macOS Client

MacFreeRDP is the native Cocoa RDP client for macOS. It provides a graphical connection manager alongside the full FreeRDP option set.

The macOS client (MacFreeRDP) is a native Cocoa application built with AppKit. It wraps the FreeRDP library in an Objective-C frontend that includes a graphical connection dialog, certificate handling, and password entry.

Source layout

File / Directory	Description
client/Mac/cli/	CLI entry point (main.m) and AppDelegate
client/Mac/MRDPView.m	Core RDP rendering view (NSView subclass)
client/Mac/mf_client.m	FreeRDP client context implementation
client/Mac/Keyboard.m	macOS keyboard event translation
client/Mac/Clipboard.m	Clipboard redirection
client/Mac/CertificateDialog.m	Certificate acceptance/rejection dialog
client/Mac/PasswordDialog.m	Credential entry dialog
client/Mac/MRDPCursor.m	Remote cursor rendering

Building from source

1. Install dependencies

   Xcode and its command-line tools are required. OpenSSL (or the system-provided LibreSSL) must be present.

   xcode-select --install
   brew install openssl cmake ninja
   
2. Configure with CMake

   git clone https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP.git
   cd FreeRDP
   cmake -B build -G Ninja \
     -DWITH_CLIENT_MAC=ON \
     -DOPENSSL_ROOT_DIR=$(brew --prefix openssl) \
     -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
   
3. Build

   cmake --build build --target MacFreeRDP
   

   The application bundle is created at build/client/Mac/MacFreeRDP.app.

4. Run

   open build/client/Mac/MacFreeRDP.app
   

   Or launch from Finder.

Graphical usage

On launch, the application shows a connection manager. Click + to create a new connection and fill in:

Field	Description
Server	Hostname or IP address (:port suffix for non-default ports)
Username	Login name (optionally prefixed with DOMAIN\\)
Password	Stored in the macOS Keychain
Domain	Windows domain
Resolution	Preset sizes or custom width × height
Colour depth	16 or 32 bpp
Full screen	Toggle fullscreen mode
Certificate	Trust-on-first-use, ignore, or deny

Double-click an existing connection to edit it, or single-click and press Connect to start a session.

Command-line usage

The macOS client also exposes a CLI entry point that accepts the standard FreeRDP option syntax:

# Basic connection
/Applications/MacFreeRDP.app/Contents/MacOS/MacFreeRDP /v:rdp.example.com /u:alice /p:secret

# Fullscreen with NLA
/Applications/MacFreeRDP.app/Contents/MacOS/MacFreeRDP \
  /v:rdp.example.com /u:CORP\\alice /p:secret /f /sec:nla

# Print all options
/Applications/MacFreeRDP.app/Contents/MacOS/MacFreeRDP /?

For the full option reference see the xfreerdp options page — all options are shared.

Supported features

Feature	Supported
Clipboard redirection	Yes
Audio output	Yes (CoreAudio backend)
Drive / file redirection	Yes
Printer redirection	Yes
Smartcard redirection	Yes
RemoteApp	Yes
Multimonitor	Yes
Dynamic resolution	Yes
GFX pipeline (RDP8)	Yes
RemoteFX	Yes
Touch input	No

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+Alt+Return	Toggle fullscreen
Ctrl+Alt+M	Minimise window
Ctrl+Alt+D	Disconnect and quit

Certificate handling

When the server presents a certificate that cannot be validated, the macOS client shows CertificateDialog.xib — a native Cocoa sheet — offering three choices:

• Accept (trust-on-first-use, stores fingerprint)
• Accept once (allow for this session only)
• Reject (abort connection)

This behaviour can be overridden from the command line:

# Automatically accept any certificate (insecure)
.../MacFreeRDP /v:host /cert:ignore

# Reject any certificate that fails validation
.../MacFreeRDP /v:host /cert:deny