Set up remote access

Windows Pro, Enterprise and Education

These editions of Windows have Remote Desktop (RDP) built in, but it is turned off until you switch it on. For Windows Home, use VNC instead.

1. Turn on Remote Desktop

Do this on the remote host, signed in with an administrator account.

1. Open Start › Settings › System › Remote Desktop.
2. Turn on Remote Desktop (on Windows 10 it’s called Enable Remote Desktop), then select Confirm.
3. If you see Require devices to use Network Level Authentication to connect, leave it on. Remoter supports it, and it is the safer choice.

Menus differ a little between Windows versions. If yours don’t match, see Microsoft’s instructions.

2. Find the PC’s name or address

• The Remote Desktop settings page shows the PC name. Type it in the Address field of the host in Remoter.
• If Remoter can’t find the PC by name, use its IP address instead: four numbers separated by dots, like 192.168.1.20. Open Settings › Network & internet, select the connection you’re using (Wi-Fi or Ethernet), and open its properties. The IPv4 address is listed there.

3. Sign in with the right account

• Use the user name and password of a Windows account on the remote host. A PIN or Windows Hello won’t work: Remote Desktop needs the account’s password.
• For a Microsoft account, the user name is the full email address.
• Administrator accounts can always connect. Other accounts need to be added first, as described below.

Let accounts that aren’t administrators connect

If Remoter says Access denied, the account you signed in with isn’t allowed to connect remotely. Windows only lets in administrators and members of the Remote Desktop Users group. To add an account:

1. On the remote host, open Settings › System › Remote Desktop, signed in as an administrator.
2. Select Remote Desktop users (on older versions: Select users that can remotely access this PC).
3. Select Add, type the account’s user name, and select OK.

More in Microsoft’s instructions.

Firewall and sleep

• Firewall. Windows normally lets Remote Desktop through its own firewall once you turn it on. If you use other security software with its own firewall, allow Remote Desktop in it (it uses port 3389).
• Sleep. A PC that is asleep can’t answer. Open Settings › System › Power & battery (Power on a desktop PC, Power & sleep on Windows 10) and set the PC to never sleep while it is plugged in.

If Remoter says “Secure connection failed”

Remote Desktop encrypts the connection (with TLS, the same encryption web browsers use) and, by default, checks your password before the session starts (Network Level Authentication, or NLA). Remoter supports both. This error means Remoter and the remote host couldn’t agree on which security method to use.

• If the host’s settings in Remoter include Require TLS Security, turn it off. That option forces one particular method. With it off, Remoter and the remote host pick one they both support.
• Keep Windows up to date. Very old versions that haven’t been updated only offer outdated encryption, which Remoter doesn’t accept.
• On a work computer, security settings are often managed by the IT department. Send them the Details line from Remoter’s error.

Mac, Windows Home and Linux (VNC)

VNC is the other common way to share a computer’s screen. Set up a VNC server on the remote host as described below for Mac, Windows Home or Linux. Then, in Remoter:

1. Add a host with the + button and set Protocol to VNC.
2. In Address, type the remote host’s name or IP address. VNC uses port 5900 unless the server is set up differently. For another port, add it after a colon, for example 192.168.1.20:5901.
3. Put the VNC password in Password. Only a Mac also needs a User.

Mac

1. On the Mac, choose Apple menu › System Settings, select General in the sidebar, then Sharing.
2. If Remote Management is on, turn it off. A Mac can’t have Remote Management and Screen Sharing on at the same time.
3. Select the info button ⓘ next to Screen Sharing and turn Screen Sharing on.
4. Under Allow access for, choose All users, or Only these users and make sure your account is in the list. Then select Done.

These steps are for current versions of macOS. If your Mac’s settings look different, see Apple’s instructions.

Remoter signs in with a Mac user account: in the host’s settings in Remoter, put the account name in User and its password in Password. These are the same name and password you use to log in to the Mac. You don’t need the option VNC viewers may control screen with password.

• Address. The bottom of the Sharing page shows the Mac’s Local hostname, such as My-Mac.local. If Remoter can’t find the Mac by that name, use its IP address. Open System Settings › Wi-Fi (or Network for a cable connection), select Details next to the network you’re connected to, and look under TCP/IP.
• Sleep. On a Mac laptop, open System Settings › Battery › Options and turn on Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off. On a desktop Mac, open System Settings › Energy and turn on Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off. Turning on Wake for network access, on the same page, also helps (Apple’s instructions).

Windows Home

Windows Home has no built-in way to accept remote connections, so install a free VNC server. We suggest TightVNC.

1. On the remote host, download TightVNC for Windows from tightvnc.com and run the installer.
2. When the installer asks for a password for remote access, set one. VNC only uses the first 8 characters of a password.
3. The installer also offers an administrative password. That one protects TightVNC’s own settings, and Remoter doesn’t use it.
4. If the installer offers to add an exception to Windows Firewall, leave that turned on.
5. Find the PC’s IP address (see above), and stop it from going to sleep.
6. In Remoter, set Protocol to VNC, leave User empty, and put the TightVNC password in Password.

VNC shows exactly what is on the PC’s screen. You see and use the session of whoever is signed in, and it stays on the PC’s own monitor while you work, so anyone in the room can watch. When nobody is signed in, you see the Windows sign-in screen and can sign in from there. (Remote Desktop on Windows Pro works differently: while you are connected, the PC’s own screen stays locked.)

