How to share your desktop for remote support with Chrome Remote Desktop
When all other remote screen sharing solutions fail, you can always go to the Chrome Remote Desktop to help an end-user solve a problem. How Jack Wallen shows you.
Sometimes we just need the help of our computer. And while many people still work from a distance, that help can be a challenge. This is especially true for employees who prefer Chromebooks or other desktops that do not support TeamViewer or AnyDesk.
Views: Keyboard Troubleshooting Guide (Free PDF) (TechiePublic)
If you find yourself in such a situation, you can always go to Chrome Remote Desktop. While this platform isn’t nearly as supportive as anything else (e.g., it doesn’t allow remote support people to take control of the desktop, it’s a difficult option when nothing else works.
Just be warned that working with Chrome Remote Desktop means that remote support should guide end-users through troubleshooting (not doing it themselves). However, for a free solution, Chrome Remote Desktop should not be turned off as a non-starter.
That said, let’s find out how this tool is used.
What you will need
To work with Chrome Remote Desktop, you’ll need two systems, both a desktop and a web browser. You will also need both machines to be logged into a Google Account (they do not need to be logged into the same account). I’m going to show a Chromebook (running ChromeOS 101.0.4951.6) and Pop! _OS Linux. However, you can do this on any platform (including macOS and Windows).
How to install Chrome Remote Desktop
The steps to install Chrome Remote Desktop will vary depending on which browser you use. From your preferred browser (whether it’s Chrome or Firefox), visit https://remotedesktop.google.com on both machines. You will be prompted to install Chrome Remote Desktop on the device (Figure A)
Figure A
Click Install and then, when requested, click Install again. If you use Linux, it will download a file to your local storage that you must install. On an Ubuntu-based system, the installation process goes something like this:
- Open a terminal window.
- Make changes to the download directory with it
cd ~/Downloads. - Install the software with
sudo dpkg -i chrome-remote*.deb -y. - Installation error will be out. To fix this, issue the command
sudo apt-get install -f.
How to use Chrome Remote Desktop
Go back to remotedesktop.google.com for the machine you want to access. From that page, click Generate Code in the Share this screen section (Figure B)
Figure B
Once the code is generated, go to another machine, go to remotedesktop.google.com, type the access code under Connect to Other Computer and click Connect (Figure C)
Figure C
Back to the remote machine, you will be asked to allow remote user access to the system (Figure d)
Figure d
Click SHARE and the remote screen will be shared with the local user. At this point, you can see what’s happening on the remote desktop, so you can go through end-user issues.
When you’re done with the remote screen, click the end-user in their system tray and then pause (Figure e) To end the session.
Figure e
This is not an ideal solution for remote support, but in a pinch, Google’s platform must pull when other tools may not work or may not be available.
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