This error has been around for some time now, even before the release of Windows 10. The error states the following: “The connection was denied because the user account is not authorized for remote login.” In certain cases, there are also reports that the user was able to successfully log onto a remote computer, but they had to use a user account they do not normally have access to. In this article, we are going to show you how to fix the issue and mitigate the error and successfully establish a Remote Desktop connection.
Why a User Account is Not Authorized for Remote Login
If you read between the lines in the aforementioned error message, you can understand that the issue lies with the privileges and permissions of the user account you are using to establish the remote connection. The statement means that the user account is not allowed to log in remotely on the PC.
Why a User Account is Not Authorized for Remote Login Fix Account Not Authorized for Remote Login Issue Add Remote Desktop Users Group to Allow Remote Connections Add User Account to Remote Desktop Users Group Allow log on through Remote Desktop Services Configure the Correct Remote Desktop Service Logon User Closing Thoughts
That being said, that is not the only reason why this issue may occur. Another reason for the “The connection was denied because the user account is not authorized for remote login” error to occur is because the dependant Windows services are not running, or have the wrong “Log on” user configured. These are primarily the two reasons why the issue occurs. Continue reading and perform all of the solutions given below to rectify the problem.
Fix Account Not Authorized for Remote Login Issue
Add Remote Desktop Users Group to Allow Remote Connections
Amongst the many default users and groups in the Windows OS, one such group is labeled “Remote Desktop Users.” All user account members of this group are allowed to establish Remote Desktop connections, as long as they are added to the correct Security Policy. We have divided this task into two processes shared below. The following steps need to be performed on the remote (target) PC.
Add User Account to Remote Desktop Users Group
First, you need to make sure that the account you are using to establish the remote connection is a member of the Remote Desktop Users group. Here is how you can do it: Now, you must add this group to the correct Local Security Policy.
Allow log on through Remote Desktop Services
Now check to see if you are now able to connect to the remote PC using the same account. We have combined the two solutions above because performing only one of them may not have any effect, while the other solution is not performed or the relevant configuration is incorrect. Hence, ensuring that both of the solutions shared above are performed is more likely to mitigate the insufficient authorization error. However, if this hasn’t worked for you, continue to perform the solution shared below.
Configure the Correct Remote Desktop Service Logon User
The Windows Service “Remote Desktop Service” requires a user account that is used to authorize and establish a successful Remote Desktop Connection. If an incorrect account is configured, you may see the “user account not authorized for remote login” error. Use the following steps to configure the correct Remote Desktop Service logon user: Now, check to see if you are now able to access this PC remotely using the same user account.
Closing Thoughts
This article discusses several solutions to eliminate the “The connection was denied because the user account is not authorized for remote login” error message so you can establish a Remote Desktop Connection without having to change your user account. You may come across some other solutions that also mitigate the problem, but note that issues like disabled RDP throw a different kind of error, and not the one we have discussed in this post. Of course, you should enable the Remote Desktop Connection before anything else, but it is a given. We hope that the solutions provided in this post work for you. Let us know where your problem lies in the comments below so our readers can benefit.
