Remote Desktop or Network Shares with Microsoft Account Sign-In

If you sign-in to your PC using a Microsoft Account, you may be unable to connect to that with Remote Desktop or with network file sharing, or locally schedule tasks using that account. Here’s how to fix it.

Method One, the Quick & Easy Way

On the PC hosting the remote desktop session (running Windows Pro or better), run the following command, replacing the example email address with your Microsoft Account email address that you use to login to the computer. You can just put this directly into your Run box or type it into a Command Prompt terminal.

runas /u:MicrosoftAccount\[email protected] winver

Type the command exactly as shown, only changing the email address that comes after the \ mark.

This command runs the “winver” program under the credentials of the user account specified. It sounds (and is) pretty simple, but what it does in the background is caches your Microsoft Account credentials. Since your local user account had no password, it wasn’t eligible for RDP use even if it has appropriate permissions otherwise.

When you press Enter, you’ll be prompted for your password, which for security will not show while you type it, but go ahead and key it in and press Enter.

After supplying the password and pressing Enter, you’ll know it worked if you see the About Windows dialog box open. Go ahead and close it and the terminal window — you’re all done.

At this point, you should be able to connect to the remote computer using the same account & password you just used to run the above command. When connecting, enter your username the same way, with the MicrosoftAccount\ preceding it. If it doesn’t connect, be sure to check your connection type (see below).

Method Two, the Alternative (Slight Hassle) Way

Another way to get local credentials set for your user account is to unlink your Microsoft Account, setting a local password during the process. Once set, you’ll be able to keep using those local credentials even if you later re-link your user account to a Microsoft Account. Here’s the long steps should you wish to take them:

1. Go to Settings > Accounts > Your Info, then click “Sign in with a local account instead”. Windows will show some warnings and suggest you don’t do this, but do it anyway. Make sure you set a password during the process (a user account with no password cannot connect by RDP, even if it has appropriate permissions otherwise).
2. When done, restart your computer and verify you can connect from another PC using the local account username/password you just set.
3. If desired, return to back to step 1 and click “Sign in with a Microsoft Account” and finish that process to re-link the account to your Microsoft Account.

Don’t Forget Your Network Type

A tangent issue to the topic at hand, it’s important to note that RDP connections may not work if your Network Type is not considered private (it would be dangerous to allow RDP on an untrusted connection). Here’s one quick way to make sure it’s set correctly.

1. Open File Explorer and click Network in the navigation pane at the left side.
2. If a yellow bar appears mentioning that Network Discovery is turned off, click it, then set your Network Type as “Private” (assuming you’re inside a private network like your home).

Now that your Network Type is set to Private, you should have no issues connecting to the PC over RDP or network shares.

Remote Desktop From Outside Your Home

Unless used in a strictly controlled environment like a well-managed business or inside a secure private home network, this type of Remote Desktop Connection can be risky. There are additional drawbacks as well — for example, this solution won’t work if you use a passwordless Microsoft account.

As an alternative that is both more secure and more functional (while still being free to use), let me recommend Google Chrome Remote Desktop. This is a remote desktop solution that provides the necessary HTTPS tunneling for connecting from outside your house, but also provides additional multi-factor security (no less than 3 factors) for connecting to your system remotely. Despite the name it also doesn’t require Google Chrome at all and works just fine with Microsoft Edge. I highly recommend it above messy insecure options like port forwarding your port 3389 (or any port) for RDP purposes.