Applies To: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016 You can use the Remote Desktop client for Mac to work with Windows apps, resources, and desktops from your Mac computer. Use the following information to get started - and check out the FAQ if you have questions. May 23, 2017 Screens for Mac and iOS is the best remote access solution for accessing our Macs when away from home. It uses industry-standard technology for remote access (VNC), but the free Screens Connect service makes it easy to setup. This removes the requirement to use a static IP address or configure your router manually. May 04, 2018 RemotePC is one of the best low-frills remote-access apps, offering identical features on PCs and Macs, fast performance, and a minimal, but intuitive, interface. Full RemotePC Review.

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  4. What Is The Best Remote Desktop App For Mac Windows 10
  • Best remote desktop software - at a glance. Connectwise Control. Remote Utilities for Windows. Remote Desktop Manager. Chrome Remote Desktop.
  • But many companies continued work on robust ecosystems that include macOS, Windows, and flavors of Linux, and allow Android and iOS remote access of those desktop systems.
  • Chrome Remote Desktop. Chrome Remote Desktop supports Windows and OS X (and Linux, sort of), and is completely free for personal and commercial use. It's essentially just a Chrome app that you have to install in Chrome on any computer you want to connect to.
  • With more than 15 million users across the globe, Splashtop is another one of our best remote desktop tools. What makes this remote tool different from the rest is its amazing screen refresh rate and audio/video streaming capabilities.
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Applies To: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016

You can use the Remote Desktop client for Mac to work with Windows apps, resources, and desktops from your Mac computer. Use the following information to get started - and check out the FAQ if you have questions.

Note

  • Curious about the new releases for the macOS client? Check out What's new for Remote Desktop on Mac?
  • The Mac client runs on computers running macOS 10.10 and newer.
  • The information in this article applies primarily to the full version of the Mac client - the version available in the Mac AppStore. Test-drive new features by downloading our preview app here: beta client release notes.

Get the Remote Desktop client

Follow these steps to get started with Remote Desktop on your Mac:

  1. Download the Microsoft Remote Desktop client from the Mac App Store.
  2. Set up your PC to accept remote connections. (If you skip this step, you can't connect to your PC.)
  3. Add a Remote Desktop connection or a remote resource. You use a connection to connect directly to a Windows PC and a remote resource to use a RemoteApp program, session-based desktop, or a virtual desktop published on-premises using RemoteApp and Desktop Connections. This feature is typically available in corporate environments.

What about the Mac beta client?

We're testing new features on our preview channel on AppCenter. Want to check it out? Go to Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac and click Download. You don't need to create an account or sign into AppCenter to download the beta client.

If you already have the client, you can check for updates to ensure you have the latest version. In the beta client, click Microsoft Remote Desktop Beta at the top, and then click Check for updates.

Add a Remote Desktop connection

To create a remote desktop connection:

  1. In the Connection Center, click +, and then click Desktop.

  2. Enter the following information:

    • PC name - the name of the computer.
      • This can be a Windows computer name (found in the System settings), a domain name, or an IP address.
      • You can also add port information to the end of this name, like MyDesktop:3389.
    • User Account - Add the user account you use to access the remote PC.
      • For Active Directory (AD) joined computers or local accounts, use one of these formats: user_name, domainuser_name, or user_name@domain.com.
      • For Azure Active Directory (AAD) joined computers, use one of these formats: AzureADuser_name or AzureADuser_name@domain.com.
      • You can also choose whether to require a password.
      • When managing multiple user accounts with the same user name, set a friendly name to differentiate the accounts.
      • Manage your saved user accounts in the preferences of the app.

  3. You can also set these optional settings for the connection:

    • Set a friendly name
    • Add a Gateway
    • Set the sound output
    • Swap mouse buttons
    • Enable Admin Mode
    • Redirect local folders into a remote session
    • Forward local printers
    • Forward Smart Cards

  4. Click Save.

What

To start the connection, just double-click it. The same is true for remote resources.

Export and import connections

You can export a remote desktop connection definition and use it on a different device. Remote desktops are saved in separate .RDP files.

  1. In the Connection Center, right-click the remote desktop.
  2. Click Export.
  3. Browse to the location where you want to save the remote desktop .RDP file.
  4. Click OK.

Use the following steps to import a remote desktop .RDP file.

  1. In the menu bar, click File > Import.
  2. Browse to the .RDP file.
  3. Click Open.

Add a remote resource

Remote resources are RemoteApp programs, session-based desktops, and virtual desktops published using RemoteApp and Desktop Connections.

