RFDeskby RealFusion Technologies
Remote control, with the other side in control.
See and operate another computer from your browser, the Windows app or your Android phone. The person at that computer approves the connection, chooses what you may see and do, and can take the mouse back at any moment.
- The host approves the connection
- Share the whole screen or just one app
- Nothing to install to connect from a browser
How it works
Three steps, and the last one is theirs.
Step 1
Open RFDesk on the computer you want to reach
It shows a nine-digit ID and a one-time password. Read them out, or send them, to whoever is going to help.
Step 2
Enter the ID and password on your side
In the Windows app, the Android app, or right here in your browser with nothing to install.
Step 3
The person at the computer approves
They see who is asking, choose the whole screen or one app, set what is allowed, and accept. Either side can end the session at any time.
Approval and permissions
The person at the computer decides.
A connection arrives as a request. The person at the computer sees who is asking and decides, with a switch for each thing you might do.
- A request needs the device's ID and password, and then an Allow from the person sitting at it. If nobody answers in time, it is refused. The only exception is unattended access, which the owner has to switch on at the computer with its own password.
- Control, clipboard, file transfer and chat are separate switches.
- They can be changed while the session is running, all the way down to view only.
- The connecting side sees each change straight away.
Share one app only
Show one window, not your whole screen.
When accepting, choose One app only and pick the app. Everything else on the screen stays private.
- The other person sees that app's window and nothing else.
- Their clicks and typing reach only that app.
- Shortcuts that would leave it, such as Alt+Tab and the Windows key, are ignored.
- If the app is closed, the session ends.
You stay in charge
Your mouse always wins.
The person at the computer is never fighting for the pointer, and always knows who is connected.
- While you use your own mouse, the remote mouse is paused. It works again two seconds after you stop.
- The partner's pointer is drawn on your screen in grey, with their name, so you can see where they are.
- A session panel in the corner shows who is connected and for how long. Remote input cannot click it.
- Disconnect ends the session at once.
From any device
Windows, Android or just a browser.
Connect from whatever you have to hand. On a phone, choose how your finger drives the pointer.
- Windows app: share this PC, or control another one.
- Android app: control a computer from your phone, in touch mode (tap where you want to click) or touchpad mode (move a pointer, then tap), with on-screen mouse buttons, a key bar and typing in any language.
- Browser: connect from any modern browser, with nothing to install.
- An Android phone's own screen can also be shared: the other person sees it, and can control it once you give the accessibility permission. An iPhone's screen cannot be shared yet.
Address book
The devices you help, one tap away.
Devices you connect to are remembered, so the next time is quicker.
- Each device gets a card with a preview picture of its screen.
- Star your favourites and give any device a name of your own.
- A tick shows which ones are online right now.
- It is kept on your own device, and passwords are never stored in it.
Chat and files
Talk it through, and copy files both ways.
For the moments when a phone call is not handy, or the fix is a file.
- A text chat between the two sides, inside the session.
- A file manager with your files on one side and theirs on the other: upload, download, rename, new folders.
- The person at the computer is asked before its files are shown. A download that breaks can be resumed.
- Chat and file transfer can each be switched off for a session.
Unattended access
Reach your own computers when nobody is there.
Optional, and off unless you turn it on yourself on that computer.
- It uses its own password, separate from the one-time password.
- You can also require a six-digit code from an authenticator app for it.
- Meant for computers you own or look after.
- Turn it off, or change the password, at any time on that computer.
The computer has to be switched on, signed in to Windows and unlocked. RFDesk cannot sign in to Windows for you.
Updates
Updates are verified before they install.
The Windows app keeps itself current, and checks what it is given.
- New versions are offered inside the app.
- Every update is verified by its signature before it is installed. One that does not verify is refused.
- An update can be marked as required, so older versions update before they connect.
And more
The rest of the toolkit
Tools for the session itself, and for looking after the computers and people you work with.
Invite links
Send a link instead of reading out an ID and password. It works once, for a limited time, and its key never reaches a server. The person at the computer is still asked to accept.
Whiteboard
Draw on the remote screen to point at what you mean. Both sides see the lines, and your pointer controls nothing while you draw.
Sound and voice
Hear what the other computer is playing, and talk over a voice call. A call starts only after the person there agrees.
Session recording
Record a session to a file on your own device from the web viewer. The other side sees a notice for as long as you record. The Windows app does not record.
Remote printing
Print on the remote computer to the RFDesk printer and the document arrives on your side, to print on your own printer or keep as a PDF.
Teams
Share an address book of devices with colleagues, in folders and with tags, with owner, admin and member roles.
My devices
See the computers on your account with their processor, memory and disk, who is signed in, and whether they are online. Connect in one click.
Access rules
Decide per computer who may connect, during which hours and from which networks. The server checks before the computer is even told.
Wake a sleeping computer
Wake a computer over the network (wake-on-LAN) through another of your devices that is online on the same network.
Help page for customers
A team can open a help page at its own link (/help/your-team). A customer says what is wrong there and waits in a queue. A technician then connects in the usual way, and the customer still approves on their own screen.
Company policies and rollout
A team can lock chosen settings on its computers, and install RFDesk on many of them silently with an enrolment key that adds each one to the team.
Support tools
For support work, when control is allowed and the computer offers them: a command line, the list of running programs and a system report. Each monitor of the computer can be opened in its own window.
Privacy mode, which blacks out the remote screen while you work, is for your own computers with unattended access, and only when you have switched it on there.
Security
How a connection is made
Three things happen, in this order. The server only helps the two devices find each other. It never learns the password, and it cannot read or change what travels between the devices.
1The password is proved, not sent
Your device asks the RFDesk server for the other device by its ID. The two devices then prove to each other that they know the password, without sending it or anything it could be guessed from.
