Are you looking for the best remote access software in 2022? No worries let’s start! IT experts can use remote administration tools to debug remotely. You can execute computer maintenance activities from a distance. There are a lot of remote software tools on the market, so picking the right one for your project might be difficult.
Here’s a selected list of the best remote access software, screen sharing software, and remote desktop software (RDP) applications, complete with popular features and download links. This list covers both commercial and open-source (free) best remote access software.
The Best Remote Access Software
When you need to work on a computer across town or on another continent, how do you get from here to there? These remote access apps, which came out on top in our tests, do the job. Who Needs best remote access software in the First Place? Have you ever been in a meeting at another company’s office and realized that the PowerPoint presentation you were going to wow them with is on your computer at home?
Have you ever tried to assist your parents, who live half a nation away, in figuring out why their computer won’t open a file? These are the kinds of scenarios that remote access software is designed to manage. Best remote access software allows you to access your home or office computer from a different location or give people access to some or all of your data as if they were sitting in front of your computer rather than somewhere else.
Some are designed specifically for personal use, while others, with their extensive security protocols and granular menus, are more suited for business settings. Many even allow you to use your phone or handheld device to access a remote PC. Here, we’ll explain what the best remote access software is and why it could be a good fit for your increasingly mobile lifestyle.
What Is the best remote access software and How Does It Work?
Best remote access software allows one computer to monitor or control another computer from anywhere in the world, not just across a network. You may use it to enter your customers’ PCs and show them how to run an application or troubleshoot their computer issues. You may also use it to allow friends or clients to view your desktop as you demonstrate something to them. You can draw lines and circles on the screen as a temporary whiteboard to help friends or clients comprehend what you’re doing on your or their PC.
Get the Best Offers on Remote Access Software
- RemotePC offers a one-year two-PC plan for $3.95 (regularly $39.50).
- LogMeIn 14-Day Free Pro Trial
- Splashtop offers a free 7-day trial.
You can also transmit data between two PCs utilizing best remote access software instead of email or file-sharing services. You can print a file stored on someone else’s machine to a printer connected to your own machine via remote access. Remote access software can give you access to your tech-challenged relatives’ computers so you can fix their mistakes or remove spyware.
It’s considerably easier to get behind the wheel than it is to try to guide someone through the process of troubleshooting their computer. Your high-tech coworkers can use it to communicate with each other in real-time about difficult projects, with text or voice chat in some apps. This is how it works:
Help Desks Aren’t the Only Places to Look
The best remote access software is commonly used by corporate help desks, but it can be handy for everyone.
It’s something I utilize for three reasons:
- First, instead of coming out to make a house call, I can provide tech help to friends by simply signing in to their machines.
- Second, I may log in to my home or office PC while on the road and search for and see an old file that I haven’t saved to a file-sharing site like Dropbox or Google Drive.
- Third, I may invite friends or colleagues to join me in editing documents in a more basic manner, with easier communication than other online collaboration methods like Office 365’s real-time editing features or Google Docs.
Whether or not you agree with me, having remote access is a good thing. You may have different reasons for needing it, but it is still good.
I looked at five remote access apps that may be used to connect any Windows or macOS system anywhere in the world. Aside from these third-party tools, Microsoft offers its free Microsoft Remote Desktop software, which allows you to access Windows PCs from other Windows machines, mobile devices, or a Mac, but not from a Mac to a Windows machine.
Except for the “Starter” and “Home” editions of Windows, which need a third-party tool, Microsoft’s app allows you to access any Windows version dating back to Windows 7. Apple’s $79.99 Apple Remote Desktop program allows you to connect to other Macs, but it only works with Macs running OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion or later.
When I want to run a program on a Windows desktop in another room in the same house, I use Microsoft Remote Desktop from my Mac laptop, but only a full-fledged third-party remote access app lets me take full control of any system, anywhere—if the machine’s owner wants to let me in.
Concerns about security
When considering employing the best remote access software, one of the first questions you may have is whether it is secure. If you’ve had a PC for a long time, you might recall pcAnywhere, which used to be the remote access software of choice for practically everyone. In 2014, Symantec bought pcAnywhere from its original developer and stopped supporting it. Customers were told not to use it.
Other remote access manufacturers have disclosed security breaches, but these appear to be the result of customers using the same passwords for their remote access software as they did for hacking websites—always a terrible idea. Some remote access apps let you use low-security settings if you like, but they all encourage you to use high-security settings, and our Editors’ Choice products, GoToMyPC and TeamViewer, won’t let you get around their security measures.
What Benefits Does Remote Access Software Provide?
We put the best remote access software to the test by installing it on four different machines: a Windows 10 and Windows 7 desktop, a Windows 7 laptop, and a Mac laptop running macOS. For each vendor, we also downloaded their iOS-based mobile-access app. I wouldn’t try to run my desktop machine from a phone or small-screen tablet unless I had to.
The core functionality of all the remote access apps we tested is the same. They provide remote access to another machine that already has the app’s server software installed; this remote access might take the form of full control or simply passive viewing of the other system.
All have a shared clipboard (which is optional in some situations) so that text or images copied to one machine’s clipboard can be transferred into the other. There is a text-based chat option on all of them. Each software has a typical two-pane file management interface that allows you to move files.
Drag and drop files between the local desktop and the viewer window that displays the remote machine’s desktop are available in GoToMyPC and LogMeIn, but only when connecting to and from Windows PCs. You can drag files that will be accessible on both PCs into TeamViewer’s FileBox interface.
LogMeIn, TeamViewer, and VNC Connect have whiteboard features that allow you to draw lines in the viewer. If you want to find out about the features of each remote access app, check out the individual reviews below.
Which Remote Access App Is Right for You?
Although all of these best remote access software allows multiple users to log in to a remote machine, we concentrated on remote access software developed primarily for one-to-one connections. If you need complex conferencing tools like a whiteboard, you’ll have to search elsewhere, albeit LogMeIn does have a whiteboard function that makes it useful as a basic collaboration tool.
Some of the remote access app suppliers we examined also have a specialist video conferencing app with a similar interface to the remote access apps. GoToMeeting, for example, is a conferencing version of GoToMyPC; Splashtop Business Access includes Splashtop Classroom; and TeamViewer includes Blizz.
These programs have a wide range of security features. If you desire, some make it easy to offer access in a straightforward manner. Others ask you to punch in passwords multiple times and verify your email address before you can accomplish anything meaningful. All of them allow you to adjust security to differing degrees, so go over the options that you’ll be comfortable with.
You don’t need remote access software if you’re a complete recluse who never leaves the room. It will help if you often act as the IT person for your family and coworkers, if you need to connect to other computers for your business, or if you need to connect to your own PCs while on the road.
