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Signing Windows RDP Files with a Self-Signed Certificate (1-2. Signing the RDP File)

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:21:00 +0900

This article uses the self-signed certificate created in part 1-1 to sign an .rdp file with the Windows rdpsign tool.

It then registers the certificate thumbprint as a trusted RDP publisher in Group Policy so that the publisher warning no longer appears. Finally, it creates a batch file that re-signs RDP files by drag and drop.

The warning covered by this article

This procedure addresses the security warning displayed when opening an .rdp file:

Signing Windows RDP Files with a Self-Signed Certificate (1-1. Creating the Certificate)

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:20:00 +0900

Opening a Windows .rdp file can display a security warning asking you to verify the publisher of the remote connection.

This article creates a self-signed certificate for RDP file signing with PowerShell, exports the public certificate as a .cer file, and saves a private-key backup as a .pfx file.

Because the complete procedure is long, it is divided into two articles:

This article: Create and back up the RDP signing certificate
1-2. Signing the RDP file: rdpsign, Group Policy, and a drag-and-drop batch file

RDP file signing and the RDP server TLS certificate are different

The certificate created here identifies the publisher of the .rdp file itself.

How to Use Only Two of Three Monitors in Remote Desktop by Editing an RDP File

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:19:00 +0900

In Windows Remote Desktop Connection (RDP), you can easily enable the option to use all monitors in a multi-monitor environment through the graphical interface.

However, the standard Remote Desktop Connection dialog does not let you configure a setup like this:

Three monitors are connected to the local PC.
Only two of them should be used for RDP.
The remaining monitor should stay available for local work.

To do this, save an .rdp file and add the selectedmonitors property directly.