How to run a command on a PC without opening a remote session

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   Step 1: Select the PCs

   In the RemoteAccessApp app on Windows, open the Devices page. Right-click a PC, or select several first and right-click one of them.

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   Step 2: Choose Run a command

   Choose Run a command…. Pick Command Prompt, PowerShell or VBScript, and type or paste the command. It can be several lines.

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   Step 3: Click Run

   It runs on every selected PC at once, as the person signed in there, with their rights. A PC that has to ask first shows as waiting until the person there answers. For the wider picture, see how to manage multiple Windows computers remotely.

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   Step 4: Read each PC's result

   Each PC shows its output and exit code; a VBScript that stops at an error shows the error. Stop ends a command that's still running.

A few one-liners that work well this way, the first two in Command Prompt and the others in PowerShell:

ipconfig /all
systeminfo
Get-PSDrive C
Get-Service Spooler

For an interactive prompt instead, choose Open command prompt. It opens Command Prompt or PowerShell on the PC in a window on your side, also without a session.

The PC decides exactly as it would if you opened a session from the same app. If a session would start without a prompt, the command runs straight away. That's when:

• Unattended access is on and lets your console in: it's signed in to the account that owns the PC, or your console is on the PC's trusted list.
• The PC is set to Skip the Allow prompt after the correct password and you've entered its connection password.

Otherwise the person at the PC sees Allow this command?, with who is asking and the whole command (or the whole VBScript) exactly as it will run. It runs only if they click Allow. Don't allow has the focus, and if nobody answers in 45 seconds, the answer is no. A quick earlier approval doesn't count: every command needs unattended access or a click.

They never see your screen, and you never see theirs. While a command runs, the Remote session active notice shows on their screen, and the PC's activity history lists the command, who ran it and why it was allowed, even when unattended access let it run without a prompt. Turning off remote control stops it. More in the Allow prompt and what the person at the PC sees.

Older admin scripts are often .vbs files. Choose VBScript in Run a command and paste the script: the PC runs exactly that script and you get its output. VBScript also works in saved scripts, Management jobs and quick tasks, next to PowerShell and Command Prompt.

VBScript is an optional Windows feature, and Windows 11 can turn it off or remove it. On a PC without it, the app says VBScript isn't available there instead of trying.

• Commands run as the person signed in to Windows, with their rights. Nothing is run as administrator unless that's how RemoteAccessApp runs on the PC.
• A PC with an older RemoteAccessApp says Update RemoteAccessApp on (the PC) to run commands without opening a session. Running commands needs Windows 10 version 1809 or later.
• For the same script on many PCs on a schedule, with a library of saved scripts, see running a script on many PCs. That's Management, part of Pro.
• Cloud servers are reached another way, in an SSH or Remote Desktop tab on the Connections page of the same app. One place for your cloud servers and your PCs shows how the two fit together.
• To import servers from a cloud account, see how to manage Azure virtual machines from one Windows app or the guide to managing DigitalOcean Droplets.

Run a command and Open command prompt are free, for up to 5 PCs, and need no card. To try it, download RemoteAccessApp and install it on your PC and the PCs you look after.