Share local drives with your server over Remote Desktop

Drive redirection lets your Remote Desktop session see the drives on your own PC. They appear in File Explorer on the server, so you can open, copy and save files in both directions without a separate upload tool. This guide shows how to turn it on, how to reach the files through \\tsclient, how to share a single folder instead of a whole drive, and what to watch for on speed and security. The examples connect to a server at IP:3389.

Before you start

• Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc) on Windows 10 or 11. Mac and Linux clients have similar options, noted near the end.
• Your server's IP address and login from your VPS provider's control panel.
• Disconnect any open session first. Redirection settings only apply when a connection starts.

Turn on drive redirection in mstsc

1. Press Win + R, type mstsc and press Enter.
2. Enter 203.0.113.10:3389 in Computer and click Show Options.
3. Open the Local Resources tab.
4. Under Local devices and resources, click More....
5. Expand Drives and tick the drives you want to share. Drives that I plug in later shares USB sticks you connect during the session.
6. Click OK, go back to the General tab and click Save so the setting is stored in your .rdp file.
7. Click Connect. You may see a warning that the remote computer can access your local files. Read it and click Connect if you trust the server.

Find your files on the server

Inside the session, open File Explorer and select This PC. Redirected drives appear under Redirected drives and folders with names such as C on DESKTOP-ABC123.

You can also type the path directly into the File Explorer address bar or a dialog box:

\\tsclient\C

tsclient always means "the PC I am connecting from", and the letter after it is your local drive letter. Command-line tools on the server accept the same paths. For example, in PowerShell inside the session:

Get-ChildItem \\tsclient\C\Users
Copy-Item \\tsclient\C\Users\admin\Downloads\setup.exe C:\Temp\

Share one folder instead of a whole drive

Sharing all of C: exposes everything on your PC to the server. A safer habit is to share one transfer folder. mstsc only lists drives, so turn a folder into a drive letter first with the built-in subst command on your own PC:

mkdir C:\RDP-Share
subst R: C:\RDP-Share

Now open mstsc, go to Local Resources → More... → Drives and tick only R:. Inside the session it appears as \\tsclient\R.

subst lasts until you sign out of your PC. To remove it sooner:

subst R: /D

If you edit .rdp files by hand, the line drivestoredirect:s: controls which drives are shared. * shares all of them; a list such as R:\; shares only that drive. Create and edit.rdp files explains the format.

Speed: what to expect

Redirected drives travel over the same connection as your screen, keyboard and mouse. That has two effects:

• Copying is slower than a direct download on the server, and limited by your upload speed when copying to the server.
• A large copy can make the session feel sluggish until it finishes.

It is ideal for documents, installers and small batches. For files of several gigabytes, or when a copy keeps failing part-way, use the methods in Copy large files to a Remote Desktop server without failures.

Security notes

While a drive is redirected, any program running in your session on the server can read and write it. That includes malware, if the server were ever compromised.

• Share only what you need, ideally a single transfer folder.
• Do not leave all drives shared on a connection you use every day.
• Never redirect drives when connecting from a shared or public PC.

On a Windows VPS, an administrator can block drive redirection for everyone. It is in Group Policy at Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Remote Desktop Services → Remote Desktop Session Host → Device and Resource Redirection → Do not allow drive redirection.

Mac and Linux clients

• Windows App on Mac: edit the PC, open Folders and add a Mac folder. It appears in the session under the same \\tsclient path, using the name you give it.
• Remmina on Linux: in the profile, set Share folder to a local directory.

Check it works

In the session, open PowerShell and run:

Test-Path \\tsclient\R

True means the shared drive is reachable. Copy a small text file across in each direction to confirm read and write access.

Troubleshooting

• No redirected drives in This PC: you changed the setting during a session. Disconnect fully and reconnect with the saved .rdp file.
• Drives were ticked but still missing: a server policy blocks redirection. Check the Group Policy setting above, then run gpupdate /force and reconnect.
• \\tsclient shows "network path not found": wait a few seconds after login; redirected drives can take a moment to appear. Then refresh File Explorer.
• Copy stops part-way through a big file: use a resumable method instead; see the large files guide linked above.
• Your subst drive is not listed in mstsc: create it before opening mstsc, from the same user account you use to run the client.

Next steps

• Other ways to move files: Transfer files to a Windows server.
• Copy text and small files: Copy and paste between your PC and Remote Desktop.