By Ellie / Last Updated November 24, 2022

Your computer can’t connect to the Remote Desktop Gateway server

 

Yesterday, the original normal Windows 2019 Remote Desktop gateway suddenly encountered a problem. When we were trying to connect to the Remote Desktop, we only received one error message: Your computer can’t connect to the Remote Desktop Gateway server. I really don’t know where the problem is. The only thing I did was update the computer’s Windows version to KB5003541 and KB5003711 last weekend. How can I fix this problem?”

- Question from Microsoft Community

Error Message

From a lot of user feedback, the problem that your computer can’t connect to the Remote Desktop Gateway server on Windows 10 when connecting to or controlling a remote computer using RDP is very common, which seriously affects the user experience. For this reason, this tutorial summarizes 3 tested solutions, aiming to fix this error.

What causes the problem?

All problems have corresponding solutions. But before solving the problem, we should still understand the cause of the “Your computer can’t connect to the Remote Desktop Gateway server” problem.

  • Windows version. Although the Windows version update can bring some new features to Remote Desktop or fix some bugs, it is often accompanied by new errors, such as “Your computer cannot connect to the Remote Desktop Gateway server” and so on.
  • HTTP/UDP connection. Remote Desktop Connection using HTTP/UDP connection may cause this error.
  • Missing channel binding on the gateway server. This problem occurs when the LmCompatibility registry value is configured to force the system to use NTLMv1 (short for NT LAN Manager, a standard security protocol for earlier versions of Windows NT).

How to fix "your computer can’t connect to the Remote Desktop Gateway server"

In order to solve the “Your computer cannot connect to the Remote Desktop Gateway server” problem, the following three methods are summarized. You can choose one or more according to your own situation.

  • Solution 1. Update or return the Windows version.
  • Solution 2. Modify the registry key to use the RPC-HTTP connection (administrator account is required).
  • Solution 3. Modify the registry key to ignore the missing channel binding on the gateway server (administrator account is required).
Important note: When you modify the registry, improper modification may lead to serious problems, such as system instability. It is recommended to backup important files and related data in advance.

Solution 1. Update or restore the Windows version

From the feedback of some users, the Windows system version sometimes leads to the Remote Desktop Gateway server being temporarily unavailable. Therefore, when we encounter this problem, we can try to update or restore the system version, which may solve the problem.

Step 1. Open the Control Panel, locate and click Update & Security.

Find Updates and Security

Step 2. In the Update & Security interface, check whether a new version is available. If yes, download and install it (remember to back up your data first).

Update Windows Version

Step 3. If your computer system is already the latest version, you can consider to Go back to the previous version of windows 10 in Recovery (choose carefully).

Restore the Windows Version

Solution 2. Modify the registry key to use RPC-HTTP connection

If the error is caused by the HTTP/UDP connection, you can force the RDP client to use the RPC-HTTP connection over HTTP/UDP connection. This needs to be done by adding a new entry to the Windows registry.

Step 1. Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog box. Type in “regedit” and hit OK to open Registry Editor.

Run Box Regedit

Step 2. Navigate here: Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftware > Microsoft > Terminal Server Client.

Terminal Server Client

Step 3. In the right pane, right-click the blank space and choose New and then select DWORD (32-bit) Value.

New Dword

Step 4. Rename the newly created DWORD Value as RDGClientTransport. Then double-click on it to open its properties.

RDPclienttransport.png

Step 5. In the properties window, input 1 in the Value data field.

RDPClienttransport Data Value

Solution 3. Modify the registry key to ignore the missing channel binding on the gateway server

Some users believe that modifying the registry key to create an RDG Client Transport may affect the security of the Remote Desktop Connection. If you also have this concern, or the above two methods cannot solve the problem, then you can try the following method.

Step 1. Open Registry Editor. Then navigate here: Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftware > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion > TerminalServerGateway > Config > Core. On the right pane, right-click to create “DWORD (32-bit) Value” and rename it as “EnforceChannelBinding”.

Set Name

Step 2. Then double-click on it to open its properties. In the properties window, input 0 in the Value data field.

Change the Value to 0

If none of the above three methods solve the problem, or you feel that it is not safe enough to modify the registry, then you might as well try this third-party free remote desktop software for Windows AnyViewer.

Free Chrome Remote Desktop alternative: AnyViewer

How to avoid the “Your computer cannot connect to the Remote Desktop Gateway server” problem at the root? You can try the stable and secure remote control software AnyViewer. As a completely free remote access, remote control, and remote support solution, it is applicable to multiple Windows versions, including Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 and Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2012 R2.

AnyViewer has many advantages over Windows Remote Desktop Connection. The remote connection can be realized without an IP address and user name which further simplifies the operation steps.

Preparation work:

  • Connect the client computer (the controller computer) and the host computer (the controlled computer) to the Internet.
  • Download and install AnyViewer on the client computer and the host computer respectively.
Download Freeware Win 11/10/8.1/8/7
Secure Download

Step 1. Launch AnyViewer on both computers.

Connect

Step 2. Go to Log in, and then click Sign up. (If you already have signed up on its official website, you can log in directly.)

Log in AnyViewer

Step 3. Fill in the signup information.

Sign Up for AnyViewer

Step 4. Then you can see you successfully logged in to AnyViewer. Your device will automatically be assigned to the account you've logged in to.

Free Editions

Step 5. Log in to the same AnyViewer account on the two devices, then click One-click control to achieve unattended remote access.

Connect to My Devices

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.

After the remote connection is successful, you can adjust the resolution and image quality according to your needs. You can also lock, logout, restart, shut down the remote computer. Users can choose image quality according to the network connection speed. If the network connection speed is better, it can provide a higher image quality. AnyViewer also provides users with different resolutions. Users can choose according to their preferences.

Operation

Conclusion

If you happen to encounter the “Your computer cannot connect to the Remote Desktop Gateway server” problem, you can try the three methods mentioned above to see if the problem can be solved successfully. If none of the above methods solve the problem, then you can try to use the third-party free remote control software AnyViewer.

Compared with Windows Remote Desktop, AnyViewer has more advantages. Its operation is simpler. It is superior in terms of stability and is very suitable as a replacement for Windows Remote Desktop.