Remote Desktop Printer Redirection: Print to Your Printer

When you work on another Windows computer through Remote Desktop, you usually want your documents to come out of the printer next to you, not one in an office miles away. Remote Desktop printer redirection does exactly that: it makes the printers installed on your own computer available inside the remote session. This guide explains how to switch it on, how to tell it is working, and why a printer sometimes refuses to appear.

How printer redirection works

Your local computer (the one you are sitting at) already has the printer installed with its driver. When you connect with redirection switched on, the remote session gets a copy of each local printer. When you print in the remote session, the job travels back over the Remote Desktop connection and your local computer sends it to the printer.

Microsoft’s documentation highlights three facts that shape the setup:

• The driver lives on your computer. The printer’s driver must be installed on the local device for redirection to work correctly.
• The remote side uses Easy Print. Redirected printers use the Remote Desktop Easy Print driver in the remote session, so nothing needs to be installed there.
• It is all or nothing. When printer redirection is on, all printers available on the local device are redirected; you cannot pick individual printers. Your local default printer becomes the default in the remote session.

Redirection works with printers attached by USB and with network printers that your local computer uses.

Step 1: make sure the printer works locally

Redirection cannot fix a printer that does not work on your own computer. Print a test page first. If the printer is not installed yet, see how to add a printer in Windows 11, and if Windows cannot find a driver, see how to install a printer driver in Windows 11.

Set the printer you want to use as your default before connecting, because the default carries over into the session. Our guide to setting a default printer in Windows 11 explains how to stop Windows changing it.

Step 2: turn on Printers in Remote Desktop Connection

In the built-in Remote Desktop Connection app on Windows:

1. Open Remote Desktop Connection (search for it from Start, or run mstsc).
2. Select Show Options.
3. Open the Local Resources tab.
4. Under Local devices and resources, tick Printers.
5. Go back to the General tab, enter the computer name and select Connect.

To keep the setting, select Save on the General tab before connecting; it is stored in the connection’s .rdp file.

Using an .rdp file

If you connect with a saved .rdp file, the printer setting is a single line. Microsoft lists the property as:

redirectprinters:i:1

A value of 1 redirects your local printers; 0 does not. Microsoft lists the default as 0 in its RDP property reference, so it is worth checking the line when printers are missing. You can open an .rdp file in Notepad to see it, or right-click it and choose Edit to use the Remote Desktop Connection options instead.

Step 3: check the printer in the remote session

Inside the remote session:

1. Open Settings, Bluetooth & devices, Printers & scanners.
2. Look for your printer with (redirected n) added to the name. Microsoft explains that n is your session ID, which keeps redirected printers unique to each user.
3. Open a document and print it, choosing the redirected printer.

Microsoft also documents a PowerShell check you can run in the remote session that lists printers using the Remote Desktop Easy Print driver:

Get-Printer | ? DriverName -eq "Remote Desktop Easy Print"

Your redirected printers should appear in the list.

Printing from a Mac, phone or browser

Microsoft’s newer Windows App replaces the older Remote Desktop apps on many platforms. Its feature comparison lists printer redirection as supported on Windows, macOS and in a web browser, but not on iOS, iPadOS or Android. On macOS, Microsoft notes that Windows App uses a generic Publisher Imagesetter driver through CUPS by default and that native printer drivers are not supported, so advanced options may be missing.

If you work from an iPad or phone, the practical route is to print from the remote session to a network printer that the remote computer can reach, or save a PDF and print it locally.

Settings worth checking before a long session

A few local habits make redirected printing smoother:

• Keep only the printers you use. Because every local printer is redirected, a long list of old printers (including PDF and note-taking printers) all appear in the session. Removing ones you no longer use keeps the list short; see how to remove a printer in Windows 11.
• Set paper size and two-sided printing locally. The session’s print dialog shows the options your local printer reports, so getting defaults right on your own computer saves changing them on each job.
• Expect a short delay. Each job crosses the network twice: from the remote computer to yours, then from yours to the printer. Large files such as photos take longer than they would locally.
• Disconnect cleanly. Redirected printers exist only while the session is connected. If you print and then close the connection immediately, a large job may not have finished transferring.

When the printer does not appear

Work through these checks:

1. Printers ticked? Re-open Show Options, Local Resources and confirm it, then reconnect. Changes only apply to new connections.
2. The .rdp file. Check for redirectprinters:i:1.
3. Policy on the remote computer. Administrators can block redirection with the Group Policy or Intune setting Do not allow client printer redirection. Microsoft warns that the most restrictive setting wins, so a policy that blocks redirection overrides your client setting.
4. Local block. Microsoft documents a registry value on the local computer, DisablePrinterRedirection, that stops printers being redirected. On a work computer this may be set deliberately.
5. Easy Print fallback. Microsoft’s older policy reference explains that when Easy Print is not used, the remote computer needs a matching driver, and without one the printer is not available. On managed servers, ask the administrator which setting applies.
6. Driver problems on your computer. If the local printer shows errors, fix those first; our guide to printer error 0x8007007e covers a common driver issue.

Is redirection right for you?

For working from home on an office PC, redirection is usually the simplest answer. In company setups, administrators sometimes switch it off and offer a different printing service instead, which is their decision to make. If you control both computers, an alternative is to add your network printer directly on the remote computer when both are on the same network; our guide to sharing a printer on a network covers that.