Getting started

The computer that is going to be seen or controlled needs the RFDesk app. Get it from the download page and install it there.

The person who connects does not have to install anything: the connect page of this website works in any modern browser. The RFDesk app can connect too.

Open RFDesk on the computer you want to reach. It shows two things: Your ID, a nine-digit number such as 123 456 789, and a One-time password.

• The ID is not a secret. It is only this computer's number in RFDesk.
• The password is a secret. Give it only to a person you chose to get help from.
• A connection made with the one-time password always needs your approval on this computer. This cannot be turned off.
• With New password after each session switched on in the app's settings, a password that was shared once stops working when that session ends.

You do not have to read out the ID and password. In the app, choose Invite someone, pick how long the link should work (15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour or 24 hours) and press Make a link. Send the link to the person who will help.

• The link works once, until the time shown.
• Opening it brings the other person to the connect page with everything filled in. They press Connect.
• You are still asked to allow the connection.
• The one-time key is in the part of the link after the # sign, which is not sent to any server.
• Cancel invitations withdraws every link you have made.

1. Open the connect page.
2. Type the nine-digit RFDesk ID of the other computer. Pasting an ID with spaces works too.
3. Type the Password shown on that computer.
4. Press Connect. The page shows each step: reaching the server, finding the device, waiting for approval, connecting the two devices and checking the connection.
5. When the remote screen appears, click it to start controlling.

The password never leaves your browser. The two devices prove to each other that they know it, without sending it. A wrong password simply fails.

The RFDesk app connects in the same way: enter the ID of the other device and its password, then press Connect. An invite link can be pasted into the app as well.

Devices you have connected to are remembered in your address book, without their passwords, so the ID does not have to be typed again.

The connection arrives on the other computer as a Connection request. It shows who is asking: the name, the account if they are signed in, and their network address. A countdown runs, and with no answer the request is declined.

Before accepting, the person at the computer chooses:

• Whole screen or One app only. With one app, you see only that app's window, your clicks and typing reach only that app, and the session ends if the app is closed.
• Control mouse and keyboard: off means you can only watch.
• Clipboard: whether copied text may pass between the two sides.
• File transfer: whether files may be copied.

Then they press Allow or Decline. Nothing is shared before they allow it.

• A panel on the other computer's screen shows who is connected and for how long. It cannot be clicked from your side.
• The person at the computer can change what you may do at any time. When control is off, your side shows View only.
• Their mouse comes first. While they use it yours is paused, and it works again two seconds after they stop.
• Either side can end the session at any moment with Disconnect.
• If your plan limits how long a session may last, the viewer shows the time left from the start.

The toolbar of the browser viewer has Files, Chat, Session tools, Display options and Connection security. See Files, Sound and calls, Monitors and Whiteboard.