Cannot reconnect to remote app, mstsc.exe stuck

Question

When a RemoteApp session become disconnected e.g. idle timeout the user cannot reconnect. If he close the rdp window to start a new connection he cannot because in the background the mstsc.exe still running blocking the user to start it again. The only way we found is to end the mstsc task from task manager which is quite inconvenient. It is under Windows 11. Does anyone experience the same?
The server is a Windows server 2022 with RDS role, remote apps, and terminal gateway.

Answer 1

Hello,

When a RemoteApp session is disconnected, it often remains in a disconnected state rather than being fully terminated. This is designed to allow faster reconnection for subsequent RemoteApps by reusing the existing session rather than creating a new one. However, if the mstsc.exe process is still running in the background, it can prevent users from initiating a new connection.

In addition to shutting down mstsc.exe through the task manager, you can also try the following two workarounds.

To prevent sessions from disconnecting due to idle timeout, you can adjust the session timeout settings on the Windows Server 2022 RDS role.

Open the Local Group Policy Editor by typing gpedit.msc in the Run dialog and pressing Enter.

Navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Session Time Limits.

Find the setting related to session timeouts and configure it to your desired values.

Restart the Remote Desktop Services

Restarting the Remote Desktop Services on the server may clear out any stuck sessions and allow users to connect again. This can be done through the Services snap-in in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).

I hope the information above is helpful.

Best regards

Zunhui

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