2Approval at the computer
The person at the other computer sees who is asking and accepts or declines, choosing what to share and what to allow.
3A direct, encrypted and checked connection
Once accepted, the two devices connect to each other and check each other's encryption certificates against the secret from step one. Only then do screen, input, chat and files flow, and both sides show the same security code.
What you can rely on
- The device password is proved without being sent, and without sending anything it could be guessed from (a password-authenticated key exchange).
- Before anything is shared, the connection's encryption certificates are checked against that secret. RFDesk's own servers cannot read or alter a session.
- Both sides show the same six-digit security code. If the two match, nothing sits in between.
- Each device you connect to is remembered. If it later shows a different identity, you are warned before the connection goes any further.
- The picture is encrypted with AES-256-GCM where both sides support it. The viewer shows which ciphers were actually negotiated.
- Nothing is shared until someone at the computer accepts, unless you have turned on unattended access on it yourself.
- Unattended access can also require a code from an authenticator app, and accounts can use two-step sign-in.
- The session panel on the host cannot be operated by remote input.
- A file is saved only after the person at the computer allows that file.
Get RFDesk
Pick your side of the connection
The computer being reached needs the Windows app. To connect to it, use the Windows app, the Android app, or this website.
RFDesk for Windows
RFDesk for Android
Control a computer from your phone or tablet, with touch and touchpad modes, on-screen mouse buttons and a key bar.
Android app: coming to this page.
In your browser
Connect to a computer that is running RFDesk from any modern browser. Nothing to install, and it works now.
Open the web viewerPlans
Start free. Move up when you need more.
Prices are per account, per month.
Questions
Good to know
Can I connect without reading out an ID and password?
Yes. The person at the computer can make an invite link in the RFDesk app and send it to you. Opening it brings you to the connect page with everything filled in; you press Connect, and they are still asked to accept. The link works once and for a limited time.
Can I copy files, hear sound or record a session?
Yes. The file manager copies files both ways once the person at the computer allows it. You can hear the computer's sound and hold a voice call, which starts only after they agree. The web viewer can record a session to a file on your device, and the other side sees a notice while you do. The Windows app does not record.
Can I limit who is able to connect to my computer?
Yes. For a computer on your account you can set access rules: only listed accounts or devices, only during certain hours, only from certain networks. The server applies them before your computer is even told that someone asked.
Do I need to install anything?
Not to connect: the browser viewer on this site works without an install. The computer being reached needs the RFDesk app for Windows.
Can someone connect to my computer without me knowing?
A connection needs your computer's ID and its password, and then you are asked to accept before anything is shared. The only exception is unattended access, which is off unless you turn it on yourself and give it its own password. While anyone is connected, a panel on your screen shows who it is.
What can the other person do once connected?
Only what you allow. Control, clipboard, file transfer and chat are separate permissions on your side. You can change them during the session, switch to view only, or disconnect at any moment.
Can I share just one app?
Yes. When you accept a request, choose One app only and pick the app. The other person sees that window and nothing else, their input reaches only that app, and the session ends if you close it.
What happens when I use my own mouse during a session?
You have priority. While you are using your mouse the remote mouse is paused, and the other person's pointer is shown on your screen in grey with their name. Two seconds after you stop, their mouse works again.
Is the connection encrypted?
Yes, between the two devices themselves. The picture is encrypted with AES-256-GCM where both sides support it, and the viewer shows which ciphers were actually negotiated. Before anything is shared, each side checks the other's encryption certificate against a secret that only someone who knows the device password can have, so RFDesk's own servers cannot read or alter a session.
Does RFDesk ever see my device password?
No. The two devices prove to each other that they know the password using a password-authenticated key exchange. The password is not sent, and neither is anything it could be guessed from. A wrong password simply fails.
How do I know nobody is in between?
Both sides show the same six-digit security code during a session. If the codes match, nothing sits between the two devices. Each device you connect to is also remembered, and if it later shows a different identity you are warned before the connection continues. That happens after RFDesk is reinstalled on it, but it can also mean someone is impersonating it.
Can I add a second step to signing in?
Yes. An account can switch on two-step sign-in, which asks for a six-digit code from an authenticator app as well as the password, with one-time recovery codes in case the phone is lost. Unattended access on a computer can require an authenticator code too.
Does it work on phones?
You can control a computer from a phone: with the Android app, or from a phone's browser using the web viewer, which has touch gestures, an on-screen keyboard and a key bar. An Android phone's own screen can also be shared: the other person sees it, and can control it once you give the accessibility permission. An iPhone's screen cannot be shared yet.
What is unattended access?
A way to connect to a computer you look after when nobody is there to accept. It is optional, off by default, and uses a separate password that you set on that computer. You can also make it ask for a code from an authenticator app. The computer has to be switched on, signed in to Windows and unlocked.
Can my customers ask for help without an account?
Yes. A team can switch on a help page with its own link. A customer opens it, says what is wrong and waits in a queue; no account is needed. A technician from the team then connects in the usual way, and the customer is still asked to accept on their own screen.
What is kept after a session, and what if one is misused?
The person who connected can write a note on what was done, and the person at the computer can rate the session. If a session was misused, either side can report it as abuse.
How do updates work?
The Windows app is told when a new version is available and offers it inside the app. Before installing, it verifies the update's signature and refuses one that does not verify. The browser viewer needs no updating.
Is there a time limit on sessions?
That depends on your plan and on whether session limits are switched on. When a limit applies to a session, the viewer shows a countdown from the start.
Who makes RFDesk?
RFDesk is a product of RealFusion Technologies Private Limited.
Have an ID and a password?
Connect from this browser now, or get the app for the computer you want to reach.