How to wake a sleeping PC remotely with Wake-on-LAN

Wake-on-LAN is a feature of the network card. While the PC sleeps, the card keeps listening for a special "magic packet" addressed to it, and when one arrives it switches the PC back on. The catch is that the packet only travels across the local network: you can't send it from the other side of the internet.

RemoteAccessApp solves that with a PC that's already awake. Each PC's Agent notes its network card while it's online. When you press Wake up on an offline PC, in the Console or on the website, RemoteAccessApp asks another of your PCs that's online on the same network to send the packet, and tells you which one did. It can take a minute for the PC to come back. It works for a desk at work too, if another PC there stays on; see how to reach your office PC from home.

• Wake-on-LAN switched on in the sleeping PC's BIOS/UEFI settings, and for its network card in Windows.
• A network cable on the PC you want to wake. Most PCs can't be woken over Wi-Fi.
• Another of your PCs online on the same network, with an up-to-date RemoteAccessApp: a desktop that stays on, for example. You can turn a spare PC into an always-on PC for this job.
• An up-to-date RemoteAccessApp on the sleeping PC the last time it was online, because that's when it noted its network card.

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   Step 1: Turn on Wake-on-LAN in the BIOS/UEFI

   Restart the PC and open its firmware settings (often with F2, F10, F12 or Del as it starts). Look for a setting called something like Wake on LAN, Power On by PCI-E or Resume by LAN, and turn it on. The name and place differ from maker to maker.

   Our guides for each PC brand list where Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS, Acer, MSI and Surface put it. On MSI boards, for example, ErP Ready also has to be off, as how to set up remote access on an MSI PC explains.

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   Step 2: Turn it on for the network card in Windows

   Open Device Manager, expand Network adapters and open the wired network card. On the Power Management tab, tick Allow this device to wake the computer (and, if you like, Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer). On the Advanced tab, set Wake on Magic Packet to Enabled if it's listed.

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   Step 3: Plug in a network cable

   Connect the PC to your router or switch with a cable, and keep it plugged into power.

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   Step 4: Have another PC on the same network

   Install RemoteAccessApp on a second PC on the same network and add it to the same account. It has to be online when you want to wake the first one. With several PCs on one network, set up unattended remote desktop on multiple computers so you can get into each one once it's awake.

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   Step 5: Let the PC check in, then test it

   With RemoteAccessApp up to date and online on both PCs, put the first PC to sleep. When it shows as offline, press Wake up on its tile, from the Console or from remoteaccessapp.com on your phone. You'll see which PC sent the signal; give it a minute. Do this test before a trip, with the rest of the checklist to make sure you can get back into your PC.

Waking the PC is only half the job: RemoteAccessApp then needs a signed-in Windows session to show you. Remote tools can't type a password at the Windows sign-in or lock screen, so:

• Prefer sleep to shutdown. A PC woken from sleep returns to the session it left. A PC started from a full shutdown stops at the sign-in screen, where RemoteAccessApp isn't running yet.
• Check the sign-in-after-sleep setting. If Windows asks for your password when the PC wakes, you'll meet the lock screen. In Settings, under Accounts and Sign-in options, the "If you've been away" setting controls this. Only change it for a PC in a place you trust.
• Mind fast startup if you do want to wake from shutdown: Windows' fast startup can stop a switched-off PC from waking on the network. Waking from shutdown also depends on the PC's BIOS/UEFI.

More on keeping a PC ready for you is in remote PC login.

• No other PC online on that network means nothing can send the signal. RemoteAccessApp says so rather than pretending.
• Wi-Fi-only PCs, PCs on a different network or VLAN from the sender, and PCs unplugged from power usually won't wake.
• Wake up only shows on PCs that are offline and whose network card RemoteAccessApp knows.
• Pressing it many times in a row doesn't help: give the PC a minute, and you'll be asked to wait if you try too often.
• In a team, you can wake a shared PC only if your permissions on it include control.