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My small laptop has a small keyboard, which lacks a Pause/Break key. Ctrl-Alt-Break toggles Full Screen mode in Windows Remote Desktop. Without a Break key, how can I enter Full Screen mode?

I know I can exit fullscreen mode with the mouse.

Maximizing the window doesn't help.

This matters more on small laptops because the screens are small (so you need all the real estate you can get) and because the keyboard lacks dedicated PgUp/PgDn and other dedicated keys (so I can't easily use the RDP alternatives like Alt-PgUp).

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Are you sure you don't have break as a Fn? – viking Jun 30 '11 at 22:01
That's weird; maximizing the window makes RDP go full-screen for me, everywhere I use it. What happens when you maximize yours? Also, there's almost certainly a way to send Break; what make and model of netbook is it? – boot13 Jun 30 '11 at 22:15
If the resolution of the local screen is smaller than the resolution of the remote PC, then maximizing will not make it go full screen, as you'd lose the scroll bars. – Pangea Jul 6 '11 at 2:54
@boot13 - RDP always used to go full screen but since v6.0 it maximises when the screen resolution and mstsc resolution both match, instead of going full screen. It's so bleeping irritating, as my boss's new laptop doesn't have a break key, meaning I have to watch him clunk around scrolling up and down every time he needs to get to the start bar. – Mark Henderson Nov 21 '11 at 0:01
I even tried the Windows On-Screen Keyboard and had no luck. OP's own answer is my favorite. – sidewaysmilk Apr 28 at 8:52
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3 Answers

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Ideally you could find a configuration option for mstsc.exe that lets you change that setting.. Or possibly a reg edit.

If you have some key you don't really use, you could remap it to function as a break key. You can use any of a large number of windows programs to remap keyboard keys. This article discusses 3 such applications.

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Except that break is a special key and can't be mapped onto another key. (Owner of a brand new samsung laptop that has a numeric keypad, but no pause/break key.) – sean e Dec 15 '11 at 21:06
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If you're in full screen mode and you minimize, and then restore, it comes back in full-screen mode. So I've learned to always minimize, and not de-maximize from the panel that slides down at the top of the RDP screen.

I also made it easy to reconnect if I lose my full-screen state. First, I RDP to each machine and save credentials. (Only do this if you're on a secure machine). Second, I create a small batch file that looks like this:

start mstsc /v:%~n0 /f

I name the batch file after the computer I want to connect to. I put this in an easy-to-reach location (I have a dedicated toolbar on my task bar). Now, when I loose my fullscreen state, I just rerun this batch file and a few seconds later I'm back in full screen.

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Your advice to just minimize will help me in the future. Your batch file one liner saved my bacon just now. Simplified, that looks like start mstsc /v:10.1.1.10 /v if your target computer is 10.1.1.10. THANK YOU! – sidewaysmilk Apr 28 at 8:43
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up vote 1 down vote

I used AutoHotKey as recommended in this question to map CapsLock to break using this binding: CapsLock::CtrlBreak

AutoHotKey needs to be running for the binding to hold. It is not a simple registry change that can be done with most other keys.

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