Before you leave home, make sure you can get back into your PC

Unattended access is what lets you into your own PC when nobody is there to click Allow. It can only be turned on at the PC itself, and while it's on, it lets in:

• Consoles that someone at the PC allowed once with Let this console connect without asking next time (unattended) ticked. They're on the PC's own trusted list.
• Any app or browser signed in to the account that owns the PC, while Let my own account in without asking (apps and browsers) is on. It's on by default.

Everyone else is still asked. It isn't invisible either: the PC shows the Remote session active banner during every session, unattended or not. If you haven't set it up yet, start with how to set up unattended access, and if you're not sure you need it, attended or unattended helps you decide.

How to check it

• Windows: right-click the RemoteAccessApp icon next to the clock. Unattended access should have a tick.
• Linux: open RemoteAccessApp Agent from your app menu. Under What's allowed, the Unattended access switch should be on.
• From another PC: in the Console, the PC's tile on the Devices page shows an Unattended pill while it's on.

Why it's easy to switch off by mistake

On Windows, Unattended access sits right under Allow remote control in the tray menu. One click turns it off, with no question, because turning it off only makes the PC stricter. Unticking Allow remote control turns unattended access off too, on Windows and on Linux, because unattended access includes control.

Turning it back on is the part you can't do from a café. You can ask for it from a PC's menu on the Console's Devices page, but someone at the PC has to agree there. So make the tick the last thing you check, after you've finished with the menu.

Turn Wi-Fi off on your phone, so you're coming in from a different network, the way you will later. Sign in at remoteaccessapp.com and open the PC. Signed in to your own account with unattended access on, it should open straight away, with no Allow prompt at the PC. The phone guide has the touch controls.

If it doesn't, you're still at home to fix it:

• The PC asks someone to click Allow. Unattended access is off, you're signed in to a different account, Let my own account in without asking was turned off, or the PC's RemoteAccessApp is out of date. On Windows that setting is in Trusted consoles and browsers… in the tray menu.
• Not allowed from this network. Your account or this PC only accepts its trusted networks, and your mobile network isn't on the list. Hotel and campus Wi-Fi won't be either. More in reaching your PC from hotel or campus Wi-Fi.
• It asks for a password. The PC has a connection password. Make sure you know it: only someone at the PC can change it.
• The PC shows as offline. Read on.

A PC that's asleep or shut down shows as offline, and there's nothing to connect to.

• Windows: in Settings, under System and then Power (Power & sleep on Windows 10), set it never to sleep while plugged in. Letting the screen turn off is fine. On a laptop, keep it on its charger. Closing the lid usually puts it to sleep too, unless you've changed what the lid does in Windows' power options.
• Linux: the Agent keeps the PC awake while a session is open, but not in between. Turn off automatic suspend in your desktop's power settings.

If you'd rather let it sleep, Wake up can bring it back: another of your PCs that's online on the same network sends it the Wake-on-LAN signal, and you press the button in the Console or on the website from your phone. It's on the free plan, but it needs a few settings first and works most reliably over a network cable, so test it before you rely on it. See how to wake a sleeping PC remotely.

This is the one that catches people out on longer trips, and Windows and Linux differ.

Windows

The RemoteAccessApp Agent starts when you sign in to Windows, so leave Start RemoteAccessApp with Windows on. It isn't running at the sign-in screen, and remote tools can't get past the Windows sign-in or lock screen. So after Windows Update restarts the PC, or the power goes off and comes back, it shows as offline until someone signs in at it.

• Install any waiting Windows updates and restart before you leave, so nothing is pending.
• Leave the PC signed in, and don't lock it on your way out.
• Check Dynamic lock is off, in Settings under Accounts and Sign-in options. It locks the PC when your paired phone moves out of Bluetooth range, which is exactly what happens when you walk out the door.
• Windows itself can be set to sign in to one account automatically after a restart. That's a Windows setting, not ours, and it's only for a PC in a place you trust. See remote PC login.

Linux

The Agent normally starts when you sign in to the desktop, so a restart leaves the PC offline in the same way. Linux has a way round it: turn on Available after a restart in the Agent's window, under What's allowed. It asks for an administrator password and can only be turned on at the PC. From then on, when the PC starts, it signs you in by itself and locks the screen straight away. The Agent comes online, and when you connect you unlock the screen by typing your Linux password, as in unlocking a locked Linux PC.

• It works with the GDM (GNOME, Ubuntu, Fedora), LightDM (Linux Mint, Xubuntu) and SDDM (KDE) login screens.
• Keep unattended access on. On Wayland, approve screen sharing once first, or sessions after a restart wait for someone at the PC.
• If the PC uses Wi-Fi, the network has to be available to all users (the usual setting), because your login keyring stays locked until you sign in at the PC.
• Like any automatic sign-in, it's for a PC somewhere you trust, such as your home.

Power cuts and our own updates

Many PCs have a BIOS/UEFI setting, often called something like Restore on AC power loss, that switches the PC back on when the power returns. It's worth turning on for a PC you'll need while you're away. After that, the restart rules above apply. RemoteAccessApp's own updates are the easy part: they install by themselves, never while someone is connected, and need nobody at the PC.

Pro With Pro, monitoring alerts can tell you when one of your PCs goes offline and when it's back, so you hear about it before you need the PC.

• Two-step verification on your RemoteAccessApp account. Your account opens your PCs, so protect it. It's free.
• A connection password. On Windows, choose Connection password… in the tray menu; on Linux, set it in the Agent's window. Anyone connecting has to type it first, and the PC checks it itself.
• A tidy trusted list. Open Trusted consoles and browsers… in the tray menu on Windows (on Linux, the list is in the Agent's window) and remove anything you no longer use, like an old laptop.
• A spare PC that stays on. It can wake your other PCs at home and gives you a second way in. See a spare PC you can reach from anywhere.
• One command, no session. From the Console on a laptop, Run a command… checks something on the PC, like whether a download finished or how much disk is left, without opening a session. The PC's usual rules about who gets in still apply. See running a command without a remote session.