Multiple Remote Desktop Users on Windows Server: Add RDP Users, the 2-Session Limit and RDS Licensing

By default Windows Server allows two simultaneous Remote Desktop sessions for administration. That is enough for an administrator and a colleague, but not for a team that works on the server all day. This guide shows how to add users and give them Remote Desktop access, how the two-session limit works, how to automatically sign out idle and disconnected sessions, and how to support more users legally with the Remote Desktop Session Host role and RDS licenses.

Step 1: Create a User and Allow Remote Desktop

Give every person their own account instead of sharing Administrator, so you can see who did what and remove access individually. Open PowerShell as Administrator:

# Create a local user (you will be asked for the password)
$pw = Read-Host -AsSecureString "Password for alice"
New-LocalUser -Name "alice" -Password $pw -FullName "Alice" -PasswordNeverExpires

# Allow Remote Desktop without full admin rights
Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Remote Desktop Users" -Member "alice"

# Only if this person really needs administrator rights
# Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators" -Member "alice"

Get-LocalGroupMember -Group "Remote Desktop Users"

Members of Remote Desktop Users can sign in remotely; members of Administrators can always sign in. Use strong passwords and an account lockout policy (see Windows VPS security hardening).

Step 2: Understand the Two-Session Limit

Without the Remote Desktop Session Host role, Windows Server accepts at most two active Remote Desktop sessions at the same time (plus the console session). When a third person connects, Windows asks which existing user should be disconnected. A user who simply closes the Remote Desktop window stays signed in with a Disconnected session, which still counts toward the limit and keeps using memory.

# See who is signed in and the session IDs
quser
query session

# Sign out a session (replace 3 with the ID from quser)
logoff 3

Step 3: Sign Out Idle and Disconnected Sessions Automatically

Open the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) and go to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Remote Desktop Services → Remote Desktop Session Host.

• Session Time Limits → Set time limit for disconnected sessions: for example 1 hour, so forgotten sessions are signed out.
• Session Time Limits → Set time limit for active but idle Remote Desktop Services sessions: for example 2 hours.
• Connections → Restrict Remote Desktop Services users to a single Remote Desktop Services session: Enabled, so each user reconnects to their own session instead of opening a second one.

gpupdate /force

Step 4: More Than Two Users: Install the Session Host Role

For three or more simultaneous users, install the Remote Desktop Session Host role and a Remote Desktop Licensing server, and buy RDS Client Access Licenses (RDS CALs) from Microsoft or a reseller: either one per user (Per User) or one per connecting device (Per Device).

# Install the Session Host and Licensing roles, then restart
Install-WindowsFeature RDS-RD-Server, RDS-Licensing -IncludeManagementTools
Restart-Computer

After the restart, Windows runs in a 120-day licensing grace period during which users can connect without CALs. Before it ends:

1. Open Remote Desktop Licensing Manager (licmgr.exe), right-click the server, choose Activate Server and then Install Licenses to add your RDS CALs.
2. In gpedit.msc under Remote Desktop Session Host → Licensing, enable Use the specified Remote Desktop license servers (enter the server's own name) and Set the Remote Desktop licensing mode (Per User or Per Device, matching your CALs).
3. Run gpupdate /force and check the result with the RD Licensing Diagnoser (lsdiag.msc).

If the grace period expires without a configured license server, users see "no Remote Desktop license servers available" and only administrators can still connect with mstsc /admin.

Step 5: Plan Resources for Several Users

Each active desktop session uses memory and CPU, more if users run browsers or office applications. As a rough guide, plan 1–2 GB of RAM per light user and 2–4 GB per user who runs browsers with many tabs, on top of what the server's own services need. Keep an eye on the server with Task Manager's Users tab.

FAQ

"The number of connections to this computer is limited and all connections are in use right now"

Two sessions are already active or disconnected. Sign one out with logoff (Step 2), connect with mstsc /admin to reach the administrative console session, and set the time limits from Step 3 so this does not repeat.

Can two people use the same account at the same time?

Only if you disable Restrict Remote Desktop Services users to a single session, and even then it is a bad idea: settings, files and logs get mixed up. Create one account per person.

Remote Desktop does not connect at all

That is a connectivity problem rather than a session limit. See Remote Desktop connection troubleshooting.

Still stuck after following these steps? Open a support ticket and the IMIDC 24/7 technical team will help. Include the server IP, the Windows Server version, the number of users you need and the exact error message so we can pinpoint the issue faster.