How do I pin a remote desktop connection to the taskbar?

If you create a remote desktop .rdp file (with stored credentials etc) and drag it to the taskbar in Windows 7, it doesn't behave as expected when you click it.

Clicking the pinned shortcut on the taskbar simply opens the remote desktop dialog box, instead of immediately connecting like a similar shortcut on the desktop would do quite happily.

How can I get the same shortcut pinned to my taskbar so I only have to click it once to connect?

4 Answers

You can create a shortcut on, e.g., the desktop (right-click the desktop, select "New > Shortcut"), with the following command line:

%windir%\system32\mstsc.exe "C:\Path\To\My\RDF File.RDP"

If you pin this shortcut to the taskbar, remote desktop should directly launch the connection.

Once you save your remote connection setup in an RDP file simply drag the file to the Remote Desktop icon in the Task Bar. This adds this connection to the "Pinned" area when you right-click the Remote Desktop ICON. You can add as many RDP file connections as you want to this pinned area. This assumes that you have already added the Remote Desktop program to the Task Bar. See above for doing this.

If you right click on the pinned icon, it will show you a list of recent connections. It should account for saved credentials and such as well.

If you liked the old Quick Launch area, you can use the Free Launch Bar (after installing, it is enabled/disabled by right-clicking the taskbar>Toobars):

You can then set up as many RDP icons as you want more easily. You will see in this picture, I have 4. This is a picture of Windows 7.