Access desktops and apps using direct launch URLs for Windows App in a web browser

Each individual Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 resource can be launched directly in a web browser by opening a specific link to each resource. By using a direct launch URL, you can bypass interacting with the Windows App UI in a web browser, as this link automatically establishes a connection.

Prerequisites

Select the tab for the resource you would like to launch.

Azure Virtual Desktop

Before you can use a direct launch URL for Windows App, you need:

• A supported web browser to use with Windows App. To learn more, see Get started with Windows App.

• The desktop or RemoteApp you define in the URL must be assigned to the user.

• To get the required values, you can use Azure PowerShell. If you want to use Azure PowerShell locally, see Use Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell with Azure Virtual Desktop to make sure you have the Az.DesktopVirtualization PowerShell module installed. Alternatively, use the Azure Cloud Shell.

Windows 365

Before you can use a direct launch URL for Windows App, you need:

• Access to an existing Cloud PC. We only support connecting to Windows 365 Enterprise and Frontline dedicated mode Cloud PCs with a direct URL. The Cloud PC must be provisioned.

• A supported web browser to use with Windows App. To learn more, see Get started with Windows App.

• To get the required values, you can use PowerShell. You need the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK installed, specifically the Microsoft.Graph.DeviceManagement.Administration module, version 2.18.0 or later.

• An administrator account for Windows 365.

Create and use a direct launch URL

Select the tab for the resource you would like to launch.

Azure Virtual Desktop

Both desktop and RemoteApp resources in Azure Virtual Desktop are identified by a workspace ID and a resource ID. You need to use both values in a direct launch URL.

To get the values needed for the URL, you can use Azure PowerShell. Not all the required values are easily found in the Azure portal. In the following examples, remember to change the <placeholder> values to your own.

Important

For RemoteApp, launching a new tab with a second app from the same host pool causes the original tab to disconnect and both apps to be visible in the new tab.

1. Open Azure Cloud Shell in the Azure portal with the PowerShell terminal type, or run PowerShell on your local device.

   • If you're using Cloud Shell, make sure your Azure context is set to the subscription that you want to use.

   • If you're using PowerShell locally, first sign in with Azure PowerShell, and then make sure your Azure context is set to the subscription that you want to use.

2. Get the object ID of the related workspace by running the following command:

   $parameters = @{
       ResourceGroupName = "<ResourceGroupName>"
       Name              = "<DesktopName>"
   }
   
   Get-AzWvdWorkspace @parameters | FT Name, FriendlyName, ObjectId
   

   Here's an example of the output from the command:

   Name     FriendlyName    ObjectID
   ----     ------------    --------
   ws01     Contoso         00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
   

3. The commands you need to run to get the object ID for a Desktop or RemoteApp are different. See the following examples.

   • For a desktop, run the following command:

     $parameters = @{
          ResourceGroupName      = "<ResourceGroupName>"
          ApplicationGroupName   = "<ApplicationGroupName>"
     }
     
     Get-AzWvdDesktop @parameters | FT Name, ObjectId
     

     Here's an example of the output from the command:

     Name      ObjectID
     ----      --------
     desktop01    00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
     

   • For a RemoteApp, run the following command:

     $parameters = @{
         ResourceGroupName      = "<ResourceGroupName>"
         ApplicationGroupName   = "<ApplicationGroupName>"
     }
     
     Get-AzWvdApplication @parameters | FT Name, ObjectId
     

     Here's an example of the output from the command:

     Name      ObjectID
     ----      --------
     app01     00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
     

4. Once you have the object ID for the workspace and the desktop or RemoteApp, add the values to a URL in the following format. Open the link in a supported browser to connect.

   https://windows365.microsoft.com/webclient/avd/<workspaceID>/<resourceID>
   

Windows 365

Each Enterprise and Frontline dedicated mode Cloud PC is identified by a workspace ID. You need to use this value in a direct launch URL.

To get the workspace ID value needed for the URL, you can use PowerShell.

1. Connect to Microsoft Graph using the following commands to read Cloud PC information:

   Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.DeviceManagement.Administration
   Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "CloudPC.Read.All"
   

2. Get the workspace ID value by running the following command:

   Get-MgDeviceManagementVirtualEndpointCloudPc | FT DisplayName, Id
   

   Here's an example of the output from the command:

   DisplayName     Id
   -----------     --
   Contoso         00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
   

3. Once you have the workspace ID of the Cloud PC, add the value to a URL in the following format. Open the link in a supported browser to connect.

   https://windows365.microsoft.com/webclient/ent/<workspaceID>