Play sound and use a microphone over Remote Desktop

Remote Desktop can play the server's sound on your speakers and send your microphone into the session. That matters for video calls, trading platform alerts and anything with audio. This guide covers the client settings, the server service that Windows Server leaves off by default, the policies that block recording, and fixes for common sound problems.

Before you start

• Your server's IP address, username and password from your VPS provider's control panel.
• Working speakers or a headset on your local computer. Test them locally first.
• Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc) on Windows, or Windows App on a Mac.
• Administrator rights on the server for the service and policy steps.

Set the audio options in the client

1. Press Win + R, type mstsc and press Enter.
2. Click Show Options and enter 203.0.113.10:3389 in Computer.
3. Open the Local Resources tab and click Settings… under Remote audio.
4. Under Remote audio playback, choose Play on this computer.
5. Under Remote audio recording, choose Record from this computer if you need a microphone.
6. Click OK, then Save on the General tab, and connect.

The same choices in an .rdp file look like this:

audiomode:i:0
audiocapturemode:i:1

audiomode:i:0 plays sound locally, 1 leaves it on the server and 2 turns it off. audiocapturemode:i:1 sends your microphone to the server.

On a Mac, open Windows App, edit the PC, and look at the Devices & Audio section. Set sound to play on this device and enable microphone redirection.

Start the Windows Audio service on Windows Server

Windows Server installs with the Windows Audio service set to Manual or Disabled, because most servers have no speakers. Without it, the session has no audio device and you hear nothing. Open PowerShell as Administrator on the server:

Get-Service Audiosrv, AudioEndpointBuilder

If either is stopped, set both to start automatically and start them:

Set-Service AudioEndpointBuilder -StartupType Automatic
Set-Service Audiosrv -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service AudioEndpointBuilder, Audiosrv

Sign out of the session and connect again. The speaker icon in the taskbar should now show Remote Audio as the output device.

Allow audio in Group Policy

Policies on the server can block playback or recording. Open gpedit.msc and go to:

Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Remote Desktop Services → Remote Desktop Session Host → Device and Resource Redirection

• Allow audio and video playback redirection: set to Enabled or leave Not configured.
• Allow audio recording redirection: set to Enabled if you need a microphone. On many systems recording is off unless this is enabled.

Then apply the change:

gpupdate /force

Sign out and back in for it to take effect.

Check it works

1. Inside the session, right-click the speaker icon and open Sound settings. The output should be Remote Audio.
2. Play a short clip in a browser or run this to hear the system beep sound:

   [System.Media.SystemSounds]::Asterisk.Play()

1. For the microphone, open Sound settings → Input and speak. The input level bar should move. Then test in the app you plan to use, such as Teams or Zoom.

Improve sound quality

Audio travels over the same link as the picture, so a busy or weak connection causes gaps and crackling.

• Close other heavy traffic on your local network, such as uploads or streaming.
• Reduce display load: lower the colour depth and turn off the desktop background. See Speed up Remote Desktop on a slow connection.
• Use a wired connection instead of Wi-Fi where you can.
• The policy Limit audio playback quality in the same Device and Resource Redirection branch can force lower quality. Leave it Not configured unless bandwidth is very tight.

For video calls from a remote desktop, read Run Zoom and Teams on Remote Desktop for realistic expectations.

Troubleshooting

• "No audio output device is installed": the Windows Audio service is stopped. Start Audiosrv and AudioEndpointBuilder, then sign out and back in.
• Sound works but the microphone does not: Record from this computer is off in the client, or the recording policy blocks it. Check both, then check the app's own microphone permission in Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone.
• Crackling, delay or dropouts: your connection is short on bandwidth or has packet loss. Reduce visual settings and use a wired network.
• Sound plays on the server instead of locally: the client is set to Play on remote computer. Change it to Play on this computer.
• Audio stopped after reconnecting: disconnect fully, sign out, and connect again. If needed, restart the audio services as shown above.

Next steps

• Print from the server to your desk: Print from your remote server to a local printer.
• Webcams and other devices: Redirect USB devices, webcams and smart cards over RDP.