Microsoft Remote Desktop update improves thumbnails and bookmarks
Microsoft Remote Desktop now takes advantage of the larger screens of iPhones for viewing thumbnails.

What you need to know
- Microsoft Remote Desktop just received an update on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
- The iOS version of the app now supports a two-column thumbnail view for larger iPhones.
- On macOS, the app adds a background refresh feature for subscribed workspaces.
Microsoft Remote Desktop has updates available on macOS, iPadOS, and iOS. Both versions of the app have a long list of new features, including background refresh for subscribed workspaces on macOS and a two-column thumbnail view for larger iPhones like the iPhone 12.
Microsoft Remote Desktop has a long changelog for macOS, including several fixes and general improvements:
- Added background refresh for subscribed workspaces.
- Fixed an issue where the session window may jump to another monitor when auto-reconnect kicks in.
- Fixed an issue where the session window would sometimes be enlarged after connecting.
- Addressed an issue where the name of a redirected folder would be incorrect in the remote session.
- Fixed a bug that made it difficult to resize remote app windows.
- Improved the error messages that are displayed when user accounts fail to update.
- Fixed an issue where window titles in the list of connected remote apps were blank.
- Addressed a multimon issue where the mouse cursor shape would not update correctly when dragging between monitors.
- Added a checkbox to General Preferences to enable/disable Microsoft Teams optimizations.
- Added UI to report if a remote app could not be launched on the server due to not being on the system allow list.
- Fixed an issue where the session window could not be made wider when placed at the top or bottom of the screen.
- Addressed scenarios where the mouse cursor would disappear while connected to a remote PC.
- Deletion of an Azure Virtual Desktop workspace now correctly removes all associated workspaces.
- Fixed an issue where adding a folder to redirect to a bookmark would enable the "Add" button with an empty PC name.
- Addressed an issue where double-clicking the title bar incorrectly stretched the session window.
- Updated the mouse to change to a hand glyph when hovering over a red input error indicator.
- Fixed an issue where the session window would flash rapidly in the "Mission Control" or "Application windows" view.
Here's what's new for Microsoft Remote Desktop on iOS and iPadOS:
- Additional two-column thumbnail view for larger iPhones.
- Revamped PC thumbnail styling.
- Cleaned up PC bookmark list view (only available on iPhones).
- Press-and-hold semantics for PC bookmarks and workspace headers.
- New context menus for interaction with PC bookmarks and workspaces.
- Ability to duplicate PC bookmarks.
- Full preview of the PC bookmark thumbnail after a press-and-hold.
- New pull-down menu for interaction with the Connection Center.
- Pull-to-refresh behavior for subscribed workspaces.
- Animated sorting of PC bookmarks by name or last connected time.
- Auto-expanded search field on iPads.
If you're new to using a remote desktop, make sure to check out our guide on how to use Remote Desktop to connect to a Windows 10 PC.
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Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.