Copying files larger than 2 GB over a Remote Desktop Services or Terminal Services session by using Clipboard redirection (copy and paste) fails silently

Article
12/26/2023

This article works around an issue where copying files larger than 2 GB over a Remote Desktop Services or Terminal Services session by using Clipboard redirection fails.

Applies to: Windows Server 2012 R2
Original KB number: 2258090

Symptoms

When you try to copy a file larger than 2 GB over a Remote Desktop Services or a Terminal Services session through Clipboard redirection (copy and paste) by using RDP client 6.0 or a later version, the file isn't copied. And you don't receive an error message.

Cause

It's a known issue. Copying files larger than 2 GB by using this method isn't supported.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods:

Use Drive Redirection through Remote Desktop Services or a Terminal Services session if you want to transfer files larger than 2 GB.
Use command-line alternatives to copy files larger than 2 GB over a Remote Desktop Services or Terminal Services session. For example, use the following command:
```
xcopy \\tsclient\c\myfiles\LargeFile d:\temp  
```

More information

Copy and paste files

You can use the Copy and Paste feature in the following scenarios:
- Copy and paste files between the remote session and the local computer.
- copy and paste files between the local computer and the remote session.
However, it's limited to files that are smaller than 2 GB.
Transfer of files by using Drive Redirection

The drives on the local computer can be redirected in the session so that files can easily be transferred between the local host and the remote computer. The drives that you can use in this manner include the following drivers:
- local hard disks
- floppy disk drives
- mapped network drives
  
  On the Local Resources tab of Remote Desktop Connection, users can specify which kinds of devices and resources that they want to redirect to the remote computer.