RD for Mac: How to turn off menu and dock in full screen mode (official way or workaround)?

Andrew Usachov 11 Reputation points
2020-12-02T07:42:59.817+00:00

How to turn off menu and dock in full screen mode (official way or workaround)?
Will this feature ever be implemented?

Remote Desktop
Remote Desktop
A Microsoft app that connects remotely to computers and to virtual apps and desktops.
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  1. Schmidlin 11 Reputation points
    2021-09-30T13:32:00.487+00:00

    This problem was driving me nuts, so I worked to find a workaround.

    1. Download the "Microsoft Remote Desktop Beta" App from the Microsoft website, and install it
    2. Right-click on the App icon and select "Show package contents"
    3. Edit the file Info.plist
    4. Add these two lines to just after the first <dict> tag: <key>LSUIPresentationMode</key>
      <integer>3</integer>
    5. Save, close the text editor
    6. Type the following command on the terminal, on the folder where the App is installed codesign --force --deep --sign - Microsoft\ Remote\ Desktop\ Beta.app
    7. Run the App again. The menu/dock annoyance should be gone.

    Known issues:

    • The menu/dock will be disabled even on the "Connection Center" window. Just click on another App window and they'll return. For the "Connection Center" window itself, you'll just have to memorize the shortcuts to the few functions that are exclusively on the menus, but the majority of them can be accessed via the toolbar. Or temporarily set the LSUIPresentationMode to 4 if you really need to select something on the menus.
    • This modification will have to be remade every time you download a new version for this App
    • The built-in update function won't work anymore. When it tells you to update, you have to re-download the App yourself

    If this tip was helpful to you, please buy me a coffee. ;)

    2 people found this answer helpful.
  2. Andrejs Usacovs 16 Reputation points
    2021-09-30T14:27:56.397+00:00

    Unfortunately, the menu and dock reappear after switching to Mac desktop and then back to the remote machine.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
  3. Karlie Weng 8,321 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2020-12-03T01:42:48.957+00:00

    Hello @Andrew Usachov

    Unfortunately, it's no possible now. we can post your suggestion in below forum.

    I hope it will be implemented in future. Thanks for your understanding.

    Remote Desktop Services for user voice
    https://remotedesktop.uservoice.com/forums/925354-remote-desktop-beta-client-for-mac

    Or you can refer to some workarounds suggested in this thread.

    Hope this helps a bit ....

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    Best Regards
    Karlie

    1 person found this answer helpful.
  4. Andrejs Usacovs 16 Reputation points
    2020-12-03T09:06:18.21+00:00

    AFAIK, it keeps being as suggestion since at least 2014 :-(

    1 person found this answer helpful.
  5. Simon Raybould 1 Reputation point
    2022-06-21T13:49:43.8+00:00

    I did this but all it did was delete all of my saved desktops such that I had to create them all again.
    The annoying dock and menu bar are still there.
    They do disappear the first time you access a desktop but if you go to the Mac screen and back to the PC desktop then they are back as reported by AndrejsUsacovs-7246.
    So not really a working workaround unfortunately.