Open RDP files in your browser
The connection files of Windows' Remote Desktop, from IT departments, cloud desktops and, lately, phishing emails. See where one connects right here, before it does. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your RDP file opens as the computer it connects to and what it shares with it, before anything connects.
- The computer, the user name and the gateway
- What it shares • Drives, clipboard and devices marked
- Its signature checked • A changed file shows
- Saved passwords never show • Nothing connects
About RDP
Remote Desktop Connection saves .rdp files, and IT departments, Azure Virtual Desktop and remote app portals hand them out, so a double-click connects to a work computer or opens an app running on one. Since 2024, attackers have also emailed signed .rdp files that connect to computers of their own.
An RDP file is a list of settings, one a line, like full address:s:pc.example.com, saved as UTF-16 text. It says which computer to connect to, through which gateway, and what to share with it: drives, the clipboard, printers, smart cards, the microphone, cameras and more. A signature at the end shows who made it.
Filepeek shows the computer, the user name and the gateway, and lists what the connection shares, with heads-ups for what the remote computer could read or use. It checks the signature against the settings it covers, so a file changed after signing shows, and a saved password never shows.
Remote Desktop connection
.rdp
Format
- MIME type
- application/x-rdp
- Made by
- Microsoft
Inside the file
- Text
- UTF-16, a setting a line
- Connects to
- A computer or a gateway
- Shares
- Drives, clipboard and devices
- Signed
- Optionally, by rdpsign
Opens in every browser
Browsers download RDP files. Filepeek shows what one does in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open RDP
- WindowsRemote Desktop Connection, built in
- MacWindows App, free from Microsoft
- iPhone and iPadWindows App, free from Microsoft
- AndroidWindows App, free from Microsoft
Questions
Is it safe to open this .rdp file?
Look at where it connects and what it shares first. A file that shares your drives and clipboard with a computer you don't know hands that computer your files. Filepeek puts what it shares first, with who signed it.
Why does Windows warn about an unknown publisher?
Remote Desktop warns when a file isn't signed, or when its signature doesn't lead to a certificate Windows trusts. Filepeek shows who signed it, and whether the file was changed after.
How do I open an .rdp file on a Mac?
Microsoft's Windows App, free in the App Store, opens it. To see what it does first, drop it on this page.
Where's the saved password?
Windows encrypts a saved password for one user on one computer, so it works only there. Filepeek says one is saved and never shows it.