When you are connecting to the remote Windows host using native Microsoft RDP client (mstsc.exe), you have the ability to save your login credentials in order to not to enter them each time. You just need to tick the “Remember me” option in the RDP connection windows. In this case, Windows will save your Remote Desktop password to the Windows Credentials Manager.
Also there is one more important thing. If you are trying to establish an RDP connection from a domain computer to a remote computer in a workgroup or another domain, it is impossible to use saved credential to access RDP server. Remote Desktop client refuses usage of saved credentials, each time forcing you to re-enter your password with the following error message: Your system administrator does not allow the use of saved credentials.
Remote Desktop Doesn’t Allow Saved Credentials
In some cases, when you try to connect to the Remote Desktop, you may receive the following error message:
Your Credentials did not work
Your system administrator does not allow the use of saved credentials to log on to the remote computer server_name because its identity is not fully verified. Please enter new credentials.
The logon attempt failed
Your System Administrator Does Not Allow the Use of Saved Credentials — What Does This Mean?
The fact is that using of saved login credentials when connecting to a remote computer is forbidden by default Windows security settings, because there is no trust relationship between your computer and the server in a remote domain (or workgroup). However, this settings can be changed.
Configure Group Policy to Allow the Use of Saved Remote Desktop Credentials
Run the Local Group Policy Editor on a computer from which you are performing the Remote Desktop connection. Press Win + R, type the following command and then click OK.
gpedit.msc
Additionally, you may need to enter an Administrator password or confirm the elevation (depending on the UAC policy settings).
In the Local Group Policy Editor console go to the section Local Computer Policy –> Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Credentials Delegation. Find the policy named Allow delegating default credentials with NTLM-only server authentication.
Open the policy item and enable it, then click Show button.
In the new window you need to add the list of servers/computers that are explicitly allowed the saved credential usage when connecting over RDP.
The list of allowed systems must be specified in the one of the following formats:
- TERMSRV/remote_pc — allow to save login credentials for a specific computer
- TERMSRV/*.theitbros.com — allow to use the saved credentials for all computers in the domain theitbros.com
- TERMSRV/* — allow to use saved RDP credentials for all computers, without exception.
Note. Use TERMSRV in uppercase, as in the example. If you specify a specific computer, remote_pc value must exactly match the name entered in the “Computer” field of the rdp client.
In the same Credentials Delegation GPO section find and enable the policy “Allow delegating saved credentials with NTLM-only server authentication”. Add the same TERMSRV/ values to the policy setting as mentioned above.
Press OK to save changes and then close the Group Policy Editor. Open Command prompt and update the Group Policy settings by running:
gpupdate /force
Now you should connect to the Remote Desktop with saved credentials without providing password over and over again.
So, we allowed to save the login credentials only on one particular computer using Local Group Policy.
If you can’t connect to the remote computer using saved RDP credentials, try to delete all old saved credentials using the Credential Manager (Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Credential Manager\Windows Credentials). Delete all the saved entries from the Windows Credentials and Generic Credentials. Then you can manually add your RDP creds under Generic Credentials (to make it work, put the prefix “TERMSRV” in the Internet or Network Address” before RD host name).
In order to allow saved RDP credentials usage for multiple domain computers it will be better to create a separate domain OU. Then use the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC.msc) to create and link the new GPO with the settings above to the computers’ OU.
Server Authentication Policy Does not Allow Saved Credentials
In some cases, you may see the following error message when you trying to use the saved RDP credentials:
Windows Security
Your credentials did no work
The server’s authentication policy does not allow connection requests using saved credentials. Please enter new credentials.
This error message indicates that the remote server does not allow the use of saved RD password to connect. To fix this error, you need to make changes to the settings of the remote computer/RDS server.
- On the remote computer, run the local GPO editor – gpedit.msc;
- Go to the GPO section Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Security;
- Locate and change the policy value ‘Always prompt for password upon connection‘ to Disabled;
- Reboot your server.
If this policy is enabled, Remote Desktop Services must always prompt a client for passwords upon RDP connection.
You can also change this parameter on the RDS server with one command in the elevated cmd:
REG add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services" /v fPromptForPassword /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Hope this was useful!