  • The URL displays the link to the RD Web Access server that gives you access to RemoteApp and Desktop Connections.
  • The configured RemoteApp and Desktop Connections are listed.

To add a remote resource:

  1. In the Connection Center click +, and then click Add Remote Resources.
  2. Enter information for the remote resource:
    • Feed URL - The URL of the RD Web Access server. You can also enter your corporate email account in this field – this tells the client to search for the RD Web Access Server associated with your email address.
    • User name - The user name to use for the RD Web Access server you are connecting to.
    • Password - The password to use for the RD Web Access server you are connecting to.
  3. Click Save.

The remote resources will be displayed in the Connection Center.

Connect to an RD Gateway to access internal assets

A Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) lets you connect to a remote computer on a corporate network from anywhere on the Internet. You can create and manage your gateways in the preferences of the app or while setting up a new desktop connection.

To set up a new gateway in preferences:

  1. In the Connection Center, click Preferences > Gateways.
  2. Click the + button at the bottom of the table Enter the following information:
    • Server name – The name of the computer you want to use as a gateway. This can be a Windows computer name, an Internet domain name, or an IP address. You can also add port information to the server name (for example: RDGateway:443 or 10.0.0.1:443).
    • User name - The user name and password to be used for the Remote Desktop gateway you are connecting to. You can also select Use connection credentials to use the same user name and password as those used for the remote desktop connection.

Manage your user accounts

When you connect to a desktop or remote resources, you can save the user accounts to select from again. You can manage your user accounts by using the Remote Desktop client.

To create a new user account:

  1. In the Connection Center, click Settings > Accounts.
  2. Click Add User Account.
  3. Enter the following information:
    • User Name - The name of the user to save for use with a remote connection. You can enter the user name in any of the following formats: user_name, domainuser_name, or user_name@domain.com.
    • Password - The password for the user you specified. Every user account that you want to save to use for remote connections needs to have a password associated with it.
    • Friendly Name - If you are using the same user account with different passwords, set a friendly name to distinguish those user accounts.
  4. Tap Save, and then tap Settings.

Customize your display resolution

You can specify the display resolution for the remote desktop session.

  1. In the Connection Center, click Preferences.
  2. Click Resolution.
  3. Click +.
  4. Enter a resolution height and width, and then click OK.

To delete the resolution, select it, and then click -.

Displays have separate spacesIf you are running Mac OS X 10.9 and disabled Displays have separate spaces in Mavericks (System Preferences > Mission Control), you need to configure this setting in the remote desktop client using the same option.

Drive redirection for remote resources

Drive redirection is supported for remote resources, so that you can save files created with a remote application locally to your Mac. The redirected folder is always your home directory displayed as a network drive in the remote session.

Note

In order to use this feature, the administrator needs to set the appropriate settings on the server.

Use a keyboard in a remote session

Mac keyboard layouts differ from the Windows keyboard layouts.

  • The Command key on the Mac keyboard equals the Windows key.
  • To perform actions that use the Command button on the Mac, you will need to use the control button in Windows (e.g.: Copy = Ctrl + C).
  • The function keys can be activated in the session by pressing additionally the FN key (e.g.: FN + F1).
  • The Alt key to the right of the space bar on the Mac keyboard equals the Alt Gr/right Alt key in Windows.

By default, the remote session will use the same keyboard locale as the OS you're running the client on. (If your Mac is running an en-us OS, that will be used for the remote sessions as well.) If the OS keyboard locale is not used, check the keyboard setting on the remote PC and change it manually. See the Remote Desktop Client FAQ for more information about keyboards and locales.

Support for Remote Desktop gateway pluggable authentication and authorization

Windows Server 2012 R2 introduced support for a new authentication method, Remote Desktop Gateway pluggable authentication and authorization, which provides more flexibility for custom authentication routines. You can now this authentication model with the Mac client.

Important

Custom authentication and authorization models before Windows 8.1 are not supported, although the article above discusses them.

To learn more about this feature, check out https://aka.ms/paa-sample.

Tip

Questions and comments are always welcome. However, please do NOT post a request for troubleshooting help by using the comment feature at the end of this article. Instead, go to the Remote Desktop client forum and start a new thread. Have a feature suggestion? Tell us in the client user voice forum.

Screens for Mac and iOS is the best remote access solution for accessing our Macs when away from home. It uses industry-standard technology for remote access (VNC), but the free Screens Connect service makes it easy to setup. This removes the requirement to use a static IP address or configure your router manually.

