Step zero: ask IT
The office PC belongs to your employer, so the first step isn't technical. Ask whoever runs IT whether you may install remote access software on it, and whether they already have a way for you to work from home. Many companies have rules about this, and some networks block new programs from connecting out. If the answer is no, that's the answer.
If you are the IT person, or it's your own business, read on. For a whole office, start with remote IT support for a small team, and see a week of remote IT help for a five-person office for how it plays out day to day. To reach the office PC after hours, when nobody is there to click Allow, you'll want unattended remote access.
The setup, if you get the go-ahead
- Install RemoteAccessApp on the office PC and add it to your account. It installs just for you, without administrator rights, and only ever makes outgoing connections, so nothing changes on the office router.
- Keep it on. Set Windows not to sleep while plugged in, and leave Start RemoteAccessApp with Windows ticked.
- Turn on Unattended access at the office PC, so you can connect from home without anyone clicking Allow, and protect your account with two-step verification.
- Have a plan B for sleep. If another office PC stays on and has RemoteAccessApp, Wake up can wake yours through it, as long as yours is on a cable with Wake-on-LAN turned on.
The trade-off nobody mentions
RemoteAccessApp works inside your signed-in Windows session. It can't type your Windows password, unlock a locked PC or get past the sign-in screen, and no remote tool can. So for the office PC to be reachable from home, it has to stay signed in.
In a private office that's usually fine. In an open-plan office, a signed-in PC is one anyone walking past could use, and whatever you do from home shows on its screen, with the Remote session active banner on top. Talk to IT about the right balance: a PC in a room that locks, or a different way of working. If the PC does lock while you're away, someone at the office has to sign in before you can get back in.
Working from home
- Use the Windows app if you can. Sessions in the app are end-to-end encrypted. From a Mac, a Chromebook or a tablet, the browser works too, encrypted but not end to end. See browser or Windows app. The browser is also how you access your home PC from a work laptop without installing anything on the laptop.
- Two monitors at the office? The free plan shows the main screen; Pro shows every monitor. File transfer and clipboard sync are free with an account.
- Keep work files at work unless your employer says otherwise. Being able to copy a file home doesn't mean you should.
- End the session when you're done, so the office PC isn't left showing your screen to the room.
Going the other way?