Imagine that you are working on your home Windows PC and you have the need to access a file or start an application located on the work PC. This is a situation that could happen often and you would like to be able to access all your computers wherever you are.
Provided that the PC you want to access is on, know that it is now possible to do the above. To control Windows PC remotely, you can use the Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) feature in Windows.
With Remote Desktop Connection you can remotely access many PCs on the same network. It is also possible to access PCs that are connected to different networks via the Internet, but some firewall knowledge and port forwarding are required.
For the purposes of this article, I will show you how to access and control Windows PC connected to the same network remotely. Let’s see how to do it.
Control Windows PC remotely
To make the first configuration you must have physical access to all Windows PCs. The operations that follow will have to be performed on the PC to which you want to access remotely.
- On the Windows PC, log in to the Control Panel.
- Through the search box in the upper right corner search remote.
- From the search results, click on Allow remote access to the computer.
- A new window will appear. Go to the Remote Connection tab and, under the Remote Assistance section, select Allow Remote Assistance connections to the computer.
Apply all changes and confirm by pressing the OK button. At this point, the remote PC is correctly configured.
The next steps will need to be done on the PC you will use to access the remote computer.
- On the PC with windows installed, press the Win + R keys at the same time.
- Type mstsc.exe and confirm to start the Remote Desktop Connection application.
- In the Computer field, enter the name or IP address of the computer you want to access. If you do not know the IP address of the remote PC, I suggest you read Microsoft’s suggestions by accessing this page (the IP address must be verified on the remote PC and not the one from which you are performing these steps).
- Now select Show options on the lower left.
- Enter the username and password of the account you will use to login. Username and password must be those of the account used on the PC you want to access.
- Click Connect to start the connection. Enter the password when requested.
At this point, you will be connected and you will be able to control Windows PC remotely. You will be able to run applications, open and work with documents. At the top of the screen, there will be a blue bar with various options. The bar will disappear after a few seconds, but will reappear by moving the mouse upwards.
Conclusions
Microsoft wanted to make the system to control Windows PC remotely with a very simple operation. Just a few clicks and you are able to access another PC connected to the same network.
After logging in, you can access several advanced options to better configure PC sharing. If you want to use any third party application then I suggest you read our article on TeamViewer. If you have any problems with this guide, please do not hesitate to contact us via the comments at the end of this article.