With Remoter Anywhere, Remoter Agent connects to TightVNC from the same PC, which TightVNC refuses until you allow it. Open TightVNC Server’s configuration (right-click its icon next to the clock), and on the Access Control tab turn on Allow loopback connections. If you only connect through Remoter Anywhere, also turn on Allow only loopback connections and skip the firewall exception above: TightVNC is then closed to the network, and your sessions travel encrypted through Remoter.

Using a different VNC server?

• UltraVNC: set a VNC password in its settings. Leave MS-Logon and any encryption plugins turned off. Those only work with UltraVNC’s own viewer.
• RealVNC Server: its standard encryption is RealVNC’s own design (called RA2), which only RealVNC’s viewer can use, so Remoter can’t connect. The error’s Details line names it: RA2 (RealVNC, proprietary). RealVNC’s help describes how to allow other viewers: in RealVNC Server’s options, set Encryption to Prefer on or Prefer off and Authentication to VNC password. Then set the VNC password again, with the option to allow connections from legacy VNC viewers turned on. If you can’t change those settings, use TightVNC instead.

Linux

Two common VNC servers are x11vnc, which shares the desktop on the screen, and TigerVNC. Most distributions have both in their package repositories.

x11vnc (and TigerVNC’s x0vncserver) can only share an X11 desktop. They don’t work in a Wayland session, which is the default on recent Ubuntu, Fedora and other GNOME desktops. TigerVNC’s vncserver starts a separate desktop of its own instead.

x11vnc. The first command asks you to choose a VNC password (only the first 8 characters count). The second starts sharing the screen with that password:

x11vnc -storepasswd
x11vnc -usepw -forever -display :0

TigerVNC. Set a password with vncpasswd. Then change TigerVNC’s SecurityTypes setting, because Remoter can’t use its default. Out of the box, TigerVNC offers TLSVnc first. That’s a kind of encryption with no certificate (“anonymous TLS”), which Android no longer supports. The same goes for TLSNone and TLSPlain. A server that offers them gets a Secure connection failed error, with those names in its Details line. Pick one of these instead:

• Encrypted (recommended): give the server a certificate and use X509Vnc. A self-signed certificate is fine: the first time you connect, Remoter shows the certificate and asks whether to trust it.

  openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 \
    -nodes -days 3650 \
    -keyout vnc-key.pem -out vnc-cert.pem \
    -subj "/CN=$(hostname)"

  Then start the server with these options, or put them in its config file:

  -SecurityTypes X509Vnc
  -X509Cert /path/to/vnc-cert.pem
  -X509Key /path/to/vnc-key.pem

• Password only, on a network you trust: -SecurityTypes VncAuth.

TigerVNC desktop :1 listens on port 5901, :2 on 5902, and so on. Add the port to the address in Remoter, for example myhost:5901.

All of these options are described in the TigerVNC manual.

If Remoter shows an error

• Secure connection failed: the server only offers security methods Remoter can’t use. The Details line lists what it offered. RA2 means RealVNC. TLSNone, TLSVnc or TLSPlain means TigerVNC without a certificate. Anything else usually means a server-specific sign-in method, like UltraVNC’s MS-Logon, is turned on.
• Access denied: the server turned the connection away before it checked the password, and the Details line gives its reason. Some VNC servers block new attempts for a while after several wrong passwords: wait a few minutes and try again. Also check the server’s own access rules (for example, the Access Control settings in TightVNC).

Troubleshooting

Same network, or a VPN

• Your phone or tablet has to be on the same network as the remote host, usually the same Wi-Fi. Mobile data can’t reach a computer on your home network.
• To connect from somewhere else, use a VPN (a private, encrypted link between your devices), such as Tailscale or WireGuard. Install it on both the remote host and your phone or tablet, and connect to the address the VPN gives the remote host.
• For a Windows PC, Remoter Anywhere does this without a VPN: install the free Remoter Agent on the PC and pair your phone or tablet with it.
• Don’t forward ports 3389 or 5900 on your router to reach the remote host from the internet. That exposes it to everyone, and these ports are constantly scanned and attacked. Use a VPN instead.

The remote host is asleep or switched off

It has to be on and awake. See the sleep settings for Windows and Mac.

Firewall

A firewall on the remote host, or security software with its own firewall, can block the connection. Allow Remote Desktop (port 3389) or your VNC server (port 5900). On Linux with ufw, for example: sudo ufw allow 5900/tcp.

Wrong port

RDP uses port 3389 and VNC uses 5900 unless the remote host is set up differently. For a different port, add it to the address after a colon, for example 192.168.1.20:3390. That works both in a saved host and in Quick Connect.

Wrong protocol (“Unexpected response”)

RDP and VNC are different languages. A Windows PC with Remote Desktop speaks RDP. A Mac or a VNC server speaks VNC. If a host is saved with the wrong Protocol, or its port belongs to the other protocol, Remoter gets an answer it doesn’t understand. Edit the host and choose the right Protocol.

Quick Connect works out the protocol by itself. It uses RDP whenever port 3389 answers, and VNC only when 3389 doesn’t answer and a VNC server answers on 5900. To reach the VNC server on a computer that also has Remote Desktop on, type the address with :5900 on the end, or save the host with Protocol set to VNC.

Android 17 and later: allow local network access

Starting with Android 17, apps need your permission to reach computers on your local network. Remoter asks the first time it needs it. If you didn’t allow it, Remoter can’t reach computers on your Wi-Fi, and shows Can’t reach your local network with a button to open settings. To turn it on yourself, open Settings › Apps › Remoter RDP & VNC Client › Permissions › Nearby devices and choose Allow. Android lists local network access under Nearby devices. Menu names can differ a little between phone makers.

Still stuck?

Email support@remoter.ca. Say what the remote host is, and include the Details line from Remoter’s error.