How To Remotely View and Control a PC Running Windows 10 Pro on a LAN

This blog post is about how to remotely view and control a PC running Windows 10 Pro on a LAN.

Warning: You’re responsible for using the instructions in this blog post and consequences, no matter how severe. I’ve just written instructions for what I’m doing on my own home network.

Introduction
I’ve made some changes around my home and temporarily a computer is now on a different table and I wish to use that computer remotely across my local area network.

In the past I would’ve used VNC, which I’ve used both in the home and office environment, but I’ve decided to use Microsoft Windows 10’s own remote desktop features and I’m impressed.

How to enable remote desktop sharing in Windows 10

  1. As an administrator in the bottom left area, type ‘remote desktop settings’ and select the ‘System settings’ listing.Remote Desktop settings
  2. Toggle the ‘Enable Remote Desktop’ on if it was turned off and select ‘Confirm’.Screenshot of option to enable remote desktopA screenshot showing the option to confirm the enabling of remote desktop
  3. Then next to ‘Keep my PC awake for connections when it is plugged in’, select ‘Show settings’.
  4. Now under ‘Power & sleep’ select ‘Never’ for the two options.Power & sleep options in Windows 10

If you want to configure the user accounts that can use remote desktop, then on the screen where you toggle remote remote desktop on and off, you scroll down and select ‘User accounts’.

How to remote connect to a Windows 10 PC from a Windows 10 PC!

  1. In the bottom left area type ‘Remote desktop connection’ and open the app.
  2. Type in the name of the computer you wish to connect to.Remote Desktop Connection
  3. Type in the username and password to connect to the PC. *Enter your credentials
  4. You might see a certificate pop-up for the PC you’re wishing to connect to. You then choose to either ‘View certificate…’, ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

* I used an existing account already setup on the PC I’m connecting to.

How to control a Windows 10 PC from an android mobile phone
Using the above instructions to setup the Windows 10 PC to use Microsoft’s own remote desktop feature, I then installed Microsoft’s RD Client via the Google Play Store.

Basic instructions for using Microsoft RD client on android:

  1. Open the RD application on the mobile phone.
  2. Click on the ‘+’ and then select ‘Desktop’. *
  3. If you see the PC you wish to connect to listed, please select it, else select ‘Add manually’ and add the connection details.Edited photo showing desktop detection
  4. Type in the user name and password, then select ‘Connect’.Photo showing a remote logon
    * If you’ve previously logged onto a PC, then you should see a thumbnail image for that PC, which you can select.

Conclusion
I hope you’ve found the simple remote connection instructions helpful. I’m not sure if I will go back to VNC when connecting to a Windows 10 PC on a local area network. For the time being, I’m satisfied with the Microsoft solution.

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