Remote Desktop shows a black screen or drops after the September 2026 updates
Two different September 2026 updates broke Remote Desktop in two different ways, and the symptom tells you which one you have. If the session connects but the window stays black, the cause is NVIDIA driver 616.56 on the PC you are connecting to — update it to 616.92 or later. If the session connects normally and then drops after a few minutes, or hangs at "Please wait for the Remote Desktop Configuration", the cause is Windows update KB5124008 — install the 14 September out-of-band update. Do not uninstall the security update to fix either one.
Start here
Two separate September 2026 updates broke Remote Desktop within a week of each other, and almost everything written about it covers only one of them. The coverage that reached most people was about Windows Server, because that is where Microsoft's update caused the loudest failures. But if you are looking at a black Remote Desktop window on a home or gaming PC with a GeForce card, the more likely cause is your graphics driver — a bug NVIDIA acknowledged and fixed, and which no Windows article mentions. Both faults live on the machine you connect to, not the one in front of you, and they produce visibly different symptoms.
Symptoms
- Remote Desktop connects, but the session window is entirely black and never draws the desktop
- The black session is otherwise alive — the connection bar works and the machine responds, but nothing is drawn
- The session connects normally, then fails after several minutes and will not reconnect
- Signing in over RDP hangs at "Please wait for the Remote Desktop Configuration"
- Microsoft Management Console, the RDS Licensing Diagnoser or File Explorer stop responding on the remote machine
- The Windows Update page on the remote machine spins with a loading indicator and never finishes
Why this happens
NVIDIA driver 616.56 broke RDP display output
NVIDIA's release notes for 616.92 list "Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions may display a black screen after updating to driver 616.56 [6687328]" among the bugs that version fixes. This is a display-output fault, not a connection one: the session is established and alive, so the connection bar and the machine itself respond while the screen stays black. It lives on the machine you connect to. Drivers 616.56 and 616.64 carry the bug; hotfix 616.86 carried the fix first and Game Ready 616.92 carries it as a WHQL release. NVIDIA shipped this alongside fixes for two other 616.56 regressions — browser flicker and virtual displays failing to be created — which is a useful tell: if you also saw either of those on the same machine, you are almost certainly on the affected driver.
Update the NVIDIA driver on the PC you connect to · Roll the NVIDIA driver back to a release older than 616.56
Windows security update KB5124008 destabilised Remote Desktop Services
Microsoft's release-health entry says that after the September 2026 security update, "RDS might become unstable, resulting in RDP connections failing after several minutes, sign-in issues, or servers hanging at 'Please wait for the Remote Desktop Configuration'", and that Microsoft Management Console, the RDS Licensing Diagnoser and File Explorer might also become unresponsive. This is a service-stability failure rather than a display one — the picture is fine right up until the connection goes. Microsoft's affected-platforms list names Windows 11 versions 23H2 through 26H1 and Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2 as clients, alongside Windows Server 2012 through 2025, and states the issue does not affect Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop. On 26H1 the originating update is KB5124012 rather than KB5124008.
Fixes
Update the NVIDIA driver on the PC you connect to
about 15 min616.92 is the first WHQL driver carrying NVIDIA's fix for the RDP black screen that 616.56 introduced.
Applies to: NVIDIA GeForce drivers 616.56 and 616.64, Windows 10 and Windows 11
- Do this on the PC you are connecting to, not the one you are sitting at. If you cannot see its desktop remotely, use its own monitor.
- Check the installed driver version: open the NVIDIA app and look under Drivers, or open NVIDIA Control Panel and choose Help then System Information.
- If it reads 616.56 or 616.64, that is the affected driver. Anything 616.92 or newer already carries the fix, and this article's NVIDIA half is not your problem.
- In the NVIDIA app, open Drivers and install the latest Game Ready or Studio driver, then restart the PC.
- Reconnect over Remote Desktop. The desktop should draw normally.
Confirmed by the vendor.
Install the 14 September out-of-band Windows update
about 20 minKB5129195 — KB5129194 on 26H1 — is the cumulative update Microsoft shipped specifically to resolve the Remote Desktop Services instability KB5124008 introduced.
Applies to: Windows 11 23H2, 24H2, 25H2 and 26H1, Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2, Windows Server 2012 through 2025
- Again, do this on the machine you connect to. If it is currently hung mid-session, restart it first.
- Open Settings, then Windows Update, and select Check for updates.
- Install the out-of-band update released 14 September 2026 — KB5129195 on Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2, KB5129194 on 26H1 — or any later cumulative update, which already includes it.
