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Is there a way to change a host workstation password using RDP?

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Dani AI

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Short answer: yes — you can change the password for the account on the Windows machine you’re remoting into. As pointed out, the remote-session equivalent of the secure-attention sequence lets Windows present the standard “Change a password” dialog; ’s note about needing the Fn key on some laptops is a common keyboard-variability gotcha.

Practical steps (remote session):

  • Use the RDP client’s “Send Ctrl+Alt+Del” action (or the Ctrl+Alt+End sequence on Windows clients) to bring up the secure screen, then choose Change a password and enter old/new credentials.
  • If that doesn’t work, enable “Apply Windows key combinations on the remote computer” in the RDP client (Local Resources → Keyboard) or open the remote machine’s On‑Screen Keyboard and click the Ctrl+Alt+Del buttons there.
  • As an alternative for local accounts, an administrator on the remote machine can reset a user password from Computer Management or with net user at an elevated prompt; domain account password changes should be done with the secure sequence so Active Directory is updated correctly.

Important caveats:

  • You need the appropriate rights. You can change your own password from a session, but resetting someone else’s password requires admin/AD privileges.
  • Changing a password can break background services, scheduled tasks, mapped drives, or other sessions that use the old credentials. Plan for reconnects or service-restarts if necessary.
  • If the account is expired or the RDP connection is blocked by Network Level Authentication, you may not be able to change the password remotely and will need console access or helpdesk intervention.

If the key combo is still unreliable, try the RDP client menu (mobile/mac clients include a “send Ctrl+Alt+Del” control), the remote On‑Screen Keyboard, or ask IT to assist so policy and credential stores aren’t inadvertently broken.

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

Let's see what RDP does first. I'm reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_Desktop_Protocol

So yes you can. You set up your remote session and use the system your IT provided to change passwords. But RDP is not changing the passwords directly as it's doing what is in the linked article.

Odd question. What made you think RDP has such a feature?

commented: I’m away from office and getting prompted to change pw (every 90 days). I’ll review the link once i get to my laptop. +0
Member Avatar for Dani

Try Ctrl+Alt+End instead of Ctrl+Alt+Del. Does that work? Good luck.

commented: I did try this, bit not available due to security settings. Might be affecting the previous comment.will know more later once I get to my laptop. +0
Member Avatar for Member #1180875

Ctrl+Fn+Alt+End

This brings up the option to change password on host computer.

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