Remote Desktop connection Clipboard greyed out

This post has been reviewed in 2018 and its information is still relevant. 

A very annoying occurrence that I sometimes suffer is when all of a sudden the copy and paste function stops working when I am connected to a remote machine. Turns out the problem is coming from a little process called rdpclip. Rdpclip [remote desktop clipboard] is responsible for managing a shared clipboard between your local host and the remote desktop [the process runs on the remote machine not your local host].

[ulp id=”cbiKoDdv59CzTKSA”]

So what do I do when clipboard stops working?

Luckily fixing the issue is pretty straightforward and involves a few simple steps.

1. Load up task manager [right click taskbar and select Task Manager]
2. Go to the Processes Tab
3. Select rdpclip.exe
4. Click End Process
5. Go to the Application Tab
6. Click New Process
7. Type rdpclip
8. Click Ok

There, copy and paste should now work normally again.

It happens so often, this process is annoying! What do I do to fix it permanently?

Unfortunately I don’t know why rdpclip stops working nor how to fix it permanently; however, there is a way to make it easier if it happens often.

• Create a new bat file and call it whatever you want say, clipboard.bat.
• Write the following two commands on separate lines in the new bat file
  • Taskkill.exe /im rdpclip.exe
  • Rdpclip.exe
  • Save the bat file and drag it into the toolbar quick launch section

Now whenever your copy and paste operation fails to restore it, all you need to do is click this new batch file which will kill rdpclip and restart it. Still a workaround but at least it’s a quick procedure.

You may also like:

Even when you have the "Clipboard" option enabled, you may still have problems!

If that's the case, use Task Manager to kill and restart the rdpclip.exe process on local and remote machines.

More details on this blog post …

The only way I really knew to fix the clipboard transfer was to close my session and restart it. That meant closing the tools I was using like Visual Studio, Management Studio and the other ancillary processes I have running as I work and then restarting all of it just to restore the clipboard. But today I found a good link on the Terminal Services Blog explaining that what is really happening. The clipboard viewer chain is somehow becoming unresponsive on the local or remote system and events on the clipboards are not being relayed between systems. It is not necessarily a lock being put in place but some sort of failed data transmission. It then goes on to explain the 2 steps you can take to restore the clipboard without restarting your session.

Use Task Manager to kill the rdpclip.exe process
Run rdpclip.exe to restart it

… and a pretty ridculous "explanation" from Microsoft.

Summary

If you have a shared clipboard problem, see if the following troubleshooting guide helps:

+--------------------------+-------------------------+------------------------------+ | Symptom | Possible Cause | Possible Solution | +--------------------------+-------------------------+------------------------------+ | Remote-to-local copy and | RDPCLIP is not in the | Kill and restart RDPCLIP. | | paste broken. | clipboard viewer chain. | | +--------------------------+-------------------------+------------------------------+ | Local-to-remote copy and | TS client is not in the | Close the TS client and | | paste broken. | clipboard viewer chain. | reconnect to the session. | +--------------------------+-------------------------+------------------------------+ | RDPCLIP or the TS client | There is a loop in the | Kill and restart RDPCLIP. | | is using excessive CPU. | local or remote | If this does not fix the | | | clipboard viewer chain. | problem, close the TS client | | | | and reconnect to the session.| +--------------------------+-------------------------+------------------------------+

If you are actively using remote connections to your workstations, Windows servers or RDS farms using the RDP protocol, it is likely you have come across a problem when the clipboard is not working in a Remote Desktop session. So you cannot transfer [copy/paste] a text or files between your computer and a remote host. The problem occurs both in Windows Server and in desktop Windows versions.

Two scenarios are possible: copying files/data using RDP is not allowed on a remote server or rdpclip.exe process has crashed in the current user session.

RDP Clipboard [Rdpclip.exe] Stops Working in Remote Desktop Session

If the clipboard in RDP session has stopped working unexpectedly, and Paste option in the context menu has become inactive, it is easier to end the current RDP session correctly [logoff] and re-connect. This will fix the Remote Desktop clipboard issue for sure. However, it is not always convenient, because you have to re-open all apps in your RDP session again. Fortunately, there is a way to restore correct clipboard operation in a RDP session without logging off.

Rdpclip.exe is responsible for clipboard operation between your local computer and the Remote Desktop host. A separate rdpclip.exe process is started for each remote user session when they connect to the Remote Desktop. Using the Task Manager, you can kill the rdpclip.exe [RDP Clipboard Monitor] process and run it manually [Task Manager -> File -> Start new task -> rdpclip -> Enter].

Usually it helps to restore the remote clipboard operation quickly. Make sure if copy/paste [Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V] is working in the RDP session.

Remember that in order to copy data via the RDP clipboard, the following conditions must be met:

1. The remote clipboard must be enabled in the settings of the RDP client you are using to connect to a remote computer. Check Clipboard in the Choose the devices and resources that you want to use in your remote session section in the Local Resources tab of the built-in mstsc.exe client;
   
2. Copying and pasting data using the clipboard must also be allowed on the RDP/RDS host [see below for how to do this].

How to Allow/Prevent Copy and Paste via RDP Clipboard on Windows?

You can enable or disable the use of the RDP clipboard on the Windows host for copy and paste operations by using Group Policy or Registry settings.

1. 1. Run the Local Group Policy Editor: gpedit.msc
   2. Go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Remote Desktop Services -> Remote Desktop Session Host -> Device and Resource Redirection;
   3. To prevent copying data to/from a remote server using the clipboard of a RDP session, set Enabled for the following policies:
      Do not allow Clipboard redirection [Clipboard redirection is used to copy text or files using the clipboard in RDP]
      Do not allow drive redirection [Drive mapping/redirection allows a user to get access to their local drives in a RDP session. It is also used when copying files]
      
   4. If you want to force using the RDP clipboard, change the values of the settings to Disabled [by default, using RDPClip to copy data between a local computer and a remote RDP host is allowed]
   5. Update the Group Policy settings using gpupdate /force. In order new settings to be applied to users, they must end their RDP sessions [using logoff instead of disconnect] or wait for automatic disconnection of user sessions according to RDS timeouts.

If you are using RDS hosts running on Windows Server, you can disable the clipboard and the local drives redirection in the collection settings: Remote Desktop Services -> Collections -> Tasks -> Edit Properties -> Client Settings. Uncheck Clipboard and Drives options in the Enable redirecting for the following section.

If you want to deny copying to/from a RDP session for users only, but not the administrators, you can change the NTFS permissions on the executable  C:\windows\system32\rdpclip.exe. To do it, uncheck Read/Execute permissions for the built-in Users group in the file’s security properties and remove the group from the list [you will have to change the file owner from TrustedInstaller to another one first].