Three Ways to Fix “RDP User Account Did Not Work”

The issue: RDP user account did not work 

Have you ever been upset about RDP user account did not work issue on Windows 10/11? When you are trying to remotely control another computer via RDP, an error message may pop up and says “The User Account Did Not Work”, as shown below. This can be pretty annoying.

When faced with this problem, the first thing you need to do is to check some details. For example, did you enter your account details, username, and password, correctly? Did the user account that you were using have admin permissions? Or did you allow Remote Desktop access on your target machine? Check carefully before remotely connecting via RDP.

How to solve "RDP user account did not work" 

If you still face the user account used to connect did not work problem after checking all the details, then follow the three solutions mentioned below.

Solution 1. Use username only

The problem seems to be caused by caching issue. Specifically, you have used your face or fingerprint or PIN credentials to log in last time. Then the Windows RDP server will remember your remote authentication. Then next time you are trying to log in, it will compare remote authentication attempts against the previous authentication. If they don't match, then your server will refuse your login attempt. That’s why the RDP server will refuse your username and password connection attempt via RDP.

The possible solution to this situation is to log into the system by entering your username and password on your target tablet or computer, without using other authentication, like face or fingerprint, or PIN credentials. Then log out and reboot your computer. Problem solved.

Solution 2. Create a local user account

Another possible reason for the Microsoft Remote Desktop user account did not work on Windows 10/11 can come from using a Microsoft account, normally represented as an email address, to log in to your Windows computer. As it’s not a local account on the computer, then the RDP server won’t recognize it. Thus, another solution is to create a local user account.

Step 1. Select Start > Settings > Accounts. Select Family & other users and then select Add someone else to this PC.

Step 2. Click I don't have this person’s sign-in information.

Step 3. On the next page, select Add a user without a Microsoft account.

Step 4. Enter a user name and password, and then select Next.

Solution 3. Change settings

Step 1. Press Win + R to invoke the Run dialog box, then type in “gpedit.msc” and press OK to open the Local Group Policy Editor window.

Step 2. Navigate here: Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options > Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts.

Step3. Right-click Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts and change it to Classic - local users authenticate as themselves.

Free remote control software for Windows

To solve the RDP user account did not work issue requires tedious procedures. If you are looking for a more convenient and easy way to achieve remote control of a PC, here we recommend you to download a free remote control software, AnyViewer. It is quite easy to set up and use. It can be used normally without any additional configuration even if the two devices are under different networks. The following steps will guide you through the installation and use of AnyViewer.

Step 1. Download, install, and launch AnyViewer on both computers. Go to Log in, and then click Sign up. (If you already have signed up on its official website, you can log in directly.)

Step 2. Fill in the signup information.

Step 3. Then you can see you successfully logged in to AnyViewer. Your device will automatically be assigned to the account you've logged in to.

Step 4. Log in to the same AnyViewer account on the two devices, then you can achieve a direct connection by clicking One-click control.

Note: If you upgrade your account to a Professional or Enterprise plan, then you’ll have more rights. You can assign more devices. Also, you can connect to another computer in privacy mode, which means you can black the screen and block the mouse and keyboard of the remote computer.

If you need to remotely control Windows PC from an iOS device or Android device, you need to download AnyViewer for mobile to start a remote session.