Connecting a USB webcam to an RDP Remote Desktop
Modern versions of Windows include built-in camera (video capture) redirection over RDP. It lets a webcam connected to your local computer appear inside the remote session, with no low-level USB tinkering. This is the recommended method and it works over a normal RDP connection.
The older approach based on RemoteFX USB Redirection is kept at the end of this article as a legacy fallback for non-camera USB devices. For webcams it is unreliable and effectively requires a RemoteFX/RDS environment, so it is no longer the right tool for the job.
Requirements
Camera redirection has minimum version requirements on both sides:
- Client (your local computer): Windows 10 version 1803 or later, or Windows 11.
- Server (the remote machine): Windows Server 2019 or later. Windows Server 2022 and 2025 are supported.
Windows Server 2016 and earlier do not support camera redirection. On those systems the camera will not appear in the session regardless of the settings below. Use the legacy RemoteFX section only if you specifically need a non-camera USB device.
Step 1. Allow camera redirection on the server
By default the Remote Desktop Session Host blocks video capture redirection, so you have to enable it explicitly.
- On the server, press Win + R, type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
- Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Device and Resource Redirection.
- Find the policy "Do not allow video capture redirection".
- Set it to Disabled.
- Apply the policy. In most cases running gpupdate /force in an elevated Command Prompt is enough, so you do not have to reboot the server.
The setting uses a double negative. Disabling "Do not allow video capture redirection" is what allows the camera through. Disabled here means "redirection is permitted".
You can confirm the result in the registry. Open regedit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services. The value fDisableCameraRedir should be 0, which means camera redirection is allowed.
Step 2. Select the camera on the client
There are two ways to pass the local camera into the session.
Option A. The .rdp file
Open your .rdp file in a text editor and add the following line:
camerastoredirect:s:*
The asterisk redirects all available cameras.
camerastoredirect takes a device interface identifier, not a raw Hardware ID. The * wildcard is the simplest choice and redirects every camera. Use it unless you have a specific reason to target one device.
Option B. The mstsc interface
- Open Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc).
- Open the Local Resources tab.
- Under Local devices and resources, click More.
- Expand Video capture devices and tick your camera.
- Connect to the server.
Step 3. Allow camera access on the client
Windows privacy settings can block applications from using the camera. Make sure access is allowed on your local computer:
- Open Settings > Privacy & security > Camera.
- Turn on Camera access.
- Turn on Let apps access your camera.
If camera access is blocked here, the webcam will not be redirected into the session even when Steps 1 and 2 are correct.
Verify the camera inside the session
- Connect to the server over RDP.
- In the remote session, open the built-in Camera app.
- The image from your local webcam should appear.
Test with the Camera app, not with Microsoft Teams. Teams has its own camera optimization that is independent of RDP redirection, so it can succeed or fail for reasons unrelated to your settings and will give you a misleading result.
How to find a specific camera's device identifier
If you want to redirect only one camera (for the camerastoredirect value, or for the legacy method below), find its hardware ID:
- On the client, open Device Manager.
- Find the camera (under Cameras or Imaging devices), right-click it and choose Properties.
- Go to the Details tab.
- In the Property drop-down, select Hardware Ids.
- The value shows the vendor ID (VID_xxxx) and product ID (PID_xxxx).
Legacy method: RemoteFX USB redirection (for other USB devices)
Use this only for non-camera USB devices, or in environments where camera redirection is not available. It requires a RemoteFX-capable setup and is unreliable for webcams.
- On the client, open gpedit.msc and go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Connection Client > RemoteFX USB Device Redirection.
- Open "Allow RDP redirection of other supported RemoteFX USB devices from this computer".
- Set it to Enabled, set RemoteFX USB Redirection Access Rights to Administrators and Users, and click OK.
- Reboot the client.
- Add the device to the .rdp file. The asterisk redirects all supported RemoteFX USB devices:
usbdevicestoredirect:s:*
Или нацельтесь на конкретное устройство по его Hardware ID:
usbdevicestoredirect:s:USB\VID_046D&PID_0825
Or target a specific device by its Hardware ID:
usbdevicestoredirect:s:USB\VID_046D&PID_0825
The ampersand between VID and PID must be written exactly as it appears in the hardware ID.
Troubleshooting
- The camera does not appear in the session. Recheck Step 1 (server policy set to Disabled), Step 2 (the Video capture devices checkbox is ticked, or camerastoredirect:s:* is present), and the version requirements. Reconnect the session afterwards.
- The camera appears but the image is black. Check Step 3 (privacy settings), and make sure no local application (a browser, OBS, another video app) is holding the camera, since some camera drivers allow only one application at a time. A software virtual camera (such as OBS Virtual Camera) will not redirect at all, because RDP redirects only real USB video devices.
- It works in the Camera app but not in Microsoft Teams. This is expected. Teams uses its own camera path independent of RDP redirection.
