Guide
How to control a Windows PC from Linux
Moved your own computer to Linux, but the family PC, the office desktop or the gaming rig still runs Windows? You can reach them all from your Linux desktop. RemoteAccessApp for Linux includes the Console (to reach your other PCs) as well as the Agent, so one install gives you a proper app for it, not just a browser tab.
This guide installs it on Linux, adds a Windows PC to your account and opens it, with the screen, keyboard, a terminal and the tools.
- Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, Fedora and more
- No ports to open
- Free for 5 PCs
Updated · Linux Console on 64-bit X11 or Wayland desktops, Windows 10 and 11 PCs
Set it up
Step 1: Install RemoteAccessApp on your Linux PC
On the download page, get the .deb for Ubuntu, Debian, Mint and other apt-based distributions, and install it with the command the page shows, from the folder you saved it in:
sudo apt install ./remoteaccessapp_*_amd64.deb
On other 64-bit distributions, such as Fedora, use the .tar.gz and its install script instead. The install guide has both, and the announcement RemoteAccessApp is now on Linux sums up what the Agent and Console for Linux do.
Step 2: Open the Console and sign in
Open RemoteAccessApp from your app menu (not RemoteAccessApp Agent, which is this PC's own settings) and sign in with your account, or create a free one. You don't have to add the Linux PC itself to use it.
Step 3: Install RemoteAccessApp on the Windows PC
On the Windows PC, run the installer from the download page and choose Set up this PC for remote access. Leave Allow mouse & keyboard control and Start RemoteAccessApp with Windows on.
Step 4: Add it with a setup code
In the Console on Linux, click Add a PC. Type the 6-digit code into the Windows PC when it asks, or sign in there with your account. The Windows PC appears on your Devices page.
Step 5: Open it
Double-click the Windows PC. The person there sees Allow remote access? and clicks Allow, unless unattended access lets your console in. Then its desktop opens in a tab under Live sessions.
Already have Windows PCs in your account?
Working on the Windows PC
- Keys. What you type goes to the Windows PC. For combinations your own desktop would catch, use the Keys button in the session: Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc), Alt+Tab and more. Windows doesn't let remote tools press Ctrl+Alt+Del, so the Console offers Task Manager instead.
- Type text. Pastes text into the PC by typing it key by key, handy where pasting doesn't work.
- Screen. Fit, full screen (F11) and a quality setting for slow connections. With Pro, switch between the PC's monitors.
- Several PCs. Each session is a tab, so you can keep a few Windows and Linux PCs open side by side. The free plan has 3 open at once.
Terminal, tools and files
- A terminal on the Windows PC. Open Command Prompt or PowerShell in a session, or right-click the PC on the Devices page for Run a command… without one. The person at the PC sees the exact command first unless unattended access lets you in. Linux PCs on the same page work the same way with bash: see how to run commands on a Linux PC without a remote session.
- Windows tools. The PC's processes, services, sessions and Event Log, from the Console.
- Files and clipboard. Drop files from your Linux file manager onto the session to send them, browse the PC's folders, and copy text and pictures both ways. Chat works on every plan. For the reverse, see how to transfer files to and from a Linux PC.
- Help someone. For a PC that isn't yours, they read you the code under This PC's code, and you type it under Connect to a PC on Home. No account needed. See one-time support codes. Linux PCs have the same 8-digit codes, so you can also help someone on a Linux PC with a one-time code.
Reaching it when nobody's there
For your own Windows PC, turn on unattended access at that PC: right-click the RemoteAccessApp icon in its taskbar tray and choose Unattended access. Your trusted consoles then get in without a click, and the PC still shows a banner with End in every session. See setting up unattended access.
Keep that Windows PC signed in: remote tools can't get past the Windows sign-in or lock screen. Linux PCs are different there, because you can unlock a locked Linux PC remotely with the user's password in a session the PC allowed.
Every connection goes out from both PCs to RemoteAccessApp's servers, so there's nothing to open on either router, and sessions from the Console are end-to-end encrypted.
No install? Use a browser
On a Linux PC you can't install software on, sign in at remoteaccessapp.com instead and open the Windows PC in the browser. The screen and control work there; the terminal and the tools are in the Console. See access your PC from a browser. The same goes for a Mac: there's no Mac app, but the browser works.
Questions, answered
More on RemoteAccessApp for Linux
- Remote desktop for LinuxRemoteAccessApp for Linux: the Agent and the Console in one package. See and control your Linux desktops, on X11 or Wayland, free for up to 5 PCs.Learn more
- Install on LinuxInstall the Agent and the Console with the .deb on Ubuntu, Debian and Mint or the .tar.gz elsewhere, add the PC, and approve screen sharing once on Wayland.Read the guide
- Remote access to UbuntuInstall RemoteAccessApp on Ubuntu, approve screen sharing once at the PC, and open the desktop from a browser or the Console.Read the guide
- Control Linux from WindowsYour Linux PCs on the Console's Devices page next to your Windows PCs: screen and control, a bash terminal, processes, services and the journal.Read the guide
- Unattended access on LinuxTurn on unattended access at the Linux PC, trust your console once, approve screen sharing once on Wayland and start the Agent at sign-in.Read the guide
- Help someone on LinuxThe person on Linux reads you the 8-digit code on their Home screen and clicks Allow; you connect from the app or a browser.Read the guide
- Linux terminal without a sessionRun a command or open a bash terminal on a Linux PC from the Devices page: straight away under unattended access, otherwise after an Allow.Read the guide
- Transfer files with a Linux PCDrop files on a session to put them in Downloads, or browse the Linux PC's home folder and filesystem from the Console, with resume.Read the guide
- Unlock a locked Linux PCA locked Linux screen is no dead end: type the user's password in the session and the system unlocks it, on Wayland and X11.Read the guide
- Approve screen sharing on WaylandThe one-time Remote Desktop dialog on Ubuntu and other Wayland desktops: what to pick, how to do it ahead of time, and what to do if it asks again.Read the guide
- RemoteAccessApp on LinuxRemoteAccessApp for Linux is here, Agent and Console: X11 and Wayland desktops, the same Allow prompt and banner, a bash terminal, files and sound.Read the post
- X11 vs Wayland for remote desktopWhat X11 and Wayland change for screen sharing and remote control, and how the Agent works on both: on Wayland, approve once and it's remembered.Read the post
- Windows and Linux PCs in one appA mixed home or office in one account: the same Devices list, sessions, terminal, tools and consent rules for Windows and Linux PCs.Read the post
- When the Linux screen locksWhy a locked Linux screen so often ends a remote session, and how RemoteAccessApp keeps the PC awake and lets you unlock it, on Wayland and X11.Read the post
Related
- Remote desktop for WindowsSee and control your Windows PCs from anywhere, free for up to 5 PCs.Learn more
- Set up unattended accessUnattended remote access setup, step by step: reach your own PCs when nobody's there, without opening the door to anyone else.Read the guide
- Access your PC remotelyRemote access setup for your own Windows or Linux PC, step by step, and how to reach it from anywhere for free.Read the guide
