RDP to Windows 10 hangs at Please wait screen

kiran kumar 56

RDP to Windows 10 hangs at the 'Please wait' screen forever until rebooted.

In our organisation, we are often seeing this issue on domain-joined systems & VMs with Windows 10 OS

This happens when users are trying to log in with their domain accounts. When the issue is reported, we IT team can log in with our Domain ADM accounts and reboot the system/VM. The user will be able to log in now, but the issue comes back again after a day or two. These systems/VMs are updated with the latest patches.

Even after running SFC Scan, the issue remains.

Frank Alexander van Ede 6 Reputation points

2021-06-28T14:37:42.083+00:00
I am having the exact same behaviour with a user working from home on a domain-joined laptop, connecting to the office over VPN to a domain-joined workstation.

It is a unique case and I am wondering if it is related to how the RDP session is ended.

Our IT group works similar and never has issues. We connect to the VPN, open RDP, do our stuff, close RDP/disconnect, close VPN
The user leaves everything connected and closes the lid of the laptop. That action puts the laptop to sleep.

To resolve the issue we connect remotely with RDP to the computer of the user, and after a reboot, she can connect again over VPN, with RDP.

It seems something gets stuck; googling I saw this link: where they recommend killing the rdp client with

taskkill /f /im msrdc.exe

`
Ter 1 Reputation point

2021-11-10T02:50:38.413+00:00

I encountered the same issue.
Moreover, I can always use my laptop with the same Microsoft account logged in to connect RDP, while my phone, my pad and other people's Windows PC will be stuck at Please Wait screen.
||v|| || ((=;; ||_|| ||£ ||_ 21 Reputation points

2022-10-26T23:30:33.957+00:00

Stumbled upon this post after a user inquired about the issue. This was after not having seen the issue in (maybe 10) years.

Old school trick: try pressing CTRL+ALT+END (not DEL) on your keyboard -- this will effectively send a "CTRL+ALT+DEL" to your Remote PC and can sometimes fix the issue/give you additional options or insight into what's happening... or at least snap the system out of it.

I tried again this time and the workaround was still effective in my environment.
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SPH 65 Reputation points

2023-07-15T19:42:30.5233333+00:00
Had the same problem at work after transferring settings between identically configured machines (first working, the second had this issue). After trying things on this site and others, I believe I have the answer. After fighting the problem for two months, i have had no issues since applying this Group Policy (gpedit.msc) setting:

Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Remote Desktop Services >> Remote Desktop Session Host >> Connections

At that level Enable the following setting

Restrict Remote Desktop Services User to a Single Remote Desktop Services Session
Alexander Niazi 1 Reputation point

2023-10-19T11:05:47.5+00:00

SPH fix solved the issue for me, found the below article useful for creating a clean .reg key on my PC then exporting it for easier importing to other users in the future. https://admx.help/?Category=Windows_10_2016&Policy=Microsoft.Policies.TerminalServer::TS_SINGLE_SESSION
Alexander Oliva 0 Reputation points

2024-09-04T02:58:29.46+00:00

Recently I got the same problem and after losing my mid for 2 days and alredy given up, A sudden idea crashed my mind, should I do the fix on the PC that I want to connect? IT WAS THAT!!

the solution is to do as @SPH describes but ON THE HOST/REMOTE MACHINE the one you want to log in

Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Remote Desktop Services >> Remote Desktop Session Host >> Connections

'Restrict Remote Desktop Services User to a Single Remote Desktop Services Session' and enable it and restart

I don't know why, but in my 2 PCs I was able to connect without problems, then I full reinstall windows 11/10 on 1 pc and It was stuck on the 'please wait screen', but in the other PC it was still working, so I try to apply the fix on the client PC (my PC) not on the host (remote PC)... ahh so much time wasted. Why in old installs works but not on new installs? no idea, use the fix

34 answers

Eric 216 Reputation points

2021-07-14T14:40:16.657+00:00
Hello Leila MSFT,

I have found new information that could lead to a solution of the issue if RDP getting stuck at "Please Wait" after connecting. Please determine why this alternate app allows a normal connection, even when MS RDP app gets stuck at "Please Wait":

Recreate issue- using RDP to connect to the destination pc gets stuck at "Please Wait", usually after connecting through a VPN and then putting the client laptop in sleep by closing the loud and reopening later (makes destination pc RDP service get stuck)

On an Android phone, use "Microsoft Remote Desktop" app to connect, it also gets stuck at "Please Wait".

From Google Play store, install "aFree RDP" which is a 3rd party RDP app. Setup the connection with the exact same user/ lpassword you used on MS RDP and connect to the destination pc. You will notice that the aFreeRDP connects as "Other User"and then enters the user/password credentials in there, and then it connects to the pc successfully with the desktop being shown as normal. You can use the pc as you would.

That's it. At this point if you disconnect and try MS RDP it is still stuck at "Please Wait" since it doesn't appear to use the "Other User" method to log in. But if you connect back using aFreeRDP it uses "Other User" which enters the credentials there and logs in perfectly.

It seems when connecting to the session as "Other User" and entering the credentials there, the system creates a new session, whereas the official MS RDP is stuck using the old session which is somehow in an infinite loop wait state.

MS PLEASE FIX IT
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Frank Alexander van Ede 6 Reputation points

2021-07-14T14:54:27.727+00:00

Hi Eric, I ended up creating a scheduled task on one of the servers to end the RDP session on the target machine. And until now the user has no issues, she still just closes the lit on the laptop and the next day connects to a fresh RDP session.

It is not a solution, but a blunt work-around that keeps my user happy.

Just in case here is the PowerShell I am running each night on the local domain server:

$ID=query session /SERVER:WSMC027|select -skip 1|%{$_.Split(' ',[System.StringSplitOptions]::RemoveEmptyEntries)} Disconnect-RDUser -HostServer WSMC027 -UnifiedSessionID $ID[8] -Force exit 0

(WSMC027 is the target matching)
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operation420.net 1 Reputation point

2021-08-16T01:40:48.933+00:00

I am getting this issue on two machines using Remmina in a Linux VM...

EDIT: It happened on a third after I restarted the other two and it happened on the other one again. 3 Machines within an hour, are you kidding me?
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Lourdes Suman 1 Reputation point

2021-08-16T16:10:17.277+00:00

Hi, I have the same problem, any solution?
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TalkingTurkey-6512 1 Reputation point

2021-09-01T06:22:27.613+00:00

The issue for me was using the saved credentials to connect.

I am on macOS and set the option to "Ask when required" for credentials.

When prompted i gave just my user name and it attempted to login but since i didnt give password it shows the windows login screen.

Short term solution but hope this helps
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Fardy Chandra 1 Reputation point

2021-09-01T07:01:29.96+00:00

To solve this:

I use another remote PC and execute a remote restart command.
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RDP to Windows 10 hangs at Please wait screen

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