Configure preferences for Remote Desktop
Use Remote Desktop preferences to set options that affect how you interact with client computers.
Choose Remote Desktop > Preferences and set any of the options in the tables below.
General pane
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Double-clicking a computer | Choose what double-clicking a computer does (Get Info, Control, Curtain, Observe, Chat). |
Show user idle time in computer status | For each client computer, show how long the currently logged-in user has been idle. |
Accept messages from users | Accept messages from client users. |
When quitting, warn about | Choose what warnings appear when you quit Remote Desktop. |
Display Current User using | Choose whether to display the long or short name for the currently logged-in user. |
Control pane
Option | Description |
|---|---|
When viewing a computer with a larger screen | Choose whether to display an observed screen at its actual size or scaled to fit the control/observe window. |
Scroll the screen | Set screen-scrolling options. |
When controlling a computer | Choose whether to share control of the mouse, trackpad, keyboard, and Clipboard when controlling a client computer. |
Use shared Clipboard | Enable the shared Clipboard between administrator and client computers. |
Remember the setting for each computer | Start with the shared Clipboard, then remember the last state for each computer. |
When connecting to a computer | Choose whether to display an observed screen in a window or full screen. |
Task Server pane
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Use Task Server on this computer | Choose when to store collected report data on a Task Server on this computer. |
Allow remote connections to this server | Choose whether to allow remote connections to the Task Server on this computer. |
Use remote Task Server | Choose when to store collected report data on a Task Server on a remote computer, and set the location of the remote Task Server. |
Reporting pane
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Default Offline Reporting Policy | Set when to create reports. If you have a Task Server set up, it can gather these reports for you to view when the client is offline. |
Upload | Choose the type of report data to upload. |
Labels pane
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Use these labels | Set the text and labels to use for labeling client computers. |
Tasks pane
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Always change focus to active task | Choose when to make the status of the current task always appear in the Remote Desktop window. |
Enable task notification script | Use a script to notify the administrator when a task is completed. |
Limit history shown in sidebar | Set the maximum number of completed tasks to display in the task history list. |
Limit task history | Set the maximum number of days to display in the task history list. |
Security pane
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Allow control of this computer when this app is running | Choose when to allow this computer to be controlled by another computer even while Remote Desktop is running. |
Encrypt network data when using Copy Items | Choose when to encrypt files that are copied between computers using the Copy Items command. |
Encrypt network data when using Install Packages | Choose when to encrypt data transferred between computers using the Install Packages command. |
Allow communication with older clients (less secure) | Choose to allow communication with older clients. Use this option only when you need to access a computer with an older version of the client software because it is less secure. |
Controlling computers | Choose whether to encrypt all data sent over the network, or to encrypt just passwords and keystrokes. |
Non-administrators using this app have | Configure non-administrator user privileges for full access or restricted access (see About Remote Desktop user mode). |
Change Remote Desktop Password | Change your Remote Desktop app password. |