If you like to use your Mac computer as your main machine, but still need Windows for occasional tasks, then it might be useful to setup remote desktop so that you can connect from your Mac to your PC remotely.
Luckily, Microsoft provides all the parts for remote desktop to work properly between a Mac and a PC. In this article, I’m going to walk you through the steps for setting up remote desktop on a Mac and PC.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Download
Setup Remote Desktop Assistant on PC
The first thing you’ll need to do is setup remote desktop assistant on your PC. This program will basically enable remote desktop, open the ports in the firewall and configure anything else that is required for remote desktop.
Nov 27, 2017 Use Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac to connect to a remote PC or virtual apps and desktops made available by your admin. With Microsoft Remote Desktop, you can be productive no matter where you are. Dec 29, 2019 When I try to access the laptop share from the tower I cannot as it rejects the username &/or password combination, just like it does in Remote Desktop. When I try and access the tower share from the laptop it will work with the truncated local user name “short username”, & my Microsoft.
When you download the file and run it, it’ll ask for your permission to connect to the Internet to download all the setup files. Once you approve that and the program is installed, go ahead and run it.
It’s a very simple and straight-forward program. All you do is click Get Started and it will change a few settings on your PC so that the computer can accept incoming remote desktop connections. Once completed, it will show you a summary and give you the option to scan a QR code (if using a mobile device like an iPad), copy the info to the clipboard or save the connection as a file, which you can open on another computer.
Once you have the info you need, go ahead and close the window. It’s worth noting that if you want to connect to your computer from outside the local network, you’ll have to open the ports on the router manually and forward those ports to your PC. You’ll also have to setup dynamic DNS so that you can use a DNS name rather than your public IP address, which changes often, to connect. It’s definitely more complicated, but totally doable.
Setup Remote Desktop on Mac
Now that you are setup on the PC side, it’s time to get remote desktop installed on your Mac. You’ll want to go to the App Store and search for remote desktop. The first app should be Microsoft Remote Desktop.
Click the Get button and once downloaded, click the Open button. The main screen is just a couple of buttons across the top: New, Start, Edit, Preferences and Remote Resources.
Does Microsoft Remote Desktop Work With Mac
Click on the New button to start a new remote desktop connection. Here you will type in all the information that was listed out on the PC when you setup remote desktop assistant.
Give your connection a name, type in the IP address under PC Name, configure a gateway if required and then type in the credentials for the remote PC. Note that the PC will need to have an account with a password in order for all this to work. If the account doesn’t have a password, you won’t be able to connect.
Also, to save the connection, you just have to press the red X button at the top left of the screen. For some odd reason, there is no Add and Save button on the dialog. However, once you click the X, you’ll see the new connection listed.
Click on it and then click on Start to connect to the remote PC. You’ll probably see a warning about the certificate not being verified, which is OK. Just click Continue to make the connection.
That’s about it! After a few moments, the PC desktop should load full screen onto your Mac. If you need to make any changes to the connection, just select it and click on Edit. Also, you can click on Preferences to add a gateway or to specify the display resolution manually. If you have any trouble, let us know in the comments. Enjoy!
Bonus: If you use Google Chrome a lot, you might be interested in knowing that you can access any PC (Linux, Mac, Windows) remotely using just the Chrome Remote Desktop extension from Google.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Client For Mac
-->Applies to: Windows 10, Windows Server 2016
When you connect to your PC by using a Remote Desktop client, you're creating a peer-to-peer connection. This means you need direct access to the PC (sometimes called 'the host'). If you need to connect to your PC from outside of the network your PC is running on, you need to enable that access. You have a couple of options: use port forwarding or set up a VPN.
Enable port forwarding on your router
Port forwarding simply maps the port on your router's IP address (your public IP) to the port and IP address of the PC you want to access.
Specific steps for enabling port forwarding depend on the router you're using, so you'll need to search online for your router's instructions. For a general discussion of the steps, check out wikiHow to Set Up Port Forwarding on a Router.
Microsoft Remote Desktop For Mac
Before you map the port you'll need the following:
PC internal IP address: Look in Settings > Network & Internet > Status > View your network properties. Find the network configuration with an 'Operational' status and then get the IPv4 address.
Your public IP address (the router's IP). There are many ways to find this - you can search (in Bing or Google) for 'my IP' or view the Wi-Fi network properties (for Windows 10).
Port number being mapped. In most cases this is 3389 - that's the default port used by Remote Desktop connections.
Admin access to your router.
Warning
You're opening your PC up to the internet - make sure you have a strong password set for your PC.
After you map the port, you'll be able to connect to your host PC from outside the local network by connecting to the public IP address of your router (the second bullet above).
The router's IP address can change - your internet service provider (ISP) can assign you a new IP at any time. To avoid running into this issue, consider using Dynamic DNS - this lets you connect to the PC using an easy to remember domain name, instead of the IP address. Your router automatically updates the DDNS service with your new IP address, should it change.
Does Microsoft Remote Desktop Work With Mac Os
With most routers you can define which source IP or source network can use port mapping. So, if you know you're only going to connect from work, you can add the IP address for your work network - that lets you avoid opening the port to the entire public internet. If the host you're using to connect uses dynamic IP address, set the source restriction to allow access from the whole range of that particular ISP.
Does Microsoft Remote Desktop Work With Mac Computer
You might also consider setting up a static IP address on your PC so the internal IP address doesn't change. If you do that, then the router's port forwarding will always point to the correct IP address.
Use a VPN
If you connect to your local area network by using a virtual private network (VPN), you don't have to open your PC to the public internet. Instead, when you connect to the VPN, your RD client acts like it's part of the same network and be able to access your PC. There are a number of VPN services available - you can find and use whichever works best for you.