Remote desktop keeps disconnecting: causes and fixes

On the Devices page, each PC has a status under its name, and Why can't I connect? on its tile explains it. The status tells you where to look:

• Offline · last seen a time: the PC went to sleep, lost its internet connection, restarted, or RemoteAccessApp isn't running there. Start with sleep and power settings below.
• Couldn't connect, retrying: the PC is known but the connection isn't getting through, usually the network at one end. See relay and firewalls.
• Reconnecting during a session: the connection dropped and the app is already trying again.
• View only: not a disconnection. Someone at the PC turned off remote control, so you can watch but not control.

Messages like "Can't reach your computer. It may be asleep or offline. This session will reconnect when it's back.", "Remote desktop disconnected" or "The remote control session is offline" all say the same thing: the PC you're connected to stopped answering. Your session hasn't been thrown away, and nothing is wrong with your account. The other end went quiet, almost always for one of these reasons:

• The PC went to sleep, or someone shut it down or closed a laptop lid.
• It lost its internet connection, or the Wi-Fi dropped for a moment.
• Windows restarted it, often for updates, and nobody has signed in since.
• The remote app on that PC stopped running or was blocked by security software.

In RemoteAccessApp, an open session that drops says Reconnecting to the PC's name, with "The connection dropped. This view reconnects on its own as soon as the PC is back." If the PC stays away, the session says it isn't connected and "It comes back as soon as the PC is online again.", with a Try again button. Either way, the fix is on the PC's side: the steps below.

The same goes when a remote desktop app on Windows keeps disconnecting: the app on your end is rarely the cause. Sleep, power saving, Wi-Fi and restarts at the PC you're reaching are.

Sessions have no time limit, so a drop is never the app ending things on purpose. When the connection goes, the app notices within seconds, shows Reconnecting instead of a frozen picture, and tries again by itself for about a minute, still following the PC's usual permission rules. It also recovers on its own when your network changes, for example from Wi-Fi to mobile data. If the PC doesn't come back, you see that it disconnected, with a Reconnect button. Automatic reconnecting was one of the changes in the October 2026 roundup of what's new in RemoteAccessApp.

In a browser, leaving the tab or switching apps on a phone is fine: the session picks up again when you come back. And the RemoteAccessApp Agent never updates itself while someone is connected, so an app update won't cut you off.

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   Step 1: Stop the PC from sleeping

   A sleeping PC drops every connection. In Windows Settings, open System, then Power or Power & battery (Windows 11) or Power & sleep (Windows 10), and set the PC to sleep Never when it's plugged in.

   On a laptop, also check what closing the lid does: in Control Panel, open Power Options and Choose what closing the lid does.

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   Step 2: Stop Windows turning off the network card

   Open Device Manager, expand Network adapters, open your network card and, on the Power Management tab, untick Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power. Do it for the Wi-Fi and the wired adapter if the PC has both.

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   Step 3: Give it a steady connection

   A network cable beats Wi-Fi for a PC you reach often. If it has to be Wi-Fi, move the PC or the router closer, or away from thick walls. Big downloads, cloud backups and streaming on the same connection can crowd a session out, especially uploads from the PC.

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   Step 4: Keep Windows Update restarts out of your way

   In Settings, open Windows Update, then Advanced options, and set Active hours to cover the times you usually connect. Windows avoids restarting during them. After any restart, the PC comes back once someone signs in to Windows.

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   Step 5: Keep RemoteAccessApp running and up to date

   Leave Start RemoteAccessApp with Windows on, and make sure the RemoteAccessApp icon is next to the clock. Installed apps update themselves; each PC's version shows in the Devices list, and the release notes and changelog list what changed in each version. If security software asks about programs going online, allow the RemoteAccessApp Agent and Console.

Once it's fixed, the PC stays Online in your list, ready to connect whenever you need it.

A picture that stutters, freezes for a moment or turns blurry is a slow link rather than a lost one, and remote desktop latency explained simply covers why that happens. In the Windows app, open Connection health (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+I) to see live speed, delay and quality, and turn on low-bandwidth mode with one click: a smaller, lighter picture at up to 10 frames a second, remembered for that PC. In a browser, choose the Saves data quality. More fixes are in slow or choppy sessions.

• Asleep or switched off? If another of your PCs is online on the same network, try Wake up. See how to wake a sleeping PC remotely.
• Restarted? RemoteAccessApp starts when someone signs in to Windows, and remote tools can't get past the sign-in or lock screen. See remote PC login for keeping a PC ready.
• Locked during a session? Locking it remotely leaves it locked until someone signs in at the PC, so avoid Win+L on a PC you'll need again.