Experiencing issues while using Remote Desktop connections is not uncommon. One of the issues that users encountered recently while trying to connect to their Remote Desktop network is the error saying, “Your credentials did not work, The login attempt failed”. If you are one of these users, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will walk you through fixing the problem.
When facing this kind of problem, the first thing you can try before you do some troubleshooting steps is to verify the credentials. But if you are certain that you’ve entered the correct credentials just like what other users reported, then it’s completely a different matter. Based on the reports, this error is common on newly installed versions of Windows 10 or after reinstalling the operating system which could mean that the problem might be due to the Windows security policies or the username might have been recently modified. The latter case is a possibility especially if you’ve reinstalled Windows 10 and had entered a new username. In such a case, you will really have a difficult time connecting to your Remote Desktop connection since its credentials do not really automatically change.
If you’ve verified that your credentials are correct, then now’s the time you troubleshoot the problem with the help of the potential fixes provided below. Just make sure that you follow each one of them in sequence.
Option 1 –Try to run the Network Adapter troubleshooter
To run the Network Troubleshooter, refer to these steps:
- Open the Search bar on your computer and type in “troubleshoot” to open the Troubleshoot settings.
- Next, scroll down and select the “Network Adapter” option from the right pane.
- Then click on the Run Troubleshooter” button.
- After that, your computer will check for any possible errors and will pinpoint the root cause of the problem if possible.
- Restart your computer.
Option 2 – Try to change the network profile from public to private
According to some reports, this error occurs on systems where the network profile was set to public. Thus, you need to change the network profile to private to resolve the problem. How? Refer to these steps:
- Go to Start and from there click on Settings > Network & Internet > Status.
- Next, click on the “Change connection properties” option.
- After that, set the radio button of Network Profile from Public to Private.
- Wait for a couple of seconds until the system is done applying the changes you’ve made and then see if you can now connect to the Remote Desktop connection.
Option 3 – Try changing the account username
As mentioned, one of the possible causes for this error is the reinstallation of the operating system. You might have changed the username for the system but it does not really change the username of the Remote Desktop connection as well. Thus, you have to change the username back to what it was before you’ve reinstalled Windows 10.
Option 4 – Try modifying the Windows Security Policy
You can also try to edit the Windows Security Policy as it could help in resolving the error. This Windows Security Policy, when enabled, will not allow non-admin users to log on to the Remote Desktop connection. So if you want to allow non-admin users to use the Remote Desktop connection, then you need to modify this policy. Note that you can only do that if you are the admin of the system yourself.
- Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run utility.
- Then type “secpol.msc” in the field and tap Enter or click OK to open the Local Security Policy.
- After opening the Local Security Policy window, select Local Policies > User Rights Agreement located on the left pane.
- Next, double click on “Allow log on through Remote Desktop Services” located in the right pane.
- And in the next window that appears, select Add user or group.
- After that, type in the username of the intended non-admin user under the “Enter the object names to select” column.
- Once done, click on the Check Names button to fix the username and then click OK to save the changes made.
- Restart your computer.
Option 5 – Use the Group Policy Editor
- Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and then type “gpedit.msc” in the field and tap Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
- Next, navigate to this path: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Credentials Delegation.
- Double click on the “Allow delegating default credentials with NTLM-only server authentication” policy setting located on the right pane to edit it.
- After that, shift its radio button to Enabled and click on Show.
- Then type “TERMSRV/*” in the Value box and click OK.
- Now repeat the same for the following policy settings:
- “Allow delegating default credentials”
- “Allow delegating saved credentials”
- “Allow delegating saved credentials with NTLM-only server authentication”
- Once you’re done, restart your computer and see if the problem is fixed.