Windows App for remote desktop access not working after laptop goes to sleep

Question

I'm having a problem with the Windows App for remote desktop access. I use one laptop (laptop1) to access another laptop (laptop2), allowing me to share monitors, mouse & keyboard. I use the Windows App to access it. Once laptop1 goes to sleep, I will get kicked off and then am unable to reconnect to laptop2 without completely restarting the laptop1. I believe this is due to some sort of setting but I can't figure out which setting is incorrect. This didn't happen with my previous laptop (and I was connecting to the same laptop2). The prior laptop was HP, the new one is Dell. If it is relevent, I'm using them to connect to a Lenovo.

Answer 1

Hi Christie Pardini,

Please try bellow suggestions to see if they can help.

• Uninstall and Reinstall Windows App.
• Perform a system scan and repair by running these commands on Command Prompt (Run as administrator):

    DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
    sfc /scannow
  

• Perform an In-place upgrade.

Disclaimer: Let’s try performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so. Once you are done backing up, you can follow the steps in the following guides: How to run In-place upgrade in Windows 11 - Microsoft Community

If you have further information, please feel free to let me know.

Answer 2

Hi,

It's a bit confusing. If your laptop 1 goes into sleep mode and you wake up and access Windows, but when you try to remotely access laptop 2, it gives an error?

Thanks

Answer 3

The behavior matches known Remote Desktop issues that occur when the client machine sleeps and then loses or changes its network connection. After sleep, the network stack or wireless authentication on laptop1 is not resuming cleanly, so the Remote Desktop client cannot reconnect until the machine is restarted.

Use these checks and changes on laptop1 (the Dell):

1. Prevent sleep/hibernation while using Remote Desktop
   • Set the power plan so the laptop does not sleep while plugged in:
     • Open Control Panel → Power Options.
     • For the active plan, set Put the computer to sleep to Never (at least when plugged in).
   • Remote Desktop cannot connect to a computer that is asleep or hibernating, so avoid sleep on the client while sessions are active.
2. Adjust wireless (802.1x) authentication settings
   • If laptop1 uses an 802.1x-secured Wi‑Fi network, a known issue can cause the laptop to disconnect and not automatically reconnect when using Remote Desktop.
   • Change the wireless network authentication from User authentication to either User or computer authentication or Computer authentication:
     • Open Network and Sharing Center.
     • Create or edit the Wi‑Fi profile and set the network authentication to User or computer authentication or Computer authentication.
     • If needed, create a new wireless connection profile with these settings.
3. Check for “limited access” or broken network after sleep
   • If, after laptop1 wakes, the network icon shows Limited access or similar, this indicates the network is not fully restored.
   • Restarting fixes it temporarily, which matches a known issue on some Windows versions where Auto Connect and network access are limited after sleep/connected standby.
   • As a workaround, avoid very short sleep timeouts and ensure all latest Windows and driver updates (especially network and chipset drivers from Dell) are installed.
4. Confirm Remote Desktop configuration and firewall
   • Ensure Remote Desktop is allowed through Windows Firewall on laptop2 and that laptop2 is not sleeping or hibernating.
   • If reconnect fails only after laptop1 sleeps (and works fine otherwise), the problem is almost certainly on laptop1’s network/power configuration, not on laptop2.

If the problem persists even with sleep disabled and Wi‑Fi authentication adjusted, test with a wired Ethernet connection on laptop1. If wired works reliably while Wi‑Fi does not, focus on updating or reconfiguring the Dell’s wireless adapter and its power management settings.

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References:

• Remote laptop disconnects from wireless network
• RDS session connectivity troubleshooting guidance
• Troubleshoot Remote desktop disconnected errors
• Auto Connect does not work and network access is limited in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2