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Awesome! Thank you…
We are glad that you like it!
Very helpful, thank you!
Thanks!
I have tries this on several computers, and it still will not let me save credentials. Anything else I should try.
I had the same problem, but using these instructions went back in and also amended “Allow delegating saved credentials with NTLM-only server authentication.” and now it works :)
Thank you. Had to change both settings, but now it works. Client is Windows 10.
Same here. Once I Enabled the second it worked for me too!
Many thanks, this additional modification to group policy fixed my cached credentials problem
I followed the instructions as well as editing the entry specified by Leroy Bagwell but gpudpate /force fails because the computers I am doing this to are located in a remote office away from the domain controller so I get an error about not having network connectivity to the domain controller. Is there any way around this?
“Allow delegating saved credentials with NTLM-only server authentication.” work for me also
thanks Leroy for comment on IT Brothers Post
It doesn’t appear to work under Windows 10.
@ Dirk
For Windows 10, this did not work. What did work was going to Credential Manager, deleting the entry from the section Windows Credentials and adding it to Generic Credentials.
This is exactly what I needed to do, as well. If you’re part of a domain and the system you’re connecting to is not on the same domain (or not on a domain at all), then you have to go to the Credential Manager to remove the saved credentials from the Windows Credential group and manually add the credential to the Generic Credential group (confusingly, these are both located in the Windows tab).
One other note: don’t forget to add TERMSRV/ before the address of the computer you’re trying to RDP to.
THANK YOU! Finally the piece of information I needed! So sick of entering the password!
Thanks its working for me.
The one I needed was ‘Allow delegating saved credentials with NTLM-only server authentication’.
Windows 10, domain PC to non domain pc.
If you are trying to make this work with saved credentials, then you need to update the GPO for SAVED CREDENTIALS, not DEFAULT.
Did work for me at all. Instead I had to use the GP that says Allow delegating ***SAVED*** credentials with NTLM-only server authentication.
I have this problem
client is not on the domain (workgroup) windows 10
client i try to connect to is on a domain. also a windows 10 machine
still i does not save the password
For those who are willing to add it directly to the registry, save the following content in a *.reg file, which I got it by doing the modification manually and then searching the registry for TERMSRV:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation]
“AllowDefCredentialsWhenNTLMOnly”=dword:00000001
“ConcatenateDefaults_AllowDefNTLMOnly”=dword:00000001
“AllowDefaultCredentials”=dword:00000001
“ConcatenateDefaults_AllowDefault”=dword:00000001
“AllowSavedCredentialsWhenNTLMOnly”=dword:00000001
“ConcatenateDefaults_AllowSavedNTLMOnly”=dword:00000001
“AllowSavedCredentials”=dword:00000001
“ConcatenateDefaults_AllowSaved”=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation\AllowDefaultCredentials]
“1”=”TERMSRV/*”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation\AllowDefCredentialsWhenNTLMOnly]
“1”=”TERMSRV/*”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation\AllowSavedCredentials]
“1”=”TERMSRV/*”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation\AllowSavedCredentialsWhenNTLMOnly]
“1”=”TERMSRV/*”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation]
“AllowDefCredentialsWhenNTLMOnly”=dword:00000001
“ConcatenateDefaults_AllowDefNTLMOnly”=dword:00000001
“AllowDefaultCredentials”=dword:00000001
“ConcatenateDefaults_AllowDefault”=dword:00000001
“AllowSavedCredentialsWhenNTLMOnly”=dword:00000001
“ConcatenateDefaults_AllowSavedNTLMOnly”=dword:00000001
“AllowSavedCredentials”=dword:00000001
“ConcatenateDefaults_AllowSaved”=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation\AllowDefaultCredentials]
“1”=”TERMSRV/*”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation\AllowDefCredentialsWhenNTLMOnly]
“1”=”TERMSRV/*”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation\AllowSavedCredentials]
“1”=”TERMSRV/*”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation\AllowSavedCredentialsWhenNTLMOnly]
“1”=”TERMSRV/*”
Thanks a lot for pulling all RDP issues and their solution under one post. Thanks a lot :)