Using the remote control viewer (legacy)

IMPORTANT: Legacy and HTML remote control support was discontinued after version 2021.1.

Use the remote control viewer to remotely access a device. You can only remote control devices that have the remote control agent installed. During a remote control session, the remote device actually has two users—you and the end user. You can do anything at the remote device that the user sitting at it can do.

If the device agent has been configured to do so (in the device's agent configuration), you can also require the user to give permission before each new session can be initiated.

Once the connection is established, the Remote status icon appears in the top left corner of the user's window.

This alerts the user that their machine is being remote controlled. The user can right-click the icon to end the session at any time, to see if it is still active, to find out who is remote controlling it, etc.

You can do more than just remote control a device from the viewer window. Once the viewer connects to a device, you can choose from these tasks on the Toolbar.

  • Connect/Disconnect: Initiate or end a remote control session. You can also do this from the viewer window's menu by clicking File > Start Connection (C) or Stop Connection (T).
  • Start/Stop viewing: Display or hide the remote device's screen in the remote control viewer.
  • Chat: Remotely chat with a user at a remote device.
  • File transfer: Remotely transfer files to and from your computer to another device. In essence, this works as though you've mapped a drive to remote device.
  • Reboot: Remotely reboot a device.
  • Draw: Displays drawing tools you can use to draw on the remote screen. In the remote control window, click Tools > Draw.

You can perform multiple viewer tasks on a device at the same time. When you activate a viewer task, the interface for that task appears in the viewer window.

The toolbar also lets you control how the remote device appears on your screen. For example:

  • Full remote screen: Use this option to completely fill your local monitor with the remote device’s screen. If the remote screen's resolution exceeds yours, Autoscroll (see below) may be necessary unless you have enabled the Fit to screen option.
  • Fit to screen: Since the viewer window may not be as big as the remote device's screen, you can use this to dynamically make the user's screen fit within the viewable area on your monitor.

  • Multi-monitors: If the remote user has more than one monitor, this button will be activated automatically, allowing you to quickly switch between monitors (up to 8) in your Remote window. You can minimize or resize any of the remote monitors to make them easier to work with inside of your Remote control window.

    If you select the All option, all monitors will be automatically resized so they all fit within the remote control viewer window. You can then select and drag to resize any monitors to make them easier to work with.

The toolbar also includes a Run option, which lets you browse to and run an executable program on the remote device.

You can use the Autoscroll feature (Tools > Options > Change settings > Allow autoscroll) to scroll up, down, and side to side. Autoscroll automatically scrolls the window as the mouse pointer approaches the viewer window's edge.

You can also increase the viewer window's displayable area by disabling items in the View menu, such as connection messages, the toolbar, or the status bar.

If you want to speed up the viewing rate or change the viewer window settings, use the options on the Optimize button on the toolbar.