Setup Chrome Remote Desktop to Access Any PC Remotely.
Looking for a quick and easy way to access your Windows, Mac or Linux machine from an Apple device, Android device, or even another Windows, Mac or Linux computer? If so, there is one solution that works really well: Chrome Remote Desktop
To use it, all you need to do is install Google Chrome on your phone, tablet or computer. Once set up, which I’ll discuss below, you can access any of your computers from your phone, tablet, or other computer. This means I can remotely control my Windows machine from my iPhone, Nexus 6 and Mac laptop without worrying about port forwarding, dynamic DNS, different operating systems, etc.
The great thing about using Google Chrome is that the installation takes about 5 minutes and literally less if Chrome is already installed on your devices.
Install Chrome Remote Desktop
The first thing we need to do is install Google Chrome itself on our computers. Since Chrome can be installed on Windows, Mac, or Linux, this means you can also remotely access any of these operating systems.
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After you have installed Chrome, you need to install Chrome Remote Desktop Click the Add to Chrome button in the upper right corner. A pop-up window will appear with the permissions the app needs to work properly. If you’re okay with the permissions, click “Add app” to continue.
At this point, the app should be installed and a new tab should appear where you can see all the apps installed in Chrome. If this tab doesn’t show up, just open a new tab and type chrome: // apps /.
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You should see a new icon called “Chrome Remote Desktop“. Go ahead and click on this to launch the app. In the new window, you will see two sections: “Remote Assistance” and “My Computers”. First, we need to click the “Start” button in the “My computers” section. If you haven’t already had Chrome installed on your computer, you’ll need to sign in with your Google account first, otherwise everything won’t be available.
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Go ahead and click the “Enable Remote Connections” button.
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You will then receive a pop-up message asking you to install the Chrome Remote Desktop Host Installer on your computer. Basically, it is a remote desktop client that allows each device to remotely access another device.
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The file will download to your computer (.MSI for Windows, .DMG for Mac, etc.) and you will need to manually launch it in order to install the software. As soon as you do this, you will see another window in which you will be asked to enter a pin code, consisting of at least six digits, which you will need to use to connect to your computer remotely. I suggest you use different codes for each computer, not the same one.
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Click OK and you should receive a message that remote connections are enabled for the computer. When I did this on my Mac, another window popped up and I had to re-enter the pin to enable remote connections.
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Again, you must go ahead and perform this procedure on all computers that you want to be able to remotely access. Note that you can simply install it on both Mac and Windows computer and access the Mac from Windows or vice versa. If you install the app on your phone, you can access your desktops from your Apple or Android device. Unfortunately, the Chrome Remote Desktop app is not yet available in the Microsoft App Store.
Remotely connect to your computers
Now comes the fun part! Let’s start by connecting to a desktop computer using an Android device. On your phone, go to the App Store and download the Chrome Remote Desktop app. Here are the links:
https: //play.google.com/store/apps/details? id = com.google.chromeremotedesktop & hl = en
https: //itunes.apple.com/us/app/chrome-remote-desktop/id944025852? mt = 8
Open the app and sign in to your Google account. It’s worth noting that you’ll need to be signed in to Google Chrome on all of your devices to connect between devices. The application interface is very simple and user-friendly. It also looks the same on Android and Apple devices.
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You should immediately get a list of the powered computers that are logged in with the same Google account. Click on the computer name and it will ask you to enter a pin code.
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You can also check the box so that it no longer prompts you for a pin code when connecting from that particular device. Click “Connect” and you should now see your computer desktop on your phone or tablet!
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You will also see an overlay panel at the top with a couple of icons. The first is the mouse button, which will be blue or gray (on Apple devices). If it is blue, it means you can control the mouse pointer with your finger. If you touch it and it turns gray, your finger becomes the mouse pointer. On Android, it rotates between the mouse icon and the finger icon.
The keyboard icon will bring up a virtual keyboard that you can use to type text. The small square button will go into full screen mode and remove the overlay bar so you can see the entire desktop. If you click on the three vertical dots in the far right corner, you can send the CTRL + ALT + DEL key combination to the desktop.
So what about desktop-to-desktop connectivity? It’s very simple too. Just open the Chrome Remote Desktop application on your computer, and then click any computer listed under My Computers.
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Enter your PIN and a new window will appear on the desktop of your remote computer. As I mentioned earlier, the great thing about using Chrome is that it works over the Internet and you don’t have to worry about opening or forwarding ports on your router.
According to my testing, only one device can connect to the computer at a time. If a second connection is established, the first will be automatically disconnected. It’s also worth noting that the permission of the remote computer is what will be used on the host computer. For example, I connected from my Windows PC at 2560 × 1440 to my Mac at 1440 × 900, and I just get a 1440 × 900 window when using Chrome Remote Desktop
Even if I expand it to full screen, the Mac desktop remains at 1440×900 on my Windows computer. If I connect it the other way around, the application has two options for help: “Resize Desktop to Fit” and “Shrink to Fit”. The first option involves changing the resolution on the remote computer, while the second option simply resizes the desktop on the host computer.
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Overall, since Chrome Remote Desktop is completely free and gives me the ability to connect to just about any computer using so many different devices, it’s fantastic. Obviously there are plenty of other options out there that can probably do more than Chrome, but some cost money and others require more complex customization. For an easy-to-use remote desktop solution that anyone can get up to speed quickly, check out Chrome Remote Desktop Enjoy!
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