A few clear steps, from your first ID to a shared screen.
Start a session
- The person you are helping opens the web console or the RemoScreen desktop app and reads you the nine-digit ID shown under This desk.
- On your device, open the web console (or the desktop app), enter that ID in Connect to a desk, keep Attended selected and press Connect to desk.
- They see your name and ID, choose what to allow and accept. A browser then asks them which screen to share. The request expires after 60 seconds; you can cancel it before then.
- Either side can end the session at any time. Each side sees why it ended.
Stay in control
The host can stop at any time from the sharing banner or the browser’s own screen-sharing indicator, and capture stops at once. Ending the session or closing the console stops it too.
If the connection to the RemoScreen service drops during a session, the screen stays shared for up to about 30 seconds while RemoScreen reconnects, and the banner says “Sharing continues. Stop ends the session now.” Stop still ends it at once. If the service isn’t back in time, the session ends and capture stops.
Chat, files, clipboard text and audio are allowed separately and can be turned off during the session. File offers need a separate approval, and the receiver checks a SHA-256 hash before the file can be saved.
Unattended access
Unattended access lets you reach your own computer when nobody is at it. It works with the RemoScreen desktop app on Windows, while its owner is signed in and the PC is unlocked, or on Linux (X11) while its owner is logged in; not at the sign-in screen. It is off until the owner turns it on in the desktop app’s Settings, where they also choose what a password sign-in may do; turning it on asks them to agree to a warning first.
To connect, enter the desk’s ID, choose Unattended (password) and press Connect unattended. Nobody needs to approve: the desk asks for its password and closes the session if none arrives within 30 seconds. If the owner also turned on an authenticator code, the desk then asks for the 6-digit code from that app. A browser can connect this way, but cannot be an unattended host.
Passwords and lockouts
The owner sets the unattended password (at least 10 characters) and can change or remove it at any time. Your browser sends it once, over the session’s encrypted connection, and never saves it.
Five wrong passwords within 5 minutes lock that browser or device out for 15 minutes; too many failures from everyone pause password sign-in for all. A password does not protect against a compromised signalling server; trusted devices do.
Trusted devices
The owner can trust another RemoScreen desktop app during an attended session. That device keeps a key pinned by the owner and can then connect unattended without a password (it is still asked for the authenticator code when the owner turned that on), with the permissions the owner chose. Both sides compare a fingerprint first.
Browsers cannot be trusted devices; they sign in with the password. The owner can remove a trusted device at any time, which ends its live session.
The desktop app
The RemoScreen desktop app adds what a browser cannot do: the computer it runs on can be controlled with keyboard and mouse, share its clipboard and computer audio and stay in the system tray; on Windows or Linux it can also offer unattended access.
Get it for Windows, macOS, Linux or Android on Downloads; the iPhone and iPad app comes through the App Store.
Connection troubleshooting
Keep both sides online. Browser capture requires HTTPS or localhost and a browser with screen-sharing support, and your operating system may ask for permission.
Some networks need the service’s TURN relay. If a connection fails, end the session, check the connection route in Settings and try again.
What works today?
Attended browser screen sharing and viewing, chat, approved file transfers, on-request clipboard text, optional browser audio, your own address book and history, and unattended access to the Windows or Linux desktop app.
Browser hosts cannot receive keyboard or mouse control or share their own clipboard. Unattended access needs the owner to be logged in: there is no system service yet for the login screen. The desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux and the Android app are on the Downloads page; the iPhone and iPad app is coming to the App Store. Mobile browser screen capture support varies.