- If Windows Update itself hangs with a loading indicator, which is one of this bug's own symptoms, download the .msu from the Microsoft Update Catalog and run it by hand instead.
- Restart and reconnect. On Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 you can confirm the update landed by checking the build number reads 26100.9457 or 26200.9457 or higher.
winver
Confirmed by the vendor.
Roll the NVIDIA driver back to a release older than 616.56
Check before applyingabout 25 minNVIDIA documents the black screen as appearing after updating to 616.56, so a driver older than that does not carry it. This is the fallback when you cannot move forward to 616.92.
Applies to: NVIDIA GeForce drivers 616.56 and 616.64
Before you do this
Rolling back gives up the security fixes and game-specific work in the newer drivers, and reintroduces whatever 616.56 itself fixed. Moving forward to 616.92 is the better answer wherever it is possible; use this only when it is not.
- Download a driver older than 616.56 for your GPU from NVIDIA's driver archive before you start, so the machine is never left without an installer to hand.
- Open Device Manager, expand Display adapters, right-click the NVIDIA GPU and choose Properties, then the Driver tab, then Roll Back Driver.
- If Roll Back Driver is greyed out — it usually is once a restart has happened — run the older installer you downloaded and pick the clean installation option.
- Restart the PC and reconnect over Remote Desktop.
Source: NVIDIA
Known issues
NVIDIA: "Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions may display a black screen after updating to driver 616.56 [6687328]." Listed as fixed in Game Ready 616.92 WHQL, and in hotfix 616.86 before it. It has not come back: the 617.14 release notes of 22 September 2026 list one open issue only, and it is not this one.
Affects NVIDIA GeForce 616.56, NVIDIA GeForce 616.64 · Status: fixed
Microsoft: Remote Desktop Services might stop responding after the September 2026 security update. Resolved by the 14 September out-of-band update — KB5129195 on 24H2 and 25H2, KB5129194 on 26H1.
Affects KB5124008, KB5124012 (26H1) · Status: fixed
The same out-of-band update only partly fixes the other KB5124008 regression readers arrive with: USB Audio Class 1.0 devices. The multichannel symptom is resolved; Code 10 and no audio output are still open.
Affects KB5124008, KB5129195 · Status: workaround only
Windows 11 version 26H2 reached general availability on 29 September 2026, after both fixes shipped. Its release-health page carries no Remote Desktop Services entry, so neither half of this page describes a PC that is on 26H2 with a current driver.
Affects Windows 11 26H2 · Status: fixed
If none of this worked
If the machine you connect to has no NVIDIA GPU and is already patched past 14 September, neither cause here applies to you. A black screen that also appears on that machine's own monitor is a display or GPU fault rather than an RDP one — the flicker and virtual-display articles below cover the other 616.56 regressions. A session that refuses to connect at all, rather than connecting and then failing, is usually network, firewall, or Remote Desktop simply being switched off, none of which September's updates changed. Microsoft states the RDS issue does not affect Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop, so a failure on either of those is something else. And if you are on Windows 11 26H1, your originating update is KB5124012 and your fix is KB5129194 — checking for KB5124008 will find nothing.
Common questions
- Should I uninstall KB5124008 to get Remote Desktop back?
- No. Rolling the security update back did restore Remote Desktop for administrators in the days before a fix existed, and that advice is still circulating, but it also strips September's security fixes. The out-of-band update is cumulative — it contains everything KB5124008 did, plus the fix — so installing it forward is strictly better than removing the update.
- The news said this only affects Windows Server. Why is my PC affected?
- Reporting concentrated on Windows Server because that is where RDS deployments failed most visibly. Microsoft's own affected-platforms list for the issue names Windows 11 versions 23H2 through 26H1 and Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2 as clients, alongside the server releases. Separately, if your symptom is a black screen rather than a dropped session, no Windows version is involved at all — that one is the NVIDIA driver.
- Is the 616.86 hotfix still worth installing?
- No. Hotfix drivers are optional releases distributed from NVIDIA Customer Care rather than through the NVIDIA app. 616.86 carried this fix first, but Game Ready 616.92 is WHQL-certified, carries the same fix, and supersedes it.
- Does any of this affect the PC I am connecting from?
- No. Both faults are on the machine hosting the session. Check its driver version and its Windows build — updating the PC in front of you will not change either symptom.
- How do I tell the two apart quickly?
- Watch what happens in the first minute. A window that is black from the moment it opens, on a machine with a GeForce card, is the driver. A session that draws the desktop normally and then dies a few minutes later, or never gets past "Please wait for the Remote Desktop Configuration", is the Windows update.
Did this fix work?
