This guide will show you step by step how to make a Remote Desktop connection from your iPhone or iPad to your Windows computer so you can control it remotely.
This is a two part process – first you have to enable (or confirm that it’s enabled already) the Remote Desktop service on your Windows PC, and then install and setup the Remote Desktop app on your iPhone or iPad. Let’s jump right in – first pick your version of Windows – Windows 7 or Windows 10.
Enable Remote Desktop in Windows>
Windows 7
- The first thing you’ll need to do is set Windows to accept Remote Desktop connections. In Windows 7 right-click on the Computer icon on your desktop or from the Start Menu and click on Properties.
- Then under Control Panel Home click on Remote Settings.
- The Remote tab should be selected and under Remote Desktop, click to allow connections either from computers running any version of Remote Desktop or ones with Network Level Authentication then click OK.
- Now that you’ve enabled Remote Desktop, jump down to the Setup Remote Desktop on the iPhone/iPad section.
Windows 10
- Enabling Remote Desktop support in Windows 10 is remarkably simple. Open the Settings and select System
- First, select Remote Desktop from the column on the left side of the Settings window. Then toggle the Enable Remote Desktop switch to ON. You’ll also want to make note of the “PC name” found in the How to connect to this PC section.
- Now that you’ve enabled Remote Desktop, jump down to the Setup Remote Desktop on the iPhone/iPad section.
Setup Remote Desktop on the iPhone/iPad
- Now that you’ve enabled support for Remote Desktop on your Windows computer, it’s time to setup your iPhone (or iPad).
- Download and install Remote Desktop Mobile on your device from the App Store. Open it up once the installation has completed.
- When you’re prompted to grant permission to RD Client to find and connect to devices on your network, tap OK
- Now you’ll need to grant permission for RD Client to access some of the hardware on your device. Tap the Continue button to continue.
- First up is Bluetooth – tap OK
- Next up it’s the Camera – again, tap OK
- Finally – the Microphone – and you guessed it, tap OK
- Now you’ll be presented with a (currently blank) list of PCs that you can make remote connections with. Let’s add one – tap the + (plus sign) button found in the upper-right corner of the app screen.
- Select Add PC from the options.
- Tap inside of the PC Name field (where it says “Hostname or IP Address”)
- Enter the name of the PC (if it’s on your local network) or IP address in the space provided and then tap the return ‘key’ on the iOS on-screen keyboard.
- Back on the Add PC screen, select User Account
- Select Add User Account
- First enter the username and password that you use to sign into the Windows PC in the space provided, and then tap the Friendly Name item.
- Enter a descriptive name for the username you just entered. Although this step isn’t mandatory, it can be helpful identifying different accounts for the same Remote Desktop connection. Tap the “back” button ( < ) found in the upper-left corner of the app screen (see screenshot below)
- Tap the Save button found in the upper-right corner of the app screen.
- With your username all configured, tap the “back” button ( < ) found in the upper-left corner of the app screen (see screenshot below) to return to the main Add PC window.
- In the GENERAL section locate the item titled Friendly Name and select it.
- Enter a descriptive name for the Windows PC that you’re connecting to – eg. “living room desktop” or “moms laptop” and then use the ‘back’ arrow to return to the previous screen.
- Finally, tap the Save button.
- Now you’ll have an entry in the PCs list – tap it to start the connection.
- Give Remote Desktop a moment to make the connection…
- Ta-da! You’ll be presented with the desktop of the remote computer. Select the ‘keyboard’ button from the top row.
- This will bring up the ‘virtual’ keyboard for Windows. Use this to enter commands in Windows etc.
- That’s it! You’re all done. In the future when you want to re-connect to that PC you won’t need to go through all those steps again – you’ll just have to tap the icon in the PCs list.
I would like to do the following without an Internet connection, making a wifi from laptop to iPhone 6s ….. Please help
Remoting a desktop required me to input a network password. Where can I check that in my settings? thanks