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RDP Plus Sandbox Sometimes Equals Screen Confusion

I’ve been experimenting with the new Windows Sandbox (available in 1903 and higher-numbered Preview builds) lately. This morning, I found myself in a pickle. I was using RDP to access my Lenovo X220 Tablet, with the Sandbox window maximized therein. A key sequence restores the Sandbox from whole screen to partial screen mode — CTRL-ALT-BREAK. But alas, that’s the same key sequence that does likewise for RDP sessions as well. So, when I tried to reduce the size of the Sandbox window to access the RDP session outside the sandbox, I ended up reducing the size of the RDP session window instead. That’s why I assert that RDP plus Sandbox sometimes equals screen confusion. Ultimately, I ended up having to close my RDP session and walk over to the X220 Tablet keyboard and minimize the Sandbox window directly on its host machine.

As long as I don’t maximize the Sandbox session in the RDP session Window on the remote PC, everything is OK.
[Click image for full-sized view.]<\p>

Why Say RDP Plus Sandbox Sometimes Equals Screen Confusion?

I’ve already explained that the key sequence to exit full-screen mode is the same for both tools. That makes the attempt to reduce one (the Sandbox inside the RDP session) reduce the other instead (the RDP session). I couldn’t figure out any way to minimize the Sandbox window within the RDP session without using the keystroke sequence. Then I started poking around the user interface at the top of the screen. With the Sandbox maximized, its control bar sits right underneath the control bar for the RDP session. So I found a “trick” that actually works. Here’s an image to help explain:

If you look very closely just to the right of the top RDP bar, you can see the edge of the restore button in the underlying Sandbox bar.

If you can catch and click that edge of the Sandbox minimize control, things work as they should. But it took a bit of wingling about, and thinking about how the controls worked and where they were placed to come to this happy conclusion. Go figure!

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