If your machine is behind a corporate network that prohibits Screens from working remotely, we recommend LogMeIn. The iOS and Mac apps are free, but the service is prohibitively expensive for most users.

Free Productivity Guide: Download our simple guide to productivity to help you improve your workflows and be more focused with your time and attention. Get it here.

What Is The Best Remote Desktop App For Mac

Why do you need remote access?

With the rise of services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud, remote access services aren’t necessary for simply accessing files remotely. There are countless ways to sync documents and access them from anywhere. Accessing a PDF file using PDF Expert that is stored in Dropbox is certainly better than remotely controlling a Mac and opening the document. I use remote access to manage a Mac mini at Mac mini colo and my Plex server at home. Accessing a Mac remotely allows you to run desktop applications, have access to a full web browser from iOS, and access files and programs that are only on that one machine.

Screens

How does it work?

Screens, at its core, is a VNC client. VNC stands for virtual networking computing. It was created by The Olivetti & Oracle Research Lab back in the late 90s. The lab was later purchased by AT&T, but shut down in 2002. The original VNC source code is now open source. With VNC apps, there are two pieces. You have the VNC server (typically a laptop, server, or desktop) and the VNC client (another laptop, desktop, or mobile device). The client generally connects to the server from port 5900 and allows the client to see the display of the VNC server. Screens is using industry-standard technology, but with an easy-to-use and beautiful user interface.


Design

Screens has stayed current, following Apple’s ever-changing design standards. Both apps received quick updates for the new iOS 7 design a couple years back. The iPhone and Mac apps share a lot of similar buttons and layout functions, so users of both apps can swap back and forth without having to re-learn workflows. The apps look for available machines on the local network, and also shows you the ones available with Screens Connect (more on that later). Double tapping/clicking on a machine launches it and either logs you in or prompts you for the passcode depending on how the security of that machine is setup.

Once you are logged into a machine, you are free to use it like you would just sitting in front of it. There is a dedicated Screenshot button, options to send/receive the clipboard, an option to scale down the display when network conditions are not optimal, and the ability to manage multiple displays if they are available.

On the Mac side, using a remote machine feels extremely normal. Both devices use a mouse and keyboard, so it’s fairly easy to implement that.

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On the iOS side, you are taking a touch screen device and making it work with a desktop OS.

You quickly find out why Apple didn’t simply port Mac OS X as-is to the iPad. A touch-based OS requires drastically different interactions than a mouse/keyboard paradigm. With that being said, Screens offers the best experience in my opinion. It’s easy to zoom in and tapping moves the cursor to your desired location and initiates a click on the server. There is also an optional trackpad mode that turns your display into a trackpad and will make the cursor follow your finger around as you track. Both options work well, and it just comes down to personal preference.

Our friends at MacMini Colo discovered a great product to use on a remote Mac that is “headless” (a Mac mini or Mac Pro) in order to use higher resolutions. If you plug this dongle into the HDMI port, you’ll get access to all available resolutions up to 16×9 1080p.

Features

Since Screens is built on open source technology, it is probably always going to lose the feature check list game when compared to custom-built services like LogMeIn or TeamViewer. Companies that are building their own technology have the ability to do whatever their product managers can come up with. Screens is built on open-source VNC technology, so it’s going to be a much simpler design. Most of the extra features aren’t needed in 2015 for most people (remote printing, file syncing, etc) anyways. Screens offers exactly what I want out of remote access without a monthly fee.

Access Options

Screens is available for Mac OS X and for iOS. It does lack a web access component, so if that is a feature that you need, then you should look at one of the other options below. Web access used to be important to me, but that was before I had multiple iOS devices in my bag. I’ve actually found myself using Screens on my iPhone 6 Plus quite a bit, not to mention the extremely capable iPad version.

Setup

As I mentioned earlier, Screens is really just a beautiful VNC application. VNC server support is built into Mac OS X by default, and this app is just building a VNC client. The main downside with VNC, since it’s an open-source platform, is that the setup can generally be tricky. You have to make sure the computer is configured right, and you need a static IP from your internet provider (or use a service like No_IP to update your dynamic DNS to a static host).

Screens has a free service called Screens Connect that takes care of that for you. You create an account, install the Screens Connect app on the Mac you want to remotely access, and log in with your user name and password. On the client side, you simply log in with your Screens Connect account, and you see your logged in computers. The only place this service won’t work is when a corporate firewall is blocking VNC traffic. Screens also offers a free program called Screens Express that makes it easy to connect to a friend or family member’s Mac with a temporary link.

