I often use Microsoft’s remote desktop software to connect to various machines. My hands also use shortcuts for various actions via pure muscle memory. However, when using remote desktop, the operating system interprets many keystrokes as destined for the host operating system. This makes perfect sense but usually sends me scrambling to find the keyboard equivalent for the remote session.

The shortcuts are documented on various websites and in Microsoft’s own documentation. I will add yet another page on the web with this information purely for my own convenience.

Display Windows Security dialog CTRL+ALT+DEL CTRL+ALT+END
Start Menu CTRL-ESC ALT+HOME
Windows Menu N/A ALT+DELETE
Action Host Remote
Switch between programs ALT+TAB ALT+PAGE UP
ALT+SHIFT+TAB ALT+PAGE DOWN
ALT+ESC ALT+INSERT
Copy snapshot of active window to clipboard PRINT SCREEN CTRL+ALT+MINUS (on keypad)
Copy snapshot of full session to clipboard ALT+PRINT SCREEN CTRL+ALT+PLUS (on keypad)