The Remote Session Was Disconnected Because License Store Creation Failed With Access Denied

Recently, I was trying to connect to a system remotely through remote desktop connections. But I received an error as: The remote session was disconnected because license store creation failed with access denied. Please run remote desktop client with elevated privileges.

The complete error message looks like the screenshot below:

As an IT professional with over a decade of experience troubleshooting Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) issues, I will provide a few solutions that you can try to fix the issue. I will also show you which solution worked for me.

The Remote Session Was Disconnected Because License Store Creation Failed With Access Denied

The message appears when the Remote Desktop client cannot create or access the license store due to permission issues. The license store is a local repository that keeps track of your Remote Desktop client access licenses (CALs).

Here are a few reasons that cause the issue:

1. Running the Remote Desktop client without administrator privileges
2. Corrupted license files in your profile
3. Restrictive security policies on your computer
4. Misconfigured RD Licensing servers
5. Permission issues with the folders containing license information

Method-1: Assign Permission Through Registry

This solution worked very well for me.

We need to configure permissions for the MSLicensing registry key. Follow the below steps:

• Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSLicensing path and then select MSLicensing like in the below screenshot:

• Right-click on the selected key and click on the Permission option of the MSLicensing key. Look at the screenshot below:

• Then click on Add, and in the Select Users or Groups dialog box, click Locations. Then Select users and the Administrator, as well as “All Application Packages,” and assign Full Control permission for all of the above users. Click APPLY and OK. Here is a screenshot for your reference.

That’s it! Now, when I try to log in using mstsc (Remote Desktop Connection), it logs in to the server easily.  The error did not appear again.

This solution worked for me to fix the error: the remote session was disconnected because license store creation failed with access denied.

But if the above solution does not work for you, you can try the solutions below.

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Method-2: Run Remote Desktop Client as Administrator

The error message itself suggests the best solution: running the Remote Desktop client with elevated privileges. This is often sufficient to resolve the issue immediately.

Below are the steps to run RDP as Administrator:

1. Click on the Windows Start button
2. Type “Remote Desktop Connection” or “mstsc” (without quotes)
3. Right-click on the Remote Desktop Connection app
4. Select “Run as administrator”
5. Try connecting to your remote machine again

If you need to use RDP frequently, you can set it to always run with administrator privileges:

1. Right-click on the Remote Desktop Connection shortcut
2. Select “Properties”
3. Go to the “Compatibility” tab
4. Check the box that says “Run this program as an administrator”
5. Click “Apply” and then “OK”

This simple fix resolves most license store creation errors by ensuring the client has the necessary permissions to create and access the license store.

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Method-3: Delete the MSLicensing Registry Key

If running as administrator doesn’t solve the problem, the issue might be related to corrupted license information in your registry. Deleting these entries forces Windows to recreate them properly on the next connection attempt.

Follow the below steps to delete the MSLicensing registry key:

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog
2. Type “regedit” and press Enter (accept the UAC prompt if it appears)
3. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSLicensing
4. Right-click on the MSLicensing key and select “Delete”
5. Confirm the deletion
6. Restart your computer
7. Try connecting via RDP again (as administrator)

⚠️ Warning: Modifying the registry can be risky. Always create a backup before making changes. To create a backup, click on “File” > “Export” in Registry Editor and save the registry file.

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Method-4: Delete Local RDP License Files

Sometimes, the problem lies with corrupted license files stored in your user profile. Removing these files allows Windows to regenerate them correctly.

Follow the below steps to delete RDP license files:

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog
2. Type “%appdata%” (without quotes) and press Enter
3. Navigate to: Microsoft\Workspaces
4. Delete the “RDWebRTCTelemetry” folder (if present)
5. Press Win + R again
6. Type “%localappdata%” (without quotes) and press Enter
7. Navigate to: Microsoft\Workspaces
8. Delete the folder named “WcmConfigRegistryLastAccess”
9. Restart your computer
10. Try connecting via RDP again (as administrator)

I hope the above solution will fix this error.

Now, let me explain a few best practices to prevent this error from occurring again:

• Document and standardize your Remote Desktop connection procedures.
• Always run the Remote Desktop client as an administrator when connecting to servers.
• Keep your operating system updated with the latest patches and updates.
• Regularly clear your RDP cache by deleting temporary RDP files.
• Use a dedicated RD Licensing server in environments with multiple RDS servers.
• Implement proper user permissions for folders containing RDP configuration files.
• Monitor license usage and expiration for Remote Desktop Services.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, I explained how to fix the error “the remote session was disconnected because license store creation failed with access denied” using different methods. The first method works for me, but you can check out the other methods also.

In my experience, Method 1 resolves approximately 80% of these errors, while Methods 2 (running as administrator) and 3 (deleting registry keys and license files) take care of most of the remaining cases. Do let me know in the comment below which solution worked for you.

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Bijay Kumar

After working for more than 18 years in Microsoft technologies like SharePoint, Microsoft 365, and Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI), I thought will share my SharePoint expertise knowledge with the world. Our audiences are from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. For my expertise knowledge and SharePoint tutorials, Microsoft has been awarded a Microsoft SharePoint MVP (12 times). I have also worked in companies like HP, TCS, KPIT, etc.