Allow direct access to Removable Storage in Remote Sessions

If you often allow others to access your computer as the remote computer and you want to allow direct access to removable storage in remote sessions on Windows 11/10, this post will help you do that. It is straightforward to enable or disable Remote Desktop Access or RDP to removable storage devices on Windows PCs. You can do that with the help of Registry Editor or Local Group Policy Editor.

Many folks often use remote session functionality to help a friend or family member from being miles away. At times, you might need access to removable storage such as a USB drive, external hard drive, etc., on a remote computer. Similarly, if someone is using your computer as a remote PC, you might want to allow that person to access the connected USB device. By default, Windows doesn’t allow remote users to access any removable storage device. However, if you want to enable this access, this tutorial will help you.

Note: You need to enable this functionality on the remote computer.

Allow direct access to Removable Storage in Remote Sessions

To allow direct access to removable storage in remote sessions using Registry Editor in Windows 11/10, follow these steps-

Press Win+R to open the Run prompt.
Type regedit and hit the Enter button.
Click Yes in the UAC prompt.
Navigate to the Windows key in HKCU.
Create a new key.
Name it as RemovableStorageDevices.
Create a new DWORD value.
Name it as AllowRemoteDASD.
Double-click on AllowRemoteDASD and set the value to 1.
Restart your computer.

To know more about these steps, you should keep reading.

Before getting started, you should create a Registry file backup and create a System Restore point.

First, you need to open Registry Editor on your computer. For that, you can take the help of the Taskbar search box. However, if you are using an older version of Windows, you can press Win+R, type regedit, and hit the Enter button. After clicking the Yes button in the UAC prompt, it should open the Registry Editor on your PC instantly. After that, navigate to the following path-

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

You should see a key called RemovableStorageDevices in the Windows key.

However, if you don’t see it, you need to create a Registry key manually. For that, right-click on the Windows key and select New > Key.

Name the new key as RemovableStorageDevices. Then, select this newly created key, right-click on it, and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

It should create a DWORD value on your right-hand side. Name it as AllowRemoteDASD.

Now, double-click on AllowRemoteDASD and set the Value data as 1.

After setting the value, you should restart your computer.

In case you want to disable the removable storage access for remote users, you have two methods.

You set the value of AllowRemoteDASD as 0, or you can delete the RemovableStorageDevices key from Registry Editor after navigating to this path-

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

That’s it! Again, you should restart your computer to make the change complete.

Allow direct access to removable storage in remote sessions using Group Policy Editor

To allow direct access to removable storage in remote sessions using Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 11/10 PC, follow these steps-

Press Win+R to open the Run prompt.
Type gpedit.msc and hit the Enter button.
Navigate to the Removable Storage Access in Computer Configuration.
Double-click on All Removable Storage: Allow direct access in remote sessions.
Select Enabled.
Click the OK button to save the change.
Restart your computer.

Let’s check out these steps in detail.

First, you need to open Local Group Policy Editor on your computer. For that, press Win+R to open the Run prompt, type gpedit.msc, and hit the Enter button. Then, navigate to this path-

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Removable Storage Access

Here you can find a setting called All Removable Storage: Allow direct access in remote sessions. You need to double-click on it and select the Enabled option.

After that, click the OK button to save the change.

Restart your computer.

To turn off or disable direct access to removable storage devices in remote sessions using the Group Policy Editor method, follow the steps mentioned above. After that, select the Not Configured for All Removable Storage: Allow direct access in remote sessions option, and use the OK button. Reboot your Windows 11/10 computer to successfully apply the changes.

That’s it!

Now read: Enable RDP for multiple users on Windows PC

How do I give remote access permission in Windows 11/10?

To give remote access permission in Windows 11/10, open the Control Panel. There, access System and Security > System > and access Allow remote access option. This will open the System Properties box. In that box, switch to the Remote tab. Select Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer, Allow remote connections to this computer option, and press OK. You can also use the Windows 11/10 Settings app, Run Command box, etc., to give remote access permission or enable Remote Desktop Connection on a Windows PC.

How do I access local drives in Remote Desktop?

To access local drives or storage from Remote Desktop in Windows 11/10, first, open the Remote Desktop Connection app. Access the Local Resources tab and press the More button (under the Local devices and resources section). Select the Drives checkbox or expand it to select the drives and hit the OK button. Now, access the General tab, enter the IP address and user name of another computer, and press Connect to establish the connection.