebooting to let the driver reinstall did not fix it. The driver is the newest version.
  • I already submitted this info via Feedback Hub. Ironically, we the users don't get any direct feedback regarding our submissions through Feedback Hub, so that should not be the sole remedy for us when a problem like this exists. That is the purpose of these forums, is it not?

Thursday, October 13, 2016 6:55 AM

Hi,

Sorry for all the inconvenience that brought to you.

This is an update to let you know I have reported this issue to the development team and will keep you posted once I get response from them.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

Best Regards,

Alvin Wang

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.
If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected].

Thursday, October 13, 2016 7:03 AM

Thanks Alvin.

I hope you understand too why I and so many others are really angry.
It is not because of this one Problem.

And I know that you and many others are not the cause of those Problems.

Many thanks again and have a great day!

Markus A. Litters

Wednesday, October 19, 2016 8:06 AM

Hi,

I do understand the inconvenience the issue brought to you and please assure that Microsoft is always do the best to provide good products to customers and is always trying to improve these products.

One of our members tested the RTM version with the latest release branch and everything seems to work just fine. I have also reported the symptoms we encountered to them for further confirmation.

Best Regards,

Alvin Wang

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Friday, October 21, 2016 1:40 AM

Hi,

Here is an update:

We just released version 902 for Remote desktop Preview; you can find it in the store here : https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/microsoft-remote-desktop-preview/9nblggh40h88 .

We’ve done extensive testing and couldn’t manage to repro your issue and can’t think of any reason why it shouldn’t work.

If you still experience problems, please let us know.  

P.s.

This is one of the test environments we used:

App : Remote Desktop Preview 902

Client machine: Win 10 RS2  (Build 14952 rs_prerelease)

Remote machine: Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter

Best Regards,

Alvin Wang

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Friday, October 21, 2016 6:41 AM

I am still having the same issue with the Remote Desktop app. Nothing has changed. I connect through a gateway server, does that have any bearing on the issue? I tried the Remote Desktop Preview version 902 and I can't get that to even connect to the remote system. It just sits there saying "connecting..." and it never does. It doesn't even time out. 

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 2:21 AM

Hi,

Just checking in to see if the information provided was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance.

Best Regards,

Alvin Wang

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.
If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected].

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 4:08 AM

No it was not helpful. Did you not read my previous post? Yes, I would like further assistance.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 7:13 AM

Hi Alvin,

I tried the Remote Desktop App Preview before I posted this and when I tested it the Keys worked but it has other Problem like disconnecting every time I Switch the app. That was not good for working because every time I had to wait for reconnecting which didn't even work.

Now - after you mentioned the Update - I tested the Preview App again and now it works.
Will the functions come in the "normal" App?
Preview sounds not like a productions Version - does it?

For now many thanks for your help.
Markus

Markus A. Litters

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 7:31 AM

Having the same issue, even tried the preview app but that is even worse. doesn't pass mouse clicks so it's less the useless! do Microsoft not do any testing before releasing apps even preview apps???

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 5:19 PM

Alvin,

Like many of the others on this thread and in other forums on the internet, I am also having issues with the <Shift>/<Alt>/<Ctrl> keys in the RPD app.  I am running Win 10 Pro (64-bit).  I went ahead and downloaded/tested the Remote Desktop Preview you referenced above.  I honestly couldn't tell if it resolved the issue or not.  When I connected to the machine on my network that I am using to test the issue, none of the mouse or keyboard inputs registered in the Remote Window, at all.  The Win key would bring up the local start menu, but nothing other than that functioned.  Looking at the feedback on the RDP Preview download page, I am not the only one experiencing this issue.  So, hopefully... this one will get pushed back to formula rather than distributed to the masses where it could cause even worse issues.

Aaron Murphy 

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 5:27 PM

My experience with the Remote Desktop Preview app is that it works well connecting to Server 2008 and newer, but it is problematic when connecting to Server 2003/2003 R2.  A few things I found when connecting to a 2003 R2 server:

If you don't save the DOMAIN\user account with password, you can only get to a login screen but mouse/keyboard don't work.  So you need to disconnect and go into the settings for the connection and add a user and save it.  Then when you connect it will auto login and mouse/keyboard will work.

Scaling doesn't seem to work at all (which I imagine is just because the server is old and I don't recall them supporting it).

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 5:32 PM

Jesse,

Thanks for the feedback.  I deleted the computer and reentered it, making sure to save <DOMAIN>\Username> and <Password>.  The keyboard/mouse inputs still do not work.

Aaron

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 5:38 PM

I have the same with Windows 8.1 Pro. When I don't enter a User/Password, I see only the Sign On Screen and nothing works.

Today again the Connection was interrupted, when I switched the App to another one. After switching back the Connection couldn't be made again. I had to stop the Connection and start it again....

Not very nice but even better than not having the Shift+Ctrl Key....

Markus A. Litters

Saturday, June 10, 2017 5:44 AM

Just on this, it seems to be an intermittent bug - simply changing the Keyboard Drop down as pictured above to any other setting seems to correct the issue.

Strangely, you can even change the setting back again and it continues working!?

Here's an article that talks about how to fix the Shift key not working over an RDP / MSTSC session from Windows 10 to Windows 8.1

http://www.jigsolving.com/jigsovling/shift-key-not-seem-work-full-screen-mode-remote-desktop-sometimes

Tuesday, March 20, 2018 10:21 PM

Here it is middle of March, 2018, and having the exact same problems.  New install of 64 bit Windows 10, fully up to date.

Shift key doesn't work when typing.  It does work for multiple selections with the mouse.  A half-baked workaround is to use the caps lock key, which works for letters, but if you need to type an "@", you are out of luck.

Control key doesn't work.  The customer's application that I am working with supports a right-click "copy", but only "control-v" paste.  I'm screwed.

Someone mentioned that Control and Alt work in window mode, but not full screen mode.  For me, they do not work in either.

Has anyone figured this out?

BillG in MN