Tools to connect to a remote computer from your phone or laptop have been around for years, but with more and more people working from home, these applications have now gained in popularity.

Most of these offer you a limited free trial. It is a pain when the trial period expires. We rarely want to pay for software online. Unknown to many, there is a free version of remote desktop software within Google’s Chrome browser. It just needs to be activated with an extension and a small app.

Chrome Remote Desktop allows you to set up your computer to securely access a distant computer. There is hardly any interruption during the connection. Setting it up can be a little dreary, but it makes up with its abundance of features.

Instal the tools

To set it up, open Chrome on the computer that will be accessed remotely and go to the Chrome Web Store at https://bit.ly/2SUO6cJ. Look for the Chrome Remote Desktop extension and add it to the browser. Next, go to https://remotedesktop.google.com and download and instal the Chrome Remote Desktop app. You will be asked to sign in to your Google account.

Once the app is installed, give this host computer (the one that you will be accessing remotely) a name. After this, choose a PIN with at least six digits. You will need this PIN to access this computer from another machine.

Now, let us go to the computer (let us call this the guest) from which you will be accessing the host. Here, too, instal the remote desktop extension and the app. Having these in both computers ensures a steady connection. Also, either computer can be used as a guest or a host.

Start a remote connection

Launch Chrome Remote Desktop on the guest computer by going to https://remotedesktop.google.com. Guest and host computers under the same Google account will be shown to you.

Click on the remote host that you just set up and enter its PIN. You will see the host system’s desktop in a new tab on the Chrome browser. You can now control the remote computer with your keyboard and mouse. You will be able to launch programs and work with files as if you were sitting in front of the host computer. A feature I love is that if you play music on the remote computer, it will play on your machine as well.

If you move your mouse to the right edge of the browser screen and click the blue circle with the left arrow, a dock appears with several options to get a better view of the host system.

There is also an option to share items that you copy with Control+C to the clipboard between the two computers. Under “Enable clipboard synchronisation”, just click on Begin.

Get support

You can give a technician or a friend access to your computer if you have been facing problems with your machine. Go to the home screen of the Chrome Remote Desktop (https://remotedesktop.google.com/home) and click on Remote Support on the top. Next, click the button that says Generate Code. You can then share this one-time code with the person who will access your computer.

He or she will then launch Chrome Remote Desktop and click on Remote Support on the home screen. He will then enter the code under Give Support to be able to access your machine.

You can stop a remote session by just closing the tab or by going to Options by clicking on the blue circle with the arrow pointing left and selecting Disconnect.

Chrome Remote Desktop works on Windows, Mac and Linux. The set-up for Linux is slightly different.

This tool is also available on your mobile and tablet. You can download the app from Google Play or from Apple’s App Store. Try it out.

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