Microsoft is ditching its Remote Desktop app from its app store. (Image: Microsoft)
remains the most popular version of Microsoft’s PC operating system globally, even if launched to replace it back in 2021. Whichever OS you’re using on your Windows computer, is making a change that could affect your daily computing needs.
As spotted by , Microsoft has decided to scrap its Remote Desktop app for Windows, an app used by consumers and businesses to remotely control their PCs while not physically near them. The app can be set up for you to access your computer remotely from another Windows device to do basic tasks and transfer files.
Currently, the Remote Desktop app lets you control Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, or Microsoft Dev Box machines remotely, but come May 27, 2025, this will no longer function. that users of the app will have to transition to using the newer Windows App, a generally named app that is being updated to include remote desktop functionality.
“Starting May 27, 2025, the Remote Desktop app for Windows from the Microsoft Store will no longer be supported or available for download and installation,” the firm said. “Users must transition to Windows App to ensure continued access to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Microsoft Dev Box.”
Microsoft said the move would give remote PC fans some new features and improvements including, “Unified access to multiple Windows services, including Cloud PCs and virtual desktops from a single, streamlined interface” and “Customizable home screens, multimonitor support, and dynamic display resolutions”.
Though individual consumers can use Windows’s remote desktop services to control their personal PCs, the feature is more commonly used by professional IT administrators to bulk control fleets of Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers belonging to their business and employees.
“Enhanced remote work experiences with features such as device redirection, Microsoft Teams optimizations, and easy account switching,” Microsoft said. “Connections to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Microsoft Dev Box via the Remote Desktop app from the Microsoft Store will be blocked after May 27, 2025. For all other users, the Remote Desktop app will no longer be supported.”
The company said if you are currently using Remote Desktop Services in the Remote Desktop app, you should continue to do this until full functionality is made available in the Windows App.
Don’t worry, it’s not just you. This is all quite confusing.
Users of Remote Desktop agree, with one posting a comment below Microsoft’s blog post announcement, saying: “How are normal users supposed to take advantage of the “Improved RDP” experience if they can’t use the Windows App without a work or school account? Please DO NOT force login to use the app. Every other platform DOES NOT require this. Why should windows?”
To clarify, Microsoft replied, saying these changes only affect the Remote Desktop app that’s available from the Microsoft Store, Windows’s native app store.
“It does not impact the Remote Desktop client standalone installer (MSI),” Microsoft said. “That version is still available for download and is still supported.”
Got it?
“’Windows App?’ Seriously? How can the Microsoft marketing machine come up with a name that is so ambiguous?,” another Windows user commented. “Isn’t every app that runs on Windows a ‘Windows App?”
While the Remote Desktop app isn’t an application that millions will use daily like Microsoft Word or Excel, if you are a fan, there are changes coming you’ll need to navigate.