Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in Windows - Windows 10 Help Forums (2026)

Table of Contents

To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in Remote Desktop Users Settings To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in Local Users and Groups To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in Command Prompt To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in PowerShell

How to Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in Windows

You can use the Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe) or Microsoft Remote Desktop app to connect to and control your Windows PC from a remote device. When you allow remote desktop connections to your PC, you can use another device to connect to your PC and have access to all of your apps, files, and network resources as if you were sitting at your desk.

By default, administrators on your PC can always connect remotely to your computer even if they are not added as members of the Remote Desktop Users group.

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove users as members of the Remote Desktop Users group to allow connecting remotely to your Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 PC.

You must be signed in as an administrator to add or remove users from the Remote Desktop Users group.

You must enable Remote Desktop on a PC to allow remote connections to the PC.

The Remote Desktop client does not support connecting to the Windows editions below. See: Supported PCs

Windows 7 Starter
Windows 7 Home
Windows 8 Home
Windows 8.1 Home
Windows 10 Home

Contents

Option One: To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in Remote Desktop Users Settings
Option Two: To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in Local Users and Groups
Option Three: To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in Command Prompt
Option Four: To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in PowerShell

OPTION ONE

To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in Remote Desktop Users Settings

1 Do step 2 (Settings) and/or step 3 (Control Panel) below for how you want to open Remote Desktop Users settings.

2 Open Settings, and click/tap on the System icon.

A) Click/tap on Remote Desktop on the left side, click/tap on the Select users that can remotely access this PC link on the right side, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)

3 Open the Control Panel (icons view), click/tap on the System icon.

Starting with Windows 10 build 20161, you will need to open Settings instead, click/tap on the System icon, and click/tap on About on the left side.

A) Click/tap on the Remote settings link on the left side, close the System window, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)

Starting with Windows 10 build 20161, you will need to click/tap on About on the left side, and click/tap on the Advanced system settings link instead.

B) Click/tap on the Select Users button. (see screenshot below)

4 Do step 5 (add) and/or step 6 (remove) below for what you want to do.

5. To Add Users to Remote Desktop Users Group

A) Click/tap on the Add button. (see screenshot below)

To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in Local Users and Groups

1 Press the Win + R keys to open Run, type lusrmgr.msc into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Local Users and Groups.

2 Click/tap on Groups in the left pane of Local Users and Groups, and double click/tap on the Remote Desktop Users group in the right pane. (see screenshot below)

3 Do step 4 (add) and/or step 5 (remove) below for what you want to do.

4. To Add Users to Remote Desktop Users Group

A) Click/tap on the Add button. (see screenshot below)

B) Click/tap on the Advanced button. (see screenshot below)

C) Click/tap on the Find Now button, select the name of the user account (ex: "Brink2") you want to add as a member, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

If you like, you can press and hold the Ctrl key to select more than one user.

D) Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

E) Click/tap on Apply, and go to either step 5 (remove) or step 6 (finished) below for what you want to do. (see screenshot below)

5. To Remove Users from Remote Desktop Users Group

A) Select a user name (ex: "Brink2") you want to remove as a member, and click/tap on the Remove button. (see screenshot below)

If you like, you can press and hold the Ctrl key to select more than one user.

B) Click/tap on Apply, and go to either step 4 (add) or step 6 (finished) below for what you want to do. (see screenshot below)

6 When finished adding and removing users, click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

7 You can now close Local Users and Groups if you like.

OPTION THREE

To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in Command Prompt

1 Open an elevated command prompt.

2 Type the command below you want to use into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)

(Add user)
net localgroup "Remote Desktop Users" "User" /add

(Remove user)
net localgroup "Remote Desktop Users" "User" /delete

Substitute User in the command above with the actual name of the user account (ex: "Brink2") you want to add or remove as a Remote Desktop User.

3 When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.

OPTION FOUR

To Add or Remove Remote Desktop Users in PowerShell

For more Add-LocalGroupMember command usage options and details, see: Add-LocalGroupMember - Microsoft Developer Network

For more Remove-LocalGroupMember command usage options and details, see: Remove-LocalGroupMember - Microsoft Developer Network

1 Open an elevated PowerShell.

2 Type the command below you want to use into the elevated PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)

(Add user)
Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Remote Desktop Users" -Member "User"

(Remove user)
Remove-LocalGroupMember -Group "Remote Desktop Users" -Member "User"

Substitute User in the command above with the actual name of the user account (ex: "Brink2") you want to add or remove as a Remote Desktop User.

3 When finished, you can close the elevated PowerShell if you like.

That's it,
Shawn Brink