Reliability

In my experience, Screens has been rock solid. I bought it a few years back after LogMeIn discontinued their free service and haven’t looked back. Screens is really the best of both worlds. It’s pairing open-source technology that’s built right into Mac OS X with a well-supported and frequently updated app. On iOS, the developer has worked to add things like TouchID support, Touch Bar support, an adaptive toolbar and more. Regular updates help us feel more comfortable relying on this app day in and day out.

Runner Up

LogMeIn

LogMeIn ($249.99/year for two computers) is our runner up for remote access solutions. We also recommend it for the times when VNC technology is blocked or a corporate firewall prevents Screens Connect from working. LogMeIn is easy to install and easy to use. In fact, I use it on a few machines at work in order to always have easy access to them from offsite. LogMeIn allows me to keep my firewall locked down, but still get to these machines. It works from the web, but they also recently added a Mac client that is installed when you sign up. It allows quick access to a machine.

LogMeIn also offers free iOS apps. I’ve found that their iOS apps are the easiest to use. I found scrolling and tapping/clicking to feel the most native of anything other than Screens. From a security perspective, LogMeIn uses SSL/TLS for all its communications. You can also use RSA SecurID or 2-factor authentication along with requiring your Mac’s username and password.

One of the main reasons we chose Screens over LogMeIn is the price. Screens is a one-time app purchase where LogMeIn is $249.99/year. It’s difficult to justify that price unless this is something you depend on every day.

Free Productivity Guide: Download our simple guide to productivity to help you improve your workflows and be more focused with your time and attention. Get it here.

The Others

Back To My Mac

Back To My Mac (free) was originally a feature of MobileMe, but it is now a part of iCloud. Since iCloud is free, it’s a natural choice for a lot of users. However, we don’t feel like it’s the best solution due to the fact that we can’t get it to work the majority of the time.

Apple’s support document mentions a few tips related to its own routers, but not much else. Some users have no issue getting it to work, while others have no success at all.

Another reason that it’s not our pick is there is no way to use it on iOS. I use remote access apps as much on my iPhone as I do other laptops. Back To My Mac is free with an iCloud account, but it’s support and features reflect the price tag. Security-wise, Back to My Mac uses IPSec and SSL encryption between your Mac and Apple’s servers. It uses Kerberos with digital certificates to verify that you are authorized to connect to the Mac in question.

Apple Remote Desktop

Apple Remote Desktop ($79.99) is a tool that’s aimed at Mac system administrators, but it’s really not that useful for them any more. It goes years without updates, and the ones it does see are usually for Mac OS X compatibility. Like Back To My Mac, it also lacks an iOS component. Setting it up to work remotely is also going to take some networking configuration on your router and VPN setup. Most Mac system administrators have moved onto a tool like Casper Suite from JAMF Software. Apple Remote Desktop fits in a weird place of not being useful for the prosumer, but not powerful enough for the IT department. I’d rather see it become a Back to my Device app and work with iOS devices (remote access from a Mac to iOS) and make it work similar to Find My iPhone. From a security perspective, you can encrypt your session with an SSH tunnel, but it does come at a security cost. Authentication to clients uses an authentication method based on a Diffie-Hellman Key agreement protocol that creates a shared 128-bit key. This key is used to encrypt the login credentials using AES. The Diffie-Hellman key agreement protocol used in Apple Remote Desktop is similar to the one used in Mac file sharing.

Chrome Remote Desktop

Chrome Remote Desktop (free) is a Google Chrome plugin that allows you to access other Macs that are logged into your Google account (with the Remote Desktop extension installed) through the web browser. The price is right, it’s simple to setup, and offers iOS access. I found the iOS app to be subpar compared to Screens, though. It functionally worked fine, but Screens handled multi-monitor setups better, scrolled easier, and was just all around more functional. Remote access tools are already a bit of a hack, so smoothness and speed are imperative. Chrome Remote Desktop uses Chrome’s SSL features, which includes full support for AES. None of your session data is ever recorded by Google, and in most situations, the connection is directly from the client to the remote session without passing through Google. It’s free, so there is no reason not to give it a shot if a free solution is what you are after.

