Credentials and Credential Manager
Where passwords live
Section titled “Where passwords live”When you save a profile that has a password, RDPMaster writes that password to Windows Credential Manager under a key named RDPMaster:{ProfileId}. The profile JSON itself contains the username, domain, and host — but not the password.
Open control /name Microsoft.CredentialManager (Windows + R, paste, Enter) and look under Generic Credentials. You’ll see one entry per RDPMaster profile that has a saved password.
Why this matters
Section titled “Why this matters”- DPAPI encrypted. Windows encrypts Credential Manager entries with the Data Protection API, keyed off your Windows user account. A different user on the same machine can’t read your saved RDPMaster passwords, even if they have admin rights, without first decrypting your DPAPI master key.
- Roams with your profile (sometimes). Credential Manager entries can be configured to roam with a Windows domain user across machines. RDPMaster opts into the standard “Local” type — they stay on this machine.
- Survives uninstall. Uninstalling RDPMaster does not remove your saved credentials. If you reinstall, your passwords are still there. If you want a hard wipe, delete the
RDPMaster:*entries from Credential Manager manually. - No RDPMaster cloud sync. We have no server that sees these credentials, ever. They never leave your machine.
Editing or removing a saved password
Section titled “Editing or removing a saved password”In RDPMaster: right-click the profile in the sidebar → Edit profile → type a new password in the Password field → Save. Behind the scenes, RDPMaster updates the Credential Manager entry.
To wipe a single saved password (without deleting the profile): in the profile editor, clear the Password field, click Save. The Credential Manager entry is deleted; you’ll be prompted for credentials at next connect.
To remove ALL saved RDPMaster credentials at once: open Credential Manager, search for RDPMaster:, delete each entry. The profiles in the sidebar remain — you’ll just be prompted for credentials when connecting.
What if I prefer not to save passwords at all?
Section titled “What if I prefer not to save passwords at all?”Don’t fill in the Password field when editing a profile. RDPMaster will prompt for credentials at every connect. The username and domain still save (no secrets there).
You can also turn off password saving globally: Settings → Security → Never save passwords. Profiles with this flag get the Password field grayed out in the editor.
Smart cards
Section titled “Smart cards”RDPMaster supports smart-card authentication when the profile has Redirect smart cards enabled. The card reader is forwarded to the remote machine; PIN entry happens on the remote, not in RDPMaster. No card credentials touch RDPMaster’s storage.
RD Gateway credentials
Section titled “RD Gateway credentials”When your profile uses an RD Gateway, the Gateway has its OWN credentials separate from the target machine. RDPMaster stores Gateway passwords under RDPMaster-Gateway:{ProfileId} — same DPAPI protection, same Credential Manager.
Compliance posture
Section titled “Compliance posture”RDPMaster does not transmit any credential off the local machine. The only network traffic the app emits (beyond the RDP/Gateway connections you configure) is one weekly Lemon Squeezy license-validation HTTPS call — and that call carries only your license key, never any RDP credential. Verifiable in source: grep src/ for HttpClient / System.Net / any analytics SDK returns the licensing endpoints and nothing else. See commercial/PRIVACY.md §1.2 for the standing FTC §5 commitment.