Control or observe one client computer with Remote Desktop

• In Remote Desktop , select a computer list in the sidebar of the main window, select one or more computers, then choose Interact > Control or Interact > Observe.

  If more than one user on the client computer has control and observe privileges enabled, you can choose the currently logged-in user, or any other user.

When you’re viewing a screen with a larger window, the settings in the Control & Observe pane of Remote Desktop preferences determine how the screen scrolls. For information, see Configure preferences.

If your Remote Desktop preferences are set to share keyboard, trackpad, or mouse control, the remote computer’s keyboard, trackpad, or mouse are active and affect the computer just as the administrator’s do. If your preferences aren’t set to share control, the remote computer’s keyboard, trackpad, or mouse don’t function while the administrator computer is in control.

You can switch from controlling to observing a single client.

• In Remote Desktop , click in the toolbar of the main window.

  If the button is selected, you’re controlling the client computer. Otherwise, you’re observing.

When you’re controlling a computer, you can either take complete control of the keyboard, trackpad, or mouse or share control with a remote user.

• In Remote Desktop , click in the toolbar of the main window.

  This button has no effect when you’re controlling computers running non-Apple VNC software. For information, see Set up a computer running VNC software.

You can lock a computer’s screen while controlling it to prevent the user from seeing what you’re doing.

• In Remote Desktop , click of the main window or choose Interact > Lock Screen, then enter a message to display when the screen is locked.

You can take a picture of the remote screen, and save it to a file on the administrator computer. The file has the same resolution and color depth as the controlled screen.

• In Remote Desktop , click in the toolbar of the main window, then enter a name for the file.

When controlling or observing a client, you can see the client window full-size, or scaled to fit the control window.

• In Remote Desktop , click in the toolbar of the main window.

When you’re controlling a client computer, you can transfer data between the Clipboards of the administrator and client computers. Using the shared Clipboard, you can:

• Copy text and images from documents on one computer and paste them into documents on the other

• Select and drag text and images from one computer to the other

• Copy a link from your web browser and paste it into a web browser on the remote computer

• Select and drag text from a document on one computer and drop it on the desktop of the other computer to create a clipping

The keyboard shortcuts for Copy, Cut, and Paste are always passed through to the client computer.

1. In Remote Desktop , do one of the following:

   • To automatically share the Clipboard between the administrator and client computer, click in the toolbar of the main window.

   • To transfer the contents of the client computer’s Clipboard to your Clipboard, click in the toolbar of the main window.

   • To transfer the contents of your Clipboard to the client computer’s Clipboard, click in the toolbar of the main window.

When controlling or observing a client computer with more than one display, you can view both displays (side-by-side in one window) or one display.

• In Remote Desktop , click in the toolbar of the main window to change which display to view.

When controlling or observing a client, you can adjust the quality of the images on the screen.

• In Remote Desktop , drag the slider in the toolbar of the main window to the left to reduce image quality, or to the right to increase image quality.