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Helping a parent with low vision use their PC, from a distance

When a parent's eyesight changes, the computer can quietly become hard work: tiny menus, a pointer that disappears, emails they can't quite read. Windows has good settings for this, but finding them is the hard part, especially over the phone.

With RemoteAccessApp you can set them up together: they stay at their PC and say what's easier to read, and you do the clicking from your own home, with their permission every time.

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  • They click Allow each time
  • Uses Windows' own settings
  • Free

Updated · Works on Windows 10 and 11

Set up the remote help once

  1. Step 1: Get RemoteAccessApp onto their PC

    If you can, do this on a visit. Otherwise talk them through it on the phone: they download the installer from the download page, choose Set up this PC and type the 6-digit setup code you read out. The full walkthrough is in how to help a family member with their computer.

  2. Step 2: Call before you connect

    Phone them first, then connect. A window called Allow remote access? appears on their screen, showing who wants to connect. Help them find the Allow button while you're on the phone. If nobody answers in 45 seconds, the answer is no, so there's no rush to get it wrong. Before the first time, you could read through what the person at the PC sees when you connect together, so the prompt and the banner aren't a surprise.

  3. Step 3: Change one thing at a time

    Make one change, then ask how it looks to them. What reads well on your screen isn't what matters: they're the one who has to live with it.

If the Allow button is hard for them

Clicking Allow every time can be a struggle. If they'd like, they can switch on unattended access on their own PC, so you can connect without the prompt. It's their choice, made at their PC, and a banner still shows on their screen during every session. See attended vs unattended remote access.

Windows settings that help

These are the names in Windows 11. On Windows 10, most of them are under Ease of Access in Settings instead of Accessibility.

Windows settings that make a screen easier to see, and where to find them
SettingWhere it is and what it does
Text sizeSettings, Accessibility, Text size. Makes the words in menus and apps bigger without changing anything else.
ScaleSettings, System, Display, Scale. Makes everything bigger: text, buttons and icons.
Mouse pointerSettings, Accessibility, Mouse pointer and touch. A bigger pointer, or a brighter color, is easier to find.
Text cursorSettings, Accessibility, Text cursor. A thicker cursor and an indicator show where typing will go.
MagnifierSettings, Accessibility, Magnifier, or Windows key and the plus key. Zooms in on part of the screen when it's needed.
Contrast themesSettings, Accessibility, Contrast themes. Strong colors that some people find easier to read.

Start with text size and a bigger pointer: they make the biggest difference for the least change. Scale is the next step if buttons are hard to hit too.

In the apps they use most

  • Web browsers and email zoom with Ctrl and the plus key. Set the zoom they like on the sites they use most.
  • A bigger desktop icon size is a right-click away: on the desktop, View, then Large icons.
  • Pin what they use to the taskbar, so they don't have to search for small icons in the Start menu.
  • Tidy the desktop. Fewer icons are easier to find, and you can move the files into a clearly named folder.

Once their PC is easier to see, the same setup covers other jobs too. For ideas, read 7 ways to help your family with their computer without driving over.

Seeing clearly on your side

You see their screen as it is, so the bigger text shows up for you too. To look closer at something small, zoom in on your side without changing their PC: in the RemoteAccessApp Console, hold Ctrl+Alt and turn the mouse wheel (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+0 fits it back). In a browser, pinch or use Ctrl and the mouse wheel. On a fast connection, the Sharpest quality in a browser keeps small text crisp.

Keep them in charge

  • Tell them what you're about to change before you change it, and put it back if they don't like it.
  • Use the session's chat to leave short instructions they can come back to later.
  • Remind them they can stop you at any time: turning off Allow remote control in the RemoteAccessApp tray menu makes the session view only, and quitting the app ends it.
  • Agree that you'll always call before you connect, so an unexpected Allow prompt means Don't allow.

The last point matters, because remote access scams usually start with an unexpected phone call. Five minutes on how to spot a remote access scam is worth it.

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