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Is there a way, using the keyboard, to switch from a maximized (full screen) Remote Desktop Connection back to the main computer?

I have about 4 Remote Desktop connections that I am switching between and it would be nice to not have to go to the mouse each time I want to switch.

I know I can press ctrl+alt+break and that normalizes the remote desktop screen. That is close, but I would like a way to just minimize it (so I don't have to normalize->switch->maximize each time I want to switch screens)

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6 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

CTRL + ALT + BREAK will minimize the maximized window to the host PC.

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For me that just "Normalizes" it. But that is good enough. (Alt + Tab can then be used.) – Vaccano May 4 at 15:52
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up vote 4 down vote

Not quite what you asked for, but might be helpful enough:

CTRL + ALT + ← - switches you to the host computer

CTRL + ALT + → - switches you back to the remote computer

Source

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Yes, but this does not work if you chose to not propagate all keys to the remote machine. I need that to have some keyboard shortcuts in the remote machine. The combinations mentioned by the OP do work even in this case, with the flaws mentioned. – Marcel Jan 5 '11 at 15:32
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up vote 4 down vote

This bugged me for the longest time as well. Initial attempts to solve it with AutoHotkey failed, because the Remote Desktop client installs a keyboard hook and swallows all input. I finally discovered that the Caps Lock key gets passed through to the local system. So, this AutoHotkey script will do the trick, making Ctrl+Shift+CapsLock minimize Remote Desktop:

#IfWinActive ahk_class TscShellContainerClass
  ^+CapsLock::
    ; Need a short sleep here for focus to restore properly.
    Sleep 50
    WinMinimize
  return
#IfWinActive

Corrected version that works for me:

#IfWinActive ahk_class TSSHELLWND
  ^Capslock::           ; Ctrl+Caps Lock (couldn't make Ctrl+Shift+Caps Lock work for some reason
    ; Need a short sleep here for focus to restore properly.
    Sleep 50
    WinMinimize A    ; need A to specify Active window
    ;MsgBox, Received Remote Desktop minimize hotkey    ; uncomment for debugging
  return
#IfWinActive
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up vote 2 down vote

For me in Windows 7 64 bit to make scrip work I had to change 1st line from #IfWinActive ahk_class TSSHELLWND to "IfWinActive ahk_class TscShellContainerClass so the full script now looks like:

#IfWinActive ahk_class TscShellContainerClass
  ^Capslock::           ; Ctrl+Caps Lock (couldn't make Ctrl+Shift+Caps Lock work for some reason
    ; Need a short sleep here for focus to restore properly.
    Sleep 50
    WinMinimize A    ; need A to specify Active window
    ;MsgBox, Received Remote Desktop minimize hotkey    ; uncomment for debugging
  return
#IfWinActive
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up vote 0 down vote

I do the same thing. The best solution I found in XP was virtual dimension with the virtual desktops always on top. Then I can switch among 4 remote desktops in full screen with one mouse click each. However, Virtual Dimension doesn't work quite right in Windows 7 (at least in 64 bit). It seems to work but it loses the "always on top" though the checkbox stays on, the virtual desktop switcher does not. It is so close to what we both want, but so far.

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up vote 0 down vote

Bring up the host's Task Manager, then task-switch:

  • CTRL-ALT-DELETE` (Windows Security)

  • T (Task Manager)

  • ALT-TAB (task-switch on host computer)

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