I had a user report when he uses the Citrix Receiver to access our XenDesktop environment all sessions would reconnect and open windows. He liked XenDesktop but was annoyed by getting all his sessions opened. I explained that it was by design and that the receiver was “helping” him by giving him those sessions as he would need them anyway. He would have none of that. He wanted the control to start as he saw the need.

There is a way to disable this feature. I don’t know if the ability was always present but a newer version of the receiver might be needed. You will know if you follow these steps and the options aren’t there.

What to do:

  1. The receiver should already be installed.
  2. Look on the toolbar to the bottom right for the “^” and click it (this is for Windows 7 and up).
  3. Look for the Citrix Icon which looks like a “C” and right-click it.
  4. Select Advanced Preferences.
  5. Click the Settings Option link.
  6. Click the Reconnect Options tab.
  7. De-select Enable for Workspace Control Support.
  8. Click OK

This will restart the Receiver and should disable the starting of all disabled sessions when a user connects via the receiver. I did have an instance where it required a reboot but that should not be needed.