Fix: Your Credentials Did not Work in Remote Desktop

The error message ‘Your credentials did not work’ appears when you fail to connect to the remote system using Remote Desktop connection. This error is often caused by Windows policies that prevent incoming RDP connections, or simply your system’s username. Dealing with this particular error can be infuriating as the fault isn’t in the credentials but rather somewhere else. Such an error message might appear even if you are entering the correct credentials, thus, making it an ordeal.

If you are receiving the error message after installing a fresh copy of Windows 10, then you are not the only victim. Many users depend on Remote Desktop Connections and such errors are usually a nightmare to them, however, do not worry as you will be able to get over the issue after following this guide.

What causes the ‘Remote Desktop Your Credentials Did not Work’ Error Message on Windows 10?

The following factors are often found to be the cause of the said error message —

Now that you know the causes of the error message, you can follow the solutions provided down below to resolve your issue. Please make sure you follow the given solutions in the same order as provided.

Solution 1: Reverting Username

As we have mentioned, the error message is sometimes caused because the user you are trying to connect from does not exist on the Remote Desktop server. This happens when you try to change your username or install a fresh copy of Windows. Changing your username does not necessarily change it for Remote Desktop Connection and thus, your credentials will be incorrect as the user is not on the server. Thus, to isolate the issue, you will have to revert to the username that you had been using prior to the appearance of the error message.

Solution 2: Editing Windows Security Policy

There is a Windows Security Policy for Remote Desktop Connection that does not allow non-Admin users to log in using RDP. Thus, if you want to login using a non-admin user account, you will have to grant the remote desktop users access. Here is how to do it:

1. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog box.
2. Type in ‘secpol.msc’ and press Enter. This will open up the Local Security Policy window.
3. Expand Local Policies and then select User Rights Assignment.
4. On the right-hand side, locate and double-click either ‘Allow log on through Remote Desktop Services’ or ‘Allow log on through Terminal Services’.
5. Click Add User or Group and then type in Remote Desktop Users.

   

6. Click OK, hit Apply and then click OK again.

   

7. Restart your system for the change to take effect.
8. Check if it isolates the issue.

Solution 3: Editing Local Group Policy

If the above-mentioned solutions do not work out for you, you can try to isolate the issue by modifying a few Local Group Policies. Basically what you will have to do is give a set of Credential Delegation policies a specific value which will most likely fix your issue. Here’s how to do it:

1. Press Windows Key + R to open Run.
2. Type in ‘gpedit.msc’ to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
3. Afterward, navigate to the following path:

   Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Credentials Delegation

4. Double-click the ‘Allow delegating default credentials with NTLM-only server authentication’ policy to edit it.
5. Set it to Enabled and then click Show.

   

6. Double-click under Value, type in TERMSRV/* and then click OK.

   

7. Do the same for the following policies as well:

   Allow delegating default credentials
   Allow delegating saved credentials
   Allow delegating saved credentials with NTLM-only server authentication

8. Finally, close the Local Group Policy Editor and restart your system.
9. Check if the issue persists.

Solution 4: Editing Registry

In some cases, making some changes in the registry might get rid of the error. Therefore, in this step, we will be changing some configurations in the registry. For that:

1. Press “Windows” + “R” to open the registry.
2. Type in “Regedit” and press “Enter”.

   

3. Navigate to the following address.

   Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa

4. Click on the “LsaCompatiblityLevel” option.
5. Double-click on the “REG_DWORD” option and change the Value to “1”.
6. Check to see if the issue persists.

Note: Also make sure that you are logging in locally and not through a Remote Desktop Connection because it might not work with Two factor Authentication enabled.

Solution 5: Disabling Windows Hello sign-in (If applicable)

Sometimes the Windows Hello sign-in can be problematic. Therefore, in this step, we will be replacing the Windows Hello sign-in with the normal Password. Try this:

1. 1. Press and hold the “Windows” + “I” keys together to open the Settings app.
   2. Once the Settings app is opened, Navigate to “Accounts > Sign-in options“. Now Disable Windows Hello sign-in.

      

   3. Now we will set a normal password, for doing that click on the “Password” option then click on “Add”.

      

   4. Once you press the “Add” button you will get a pop-up asking for your new “Password” and a Hint for that password. It should look like this.

      

   5. Now simply put the new password and the hint for it and you should be good to go.
   6. Check to see if the issue persists.