TeamViewer

TeamViewer (free for non-commercial, starts at $795 for commercial) is another popular remote access solution. Like LogMeIn, it handles the router configuration for you. You install the client on your Mac, and then you can log in from the web or an iOS device. TeamViewer works well and is fast, but the setup and configuration was a bit more complicated than LogMeIn. While it is a remote access solution, its also heavily pitched as a remote support and online meeting solution as well. The price is right, but LogMeIn is easier to use, and Chrome Remote Desktop is easier to set up. TeamViewer’s encryption is based on RSA private/public key exchange and AES 256-bit session encryption.

RealVNC

RealVNC (free and paid products available) was founded by the original developers of the VNC protocol (it’s open source). They offer support for Mac and iOS, and also offer free and paid plans, but it’s not a product we recommend to most people because of how difficult it is to set up for off-site access. It involves knowing your public IP (most residential users have a dynamic IP that can change) and forwarding ports on your router. The paid products offer 128-bit AES encryption or better. If you are looking for a free solution, we recommend Chrome Remote Desktop since it is a lot easier to set up.

GoToMyPC

GoToMyPC ($11.95/month or $114.72/year) is one of the most well-known remote access plans. It shares a lot of features with other popular options, but it’s a little pricey per computer compared to its competitors. There is no configuration needed on your router. You simply install the client, and then you can access your computer from the web or an iOS app. You can print to your home computer from your work computer, drag and drop files, and copy/paste between computers. From a security standpoint, it supports 128-bit AES encryption, dual passwords, and end-to-end authentication.

Alternative technology

Remote access solutions aren’t as essential as they once were. I used to use them to access files from off-site, but with the popularity of folder syncing services, we can have access to most of our files from any device or location already. Here are a few of the common options for Mac users:

Dropbox

Best Remote Desktop App For Macbook

Dropbox (free up to 2 GB, $9.99/month for 1 TB) is the go-to folder syncing solution for a lot of users. Its client is relatively stable, it has great third-party app support, and offers a free plan for beginners. Paid plans start at $9.99/month for 1 TB of storage. This makes it a nice option for storing large amounts of data and having access to it from anywhere.

Google Drive

Google Drive (free up to 15 GB, plans start at $1.99/month for 100 GB) will be a great choice for a lot of users due to the fact they likely already use Gmail. Google Drive is best used on the web, but it has a Mac client as well that works very similarly to Dropbox. The client works well, but it lacks some of the features of Dropbox related to bandwidth control and controlling which folders are stored locally on your Mac. Google Drive only supports selective sync on root folders, where Dropbox supports it for sub-folders. The price is right for up to a terabyte, and then Dropbox offers similar plans. Google Drive is ideal when you need more than 2 GB, but less than 100 GB, and it does offer better web support than Dropbox. Google Docs, Spreadsheets, and Slides are much better than anything Dropbox offers in terms of web-based editing.

iCloud Drive

Mac App Store Remote Desktop

iCloud Drive (free up to 5 GB, plans start at $.99/month for 20 GB) is Apple’s answer to Dropbox. It’s a folder than syncs on your Mac. Contents can then be synced to an iOS device or another Mac. It lacks true web access, though.

OneDrive

OneDrive (free up to 15 GB, plans start at $1.99/month for 100 GB) is Microsoft’s answer to Google Drive. It includes Microsoft Office online for free. 1 TB is only $6.99/month and it offers access to Office 365 which includes Office for Mac and unlocks a few features on the iOS apps. It offers selective sync support that is similar to Dropbox, but web access that is similar to Google Drive, so it’s an attractive choice for heavy Office app users.

Synology

If you want to have a bit more control over your files, consider a device like Synology. It’s a network-attached storage device aimed at the prosumer. It offers a lot of great features, but at its core, it’s storing your files and making them available everywhere (web, iOS, etc).

Plex

If the only thing you want to access a Mac remotely for is your media collection, you might consider using Plex as a media manager (movies, TV shows, music, photos, etc). It installs on your Mac, and then you can access it from the web and iOS ($4.99). It handles all of the login management, so there are no router configurations needed. An optional Plex Pass gives you features like syncing offline, camera roll uploads, and cloud sync (backup your media to various cloud services in case your server goes offline).

Conclusion

What Is The Best Remote Access Software For Mac

While remote access to a Mac isn’t as essential as it once was due to multiple options for syncing your files across your various devices at low cost, Screens is the best choice for when you need it. With native apps on Mac and iOS, it offers the most streamlined experience without a subscription. If you have more complex needs or your Mac is behind a corporate firewall, I recommend checking out LogMeIn.

What Is The Best Remote Desktop App For Mac Windows 10

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