If a step is wrong, outdated, or did not help, telling us is the fastest way to get it corrected. Reports are reviewed before new articles.
Report a problem with this pageRelated problems
- Virtual display stops working after the NVIDIA 616.56 driver
- Screen flickering and dark flashes after the NVIDIA 616.56 driver
- USB Audio No Sound or Code 10 After Windows Update KB5124008
- Shared folders empty in Linux VMs after KB5124008 ("no Plan9 drive shares mounted")
- The Witcher 3 Remastered: Low FPS and Stuttering on PC
- Does FSR 4 work on Radeon RX 7000 cards?
Sources
Microsoft · Release notes · checked Sep 30, 2026
- After installing KB5124008, RDS might become unstable, resulting in RDP connections failing after several minutes, sign-in issues, or servers hanging at "Please wait for the Remote Desktop Configuration".
- Microsoft Management Console, the RDS Licensing Diagnoser and File Explorer might also become unresponsive, and the Windows Update page might stop responding and continuously display a loading indicator.
- The issue is resolved by the out-of-band update released on September 14, 2026 (KB5129195), and in updates released after that date.
- Affected platforms include Windows 11 versions 26H1, 25H2, 24H2 and 23H2 and Windows 10 versions 22H2 and 21H2 as clients, alongside Windows Server 2012 through 2025.
- The issue does not affect Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop.
- The USB Audio Class 1.0 regression from the same update is only partially resolved by KB5129195: the multichannel symptom is fixed while Code 10 and no-output remain open.
Microsoft · Release notes · checked Sep 30, 2026
- On Windows 11 version 26H1 the originating update for the Remote Desktop Services issue is KB5124012, not KB5124008.
- On 26H1 the issue is Resolved by the out-of-band update KB5129194 released on September 14, 2026.
- Microsoft opened the Remote Desktop Services issue on 2026-09-11 and marked it resolved on 2026-09-14.
Microsoft · Knowledge base · checked Sep 30, 2026
- KB5129195 was released on September 14, 2026 and produces OS builds 26100.9457 and 26200.9457 for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2.
- It resolves Remote Desktop Services instability causing RDP connection and sign-in failures or servers becoming unresponsive after the September 2026 security update.
- It is offered through Windows Update and Windows Update for Business, and can also be downloaded manually as an .msu from the Microsoft Update Catalog or deployed through WSUS.
NVIDIA · Release notes · checked Sep 30, 2026
- Section 3.1.2 Fixed General Bugs in version 616.92 WHQL lists: "Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions may display a black screen after updating to driver 616.56 [6687328]".
- The same fixed-bugs list includes the browser flicker [6673430] and the failure to create virtual displays after updating to 616.56 [6674464].
- NVIDIA attributes the RDP black screen to updating to driver 616.56, so releases older than 616.56 do not carry it.
- Section 3.2 Open Issues in 616.92 still lists "Prefer Maximum Performance" Power Management Mode [6007998], Assassin's Creed Shadows crashing to desktop [6685219] and Judgement/Lost Judgement/Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. failing to launch [6681537].
NVIDIA · Knowledge base · checked Sep 30, 2026
- GeForce Hotfix driver 616.86 fixes the RDP black screen introduced by driver 616.56 [6687328], the browser flicker [6673430] and the broken virtual displays [6674464].
- Hotfix drivers are optional releases distributed from NVIDIA Customer Care rather than through the NVIDIA app.
- 616.86 was the first release to carry the RDP black screen fix, ahead of the WHQL Game Ready driver.
NVIDIA · Release notes · checked Sep 30, 2026
- The 617.14 release notes are dated 22 September 2026 (RN-08399-617.14_v01).
- Section 3.2, Open Issues in Version 617.14 WHQL, lists a single entry — Assassin’s Creed Shadows crashing to desktop after extended gameplay — and does not list the RDP black screen.
- Section 3.1.2 lists DisplayPort monitors failing to wake from sleep and the Samsung Odyssey G95NC HDMI issue as fixed in 617.14.
Microsoft · Release notes · checked Sep 30, 2026
- Windows 11, version 26H2 reached general availability on 29 September 2026.
- As of 30 September 2026 the 26H2 known-issues table carries no Remote Desktop Services entry.
BleepingComputer · News · checked Sep 30, 2026
- Reporting on the Windows side of this problem framed it as a Windows Server 2019, 2022 and 2025 issue rather than a client Windows one.
- Affected servers work normally for a few hours after the update before connections start failing, existing sessions cannot disconnect or log off, and new connection attempts hang and eventually fail.
- Before Microsoft shipped a fix, administrators reported that rolling back the September updates restored Remote Desktop functionality.