Reinstall Remote Desktop Connection (Free)

Restart your system after completion. Windows will automatically replace any broken instances of mstsc.exe or mstscax.dll . Alternative: Transitioning to the Modern Windows App

To properly reinstall, first ensure the existing component is removed:

Before we begin, it is vital to understand what you are actually reinstalling. Historically, on Windows XP and Windows 7, RDC was a separate downloadable tool (Remote Desktop Connection 7.0/8.0). On Windows 10 and 11, RDC is split into two components: reinstall remote desktop connection

Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object $_.Name -like "*RemoteDesktop*" | Add-WindowsCapability -Online Use code with caution.

It's also wise to before making changes to critical system components. This provides a safety net in case something goes wrong. Restart your system after completion

The exact you see when trying to connect?

: Users can now treat the legacy Remote Desktop Connection as an "Installed App" in Settings rather than an immovable system feature. Historically, on Windows XP and Windows 7, RDC

Reinstalling is a common troubleshooting step for resolving connection errors, missing executables, or corrupt system files. In modern versions of Windows, specifically Windows 11 version 23H2 and later, Microsoft has streamlined this process by allowing the application to be uninstalled and reinstalled like a standard app. 1. Prerequisites for Reinstallation

If you click the Microsoft documentation link and receive a 502 Bad Gateway error, the public download page may have been retired or is temporarily unavailable.

# Unregister the Remote Desktop ActiveX control regsvr32 /u mstscax.dll