Access another computer with Chrome Remote Desktop

You can use a computer or mobile device to access files and applications on another computer with Chrome Remote Desktop.

On your computer, Chrome Remote Desktop is available on the web. To use your mobile device for remote access, download the Chrome Remote Desktop app.

Tip: As an administrator, you control user access with Chrome Remote Desktop. Learn how to control use of Chrome Remote Desktop.

Set up remote access to your computer

You can set up remote access to your Mac, Windows or Linux computer.

On your computer, open Chrome.
In the address bar, enter remotedesktop.google.com/access.
Under 'Set up remote access', click Download .
Follow the on-screen directions to download and install Chrome Remote Desktop.

You may have to enter your computer password to give Chrome Remote Desktop access. You may also be prompted to change security settings in Preferences.

Learn more about how to use Chrome Remote Desktop on Linux.

Share your computer with someone else

You can give others remote access to your computer. They’ll have full access to your apps, files, emails, documents and history.

On your computer, open Chrome.
In the address bar at the top, enter remotedesktop.google.com/support and press Enter.
Under 'Get support', click Download .
Follow the on-screen directions to download and install Chrome Remote Desktop.
Under 'Get Support', select Generate Code.
Copy the code and send it to the person that you want to have access to your computer.
When that person enters your access code on the site, you'll see a dialogue with their email address. Select Share to allow them full access to your computer.
To end a sharing session, click Stop Sharing.

The access code will only work once. If you are sharing your computer, you will be asked to confirm that you want to continue to share your computer every 30 minutes.

Access a computer remotely

On your computer, open Chrome.
In the address bar at the top, enter remotedesktop.google.com/access and press Enter.
Click Access to select which computer you want.
Enter the PIN required to access another computer.
Select the arrow to connect.

For your security, all remote desktop sessions are fully encrypted.

Stop a remote session

When you’ve finished, close your tab to stop your session. You can also select Options Disconnect.

Remove a computer from your list

On your computer, open Chrome.
In the address bar at the top, enter remotedesktop.google.com/access and press Enter.
Next to the computer that you want to remove, click Disable remote connections .

Give remote support

If someone has shared their remote access code with you, you can remotely offer support.
On your computer, open Chrome.
In the address bar at the top, enter remotedesktop.google.com/support and press Enter.
Enter the code under 'Give support' and click Connect.

Use Chrome Remote Desktop on Linux

Step 1: Install the Debian package for the host components

Download the 64-bit Debian package here.

Step 2: Allow remote connections

Go to the 'Set up remote access to your computer' section above.

Step 3 (Optional): Customise your virtual desktop session

When you first connect, you'll get a default session chooser where you can select your desktop environment. If you always want to launch a specific desktop environment:

In /usr/share/xsessions/, find the .desktop file for your preferred desktop environment. In the file, you'll find a line that starts with Exec= with the command that you need to start the session.
- For example, Cinnamon has a file named cinnamon.desktop. In some versions, the file might have the command: gnome-session --session=cinnamon.
Create a file called .chrome-remote-desktop-session in your home directory with the content: exec /etc/X11/Xsession '<YOUR_EXEC_COMMAND>'.
Replace <YOUR_EXEC_COMMAND> with the command at the end of your .desktop file.
- In the example for Cinnamon, the correct command is exec /etc/X11/Xsession 'gnome-session --session=cinnamon'.
Save the file called $HOME/.chrome-remote-desktop-session. You'll find this change the next time that you restart the Chrome Remote Desktop host.
The virtual desktop session is created and .chrome-remote-desktop-session starts when Chrome Remote Desktop starts.

Tip: Your desktop environment may not support more than one session at a time. In this case, we recommend that you use different desktop environments for your Chrome Remote Desktop session and your local session, or use the session chooser.

If you use the session chooser, we recommend that you sign out of the desktop environment in Chrome Remote Desktop or your local session before you sign in to the same desktop environment on the other.

Remove Chrome Remote Desktop

Windows

On each computer where you want to remove Chrome Remote Desktop access, remove the app:
1. Go to Control panel Programs Add/remove programs.
2. Find the 'Chrome Remote Desktop' application.
3. Click Remove.

Mac

On each computer where you want to remove Chrome Remote Desktop access, uninstall the app:
1. Find the 'Chrome Remote Desktop host uninstaller' application.
2. Launch the uninstaller and click Uninstall

Troubleshooting tips

If you're having problems with Chrome Remote Desktop, try these tips:

You need to be connected to the Internet to share or access a computer. If the page won't open, check your computer’s network settings.
Anti-virus software might prevent you from using Chrome Remote Desktop. If you are having problems using Chrome Remote Desktop, make sure that your anti-virus allows the following:
- Outbound UDP traffic
- Inbound UDP responses
- Traffic on TCP port 443 (HTTPS)
- Traffic on TCP and UDP on port 3478 (STUN)
If the computer being accessed is on a work or school network, it might not let you give others access. For more information, contact your administrator.
If you’re on a managed account, your administrator may control your access to Chrome Remote Desktop. Learn how Chrome Remote Desktop is managed.
Make sure that you're using the latest version of Chrome or Chrome OS.

If you have any other issues, please report them in the Chrome Help forum.

Improve Chrome Remote Desktop

To learn how to improve Chrome Remote Desktop, Google collects and stores some anonymised data about network delays and how long your session lasted.

To learn more about Chrome Remote Desktop, view our Google Privacy Policy.

Related resources

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