Set it up once
All seven start with RemoteAccessApp on their Windows PC, added to your free account. They install it and type a 6-digit code you read out to them; it takes a few minutes on the phone, and the step-by-step guide covers it. After that, every time you connect, their PC asks them to allow it, and a banner stays on their screen while you're there.
Seven ways to help
1. See their screen instead of guessing
"What does it say on the screen?" is where most phone support goes wrong. Open their PC, let them click Allow, and you see exactly what they see. You can use their mouse and keyboard while they watch, and they can stop you at any moment. If small text and a vanishing pointer are the problem, see helping a parent with low vision use their PC, which shows how to set up Windows' own accessibility settings with them while they say what's easier to read.
2. Talk them through it in the chat
The session has a chat both ways, so you can explain what you're doing as you go, or leave instructions they can read later. You can attach pictures and files to messages on the free plan, handy for a form they need to fill in or a screenshot of where a setting lives.
3. Fix it under the hood
From the RemoteAccessApp Console on Windows, open PowerShell or Command Prompt on their PC during a session, for example to clear a stuck print queue or check what's filling the disk. Windows tools show their processes, services and Event Log, so you can find the program hogging everything or the error behind a crash. These work only while they allow remote control, so switching you to view-only stops them too.
4. Help from your phone when you're out
Not at your desk? Sign in at remoteaccessapp.com on your phone and open their PC in the browser, with touch controls built for a small screen. It's the same session, the same Allow prompt and the same banner. How to control a PC from your phone. Our post on helping family with their PC from your phone adds tips for small screens, the Shortcuts menu and mobile data.
5. Keep their PC up to date without a visit
You can always connect and run Windows Update while they watch. Pro With Pro, Management can check for Windows updates and update apps on a schedule, showing you the exact command first and a notice on their PC every time. Installing Windows updates that way needs RemoteAccessApp to run as administrator on their PC. And if they're still on Windows 10, see moving to a new Windows 11 PC.
6. Wake their PC if it's asleep
If their PC is asleep and another PC in their home is online with RemoteAccessApp, press Wake up on its tile. It needs Wake-on-LAN switched on and a network cable on the sleeping PC. Here's what to set up.
7. Make them harder to scam
Some of the most useful help is the conversation you have while you're setting things up. Show them the Allow prompt and the banner, and agree that you'll always tell them before you connect, so an unexpected prompt means "Don't allow." If they want an extra lock, they can set a connection password on their PC that anyone connecting has to type first. How to spot a remote access scam.
A word on unattended access
If you look after a relative's PC often, they can switch on unattended access so you can connect without them clicking Allow, for example to finish something overnight. It's their choice, it's made on their PC, and the banner still shows during every session. For most family help, leaving it off is simplest.
What's free