By Hester / Last Updated November 25, 2022

Why copy paste is not working from local to remote desktop?

 

I have noticed that when I use Remote Desktop with my Windows PCs, copy and paste for text and files does not work. Any idea?”

- Question from Microsoft Forum

RDC Slow

Microsoft Windows offers a Remote Desktop clipboard utility that enables users to manage a shared clipboard between the local and remote desktop. With the help of this function, you can copy and paste text content or transfer files over an RDP connection. If you find copy paste is not working in RDP, it is mainly because you did not enable the clipboard before operations.

How to enable Remote Desktop share clipboard

It is crucial to confirm Remote Desktop share clipboard if you want to transfer files via RDP, otherwise, you will get the same error as “Remote Desktop copy paste not working.” Here in this section, we will illustrate how to enable Microsoft Remote Desktop share clipboard.

Step 1. Search for Remote Desktop Connection in the start menu, and click Open.

Remote Desktop Connection

Step 2. Click Show Options.

Show Options

Step 3. Under Local devices and resources tab, tick Clipboard, and click More.

Check Clipboard

Step 4. Check Drives, and click OK to confirm the setting.

Check Drives

RDP alternative - copy paste with ease and security

When you transfer files using Remote Desktop, you may find that you can’t copy and paste files larger than 2 GB. Therefore, we recommend you use the best RDP alternative AnyViewer to transfer large files between devices easily and safely.

Compared with Microsoft Remote Desktop, AnyViewer has the following benefits you can’t miss:

It supports multiple file transfer ways without extra settings, while RDP needs to enable Remote Desktop share clipboard and only allows file transfer with a remote connection.

It is available in all network conditions, while for RDP, you need VPN or port forwarding when your devices are over the Internet.

It has a fast transfer speed. The maximum transfer rate is 10 MB/s. According to user feedback, the actual transfer speed is even faster if the two computers are on LAN.

It is secured by ECC encryption, preventing your data loss during the whole process.

Step 1. Download, install, and launch AnyViewer on your devices.

Download Freeware Win 11/10/8.1/8/7
Secure Download

Step 2. On the host device, go to Log in on the left pane,and then click Sign up.

Log in AnyViewer

Step 3. Type in the required information and click Sign up.

Sign Up for AnyViewer

Step 4. Now you are successfully logged in to AnyViewer, and you can see the assigned devices.

Free Editions

Step 5. On the client PC, log in to the same account and go to Device, select the computer you want to access, and click One-click control to achieve unattended remote access.

Connect to My Devices

Step 6. Now you can see the remote computer and control it. You can easily copy and paste text between devices with the shared clipboard.

If you want to transfer files, you can directly drag and drop the files, and you can also click Files from the upper toolbar.

Besides, there are several built-in features you can use: change image quality, resize the resolution, lock/shut down/ restart remote computer, etc.

Operation

Bonus tip: AnyViewer supports one-click file transfer without establishing remote connection, which is convenient and efficient when you need to frequently transfer files between your computers.

On the client PC, log in to the same account and go to Device, select the computer you want to transfer files with, and click File transfer.

File Transfer AnyViewer

When you click the file transfer option, a File Transfer dialog box will appear. The local deviceis displayed on the left, while the local deviceis displayed on the right. To send the selected files to the client PC, click the right arrow after selecting the files you wish to send. And vice versa.

Choose Files

★Tips:
A free account can transfer 100 files at once, you can upgrade to Professional or Enterprise account to transfer unlimited large files with higher speed.

Conclusion

This post talks about how to enable Remote Desktop share clipboard, which is necessary if you need to transfer files in an RDP connection. However, you may notice that RDP file transfer is very slow and it is hard to transfer large files. Therefore, we recommend you use AnyViewer to copy/paste and transfer files easily.