{"id":85,"date":"2025-11-23T01:53:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T01:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/windows-vps.org\/blog\/?p=85"},"modified":"2026-10-26T22:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:08:09","slug":"windows-10-mstsc-session-settings-saved-rdp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/windows-vps.org\/blog\/windows-10-mstsc-session-settings-saved-rdp\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows 10 mstsc: Session Settings, Saved .rdp Files and Credential Fixes for a VPS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This page is not about how to connect. It is about the mstsc client’s own state: the Experience tab defaults, the display and redirection settings that get baked into a saved .rdp file, where that file lives and why it disappears after an upgrade, and how the client stores and replays credentials through Windows Credential Manager. If you can log in but the session is slow, blurry, or keeps asking for a password you already saved, the answer is in one of these five settings. Server-side images that match the defaults discussed here are listed under the Windows VPS plans at windows-vps.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Where Windows 10 Keeps Your Saved Sessions<\/h2>\n

The client writes two kinds of state to disk, and only one of them is a file you chose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Path<\/th>\nContent<\/th>\nScope<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
%USERPROFILE%\\Documents\\Default.rdp<\/td>\nSettings used when you launch mstsc with no arguments<\/td>\nPer user, hidden file<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Any .rdp you save via “Save As”<\/td>\nFull connection config, plain text<\/td>\nAnywhere you choose<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
%APPDATA%\\Microsoft\\Terminal Server Client\\Default<\/td>\nMRU list of the last 10 hostnames (MRU0\u2013MRU9)<\/td>\nPer user, editable<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
%APPDATA%\\Microsoft\\Terminal Server Client\\Servers\\<host>\\UsernameHint<\/td>\nRemembered username per host<\/td>\nPer user, plain text<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
%LOCALAPPDATA%\\Microsoft\\Terminal Server Client\\Cache<\/td>\nPersistent bitmap cache (bcache*.bmc)<\/td>\nPer user, per host<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The MRU list is the reason the Computer field suggests a hostname you deleted months ago. It is a registry key, not a file, and it survives profile roaming in some configurations:<\/p>\n

reg query \"HKCU\\Software\\Microsoft\\Terminal Server Client\\Default\"\nreg delete \"HKCU\\Software\\Microsoft\\Terminal Server Client\\Default\" \/v MRU0 \/f<\/code><\/pre>\n
Reading a .rdp File: The Settings That Actually Affect Speed<\/h2>\n
An .rdp file is an INI that the client parses on launch. Open it in Notepad and you can see exactly what the GUI wrote. The left column is the raw key, the right column is the GUI location that produces it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
.rdp key<\/th>\nValues<\/th>\nGUI location<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
session bpp:i<\/td>\n15, 16, 24, 32<\/td>\nDisplay \u2192 Colors<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
desktopwidth \/ desktopheight<\/td>\ne.g. 1920 \/ 1080<\/td>\nDisplay \u2192 Resolution<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
screen mode id:i<\/td>\n1 = windowed, 2 = full screen<\/td>\nDisplay \u2192 Full screen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
connection type:i<\/td>\n1 modem, 2 low, 3 broadband, 4 LAN, 6 auto<\/td>\nExperience \u2192 Connection speed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
bitmapcachepersistenable:i<\/td>\n0 \/ 1<\/td>\nExperience \u2192 Persistent bitmap caching<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
authentication level:i<\/td>\n0 = connect and warn, 1 = don’t connect, 2 = warn<\/td>\nAdvanced \u2192 Server authentication<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
administrative session:i<\/td>\n0 \/ 1<\/td>\nAdvanced \u2192 Connect to admin session<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
redirectclipboard:i<\/td>\n0 \/ 1<\/td>\nLocal Resources \u2192 Clipboard<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
audiomode:i<\/td>\n0 local, 1 remote, 2 none<\/td>\nLocal Resources \u2192 Remote audio<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
The connection type:i<\/code> value is the single biggest lever on perceived responsiveness over a WAN. Value 6 (auto) picks the profile from measured bandwidth, and it often decides you are on a “low speed” link and strips wallpaper and fonts. If the session looks worse than your connection deserves, pin it:<\/p>\n
# In the .rdp file, force LAN profile\nconnection type:i:4\n# Or check what is in effect inside the session\nGet-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\\Software\\Microsoft\\Terminal Server Client\\Default'<\/code><\/pre>\n
The Experience Tab and What Each Checkbox Costs<\/h2>\n
Every unchecked box in the Experience tab removes a visual effect that otherwise has to be re-rendered server-side and pushed over the wire. On a 10 Mbit link the difference between “LAN” and “Modem” profiles is roughly 30 to 60 percent of the frame traffic at 1920\u00d71080.<\/p>\n