Remote Desktop "Your Credentials Did Not Work"

Question

So after searching I decided to post this question because all the solutions don't seem to reflect my situation.

Before we start I want to preface a few things:

• All Microsoft Account Passwords are correct (I've confirmed them by logging into to the respective MS accounts and I've reset the passwords just in case.
• Everything used to work prior to my upgrading the Main PC

OK, so I have 2 PC's:

• Main PC (Windows 11 Home) - account name "gil"
• HTPC (Windows 10 Pro) - account name "kgara"

I recently did a cpu/mobo/SSD upgrade on the Main PC and I performed a fresh windows 11 home install. Prior to this upgrade I was still using windows 11 under the same account on the Main PC and I was able to remote into the HTPC using the "kgara" username. Since my upgrade/fresh win11 install I keep getting the error "Your credentials did not work" and I can't for the life of me figure out why. please help

thank you,

Gil.

Answer 1

It seems like Windows (11) does require a local password to log on via RDP. A few people have discussed this option already, but I would like to contribute another solution in case you can neither sign in with a local password nor create one (as was my case). The option to add a password, as shown above in solution 5 simply did not exist for me; my account is an online account.

This solution did not require any of the above steps, nor did it require me to turn Windows Hello (or the under Sol. 5 mentioned option) off.

If you are on Win 11 with Hello and 2FA, nothing else worked so far, and you can’t set or use a local Password, you might want to try this:
Sign out > inhibit Hello from signing you in, and click ‘sign-in options’ > click on ‘I forgot my pin’ > log in with your Microsoft account (and therefore your account Password) > approve the sign in request, in case you have 2FA > confirm that ‘you are sure’ to reset your PIN (you can set the same PIN again) > reset the PIN.

Thats it, all Windows needed was for you to sign in once with your account password. At least, this is the solution that worked for me.

Answer 2

I have been tearing my hair out and my face off for hours and found the simplest solution. Same issue with using a Win10 computer and connecting to a Win11 remotely. I tried a million things at least and then this simple fix........

On the remote Win 11 computer I signed out. Then instead of using the PIN I selected other signin options and used my Microsoft password. Then RDP from the Win10 computer connected.

Unfreakinbeliviable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 3

Is Microsoft this terrible that even they are unable to help?

Answer 4

None of these options resolve the problem. In my case, remote PC is Win 11 Pro, HTPC is a new Win 11 Pro (new PC, new installation of Windows.)

In point of fact, your last suggestion to delete the "WinStations" key rendered the PC inoperable and required reinstalling the OS. I'd advise others not to try this.

So there's clearly some new feature or configuration of Win 11 that disables the RDP connection, since the other machines on this LAN all interoperate nicely on demand. Network setting is Private, BTW.

Anyone else have any insights? It would be great to fix this.

Answer 5

Hi,

R. Cord here, Independent Expert. Hope you are doing well.

Ensure that the user account "kgara" on the HTPC has the necessary permissions for remote desktop connections. To do this, right-click on the "This PC" icon on the HTPC and select "Properties". Then, click on "Remote settings" and make sure that the "Allow remote connections to this computer" option is enabled.

Try using the full username and domain name when connecting to the HTPC. For example, if the HTPC is on a local network, you can use the following format to log in: "htpc\kgara". If the HTPC is not on a domain, you can use the computer name instead of the domain name.

Make sure that your firewall is not blocking remote desktop connections. You can check this by temporarily disabling the firewall and attempting to connect to the HTPC again.

Try creating a new user account on the HTPC and see if you can connect to it using remote desktop. If you can, then the issue might be related to the original user account.

If none of the above steps work, try resetting the Remote Desktop settings on the HTPC. To do this, open the Registry Editor on the HTPC and navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server. Then, delete the "WinStations" key and restart the computer.

I hope one of these solutions helps resolve your issue.