Remote Desktop Tips: Screen Quality, Shortcuts and Working Comfortably

After a few sessions, the novelty of controlling another computer wears off and the small irritations take over. Text that looks slightly soft. Shortcuts that do the wrong thing. A second monitor you cannot find. These are all fixable, and a few settings and habits make a remote session feel almost like sitting at the machine.

Getting a sharper picture

The picture in a remote session is a live video of the remote screen. Its sharpness depends on four things:

• The network. A steady connection lets the stream keep detail. A struggling one lowers quality to stay responsive.
• The remote resolution. A very high resolution is scaled down to fit your window, which can make text look tiny and soft.
• Your window size. The closer your window is to the real resolution, the less scaling blurs the text.
• Motion. A still desktop is crisp. A scrolling web page is harder to keep sharp.

If text is hard to read, try making the viewing window larger, reduce the remote resolution, or increase the text size on the remote computer. Our guide on speeding up a slow remote desktop goes deeper into the network side.

Keyboard shortcuts that go to the wrong place

A classic annoyance is pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete, Alt+Tab or the Windows key and seeing your own computer react, not the remote one. Operating systems grab certain combinations for themselves before any program sees them. There are three ways to deal with that.

1. Use the session's own controls. In PeerFlow remote desktop, keys that your system would otherwise swallow can be handled from within the session; check the session's menu for the options in your version.
2. Capture the keyboard. When the desktop app captures the keyboard in a session, most shortcuts go to the remote computer. A visible hint tells you how to get your keyboard back.
3. Use the mouse-based route. If a combination refuses to travel, open the same function through menus.

Windows deliberately blocks remote input into the lock screen and into programs that run as administrator. That is a safeguard, not a bug. If you need to work in such a program, ask the person at the remote computer to start it normally or to help you.

Copy and paste, the quiet time-saver

Typing long strings by hand is slow and error-prone. Send text across instead. See copy, paste and file transfer tips for the full routine.

Working with several monitors

Many office computers have two or three screens. In a session you see one at a time, or all in a shrunk view, depending on what you choose. Pick the monitor that holds the program you need, and switch when you need another. If the picture is too small, share a single monitor instead of all of them.

Comfort habits

• Pick a window size you can read. A small window with a big screen behind it wastes space.
• Use a good mouse. A precise pointer reduces mistakes on a scaled picture.
• Take breaks. Remote work can be tiring because of the small delay between action and reaction.
• Tell the other person what is going on. If you are going to do something that takes a while, say so. Silence on a call makes people nervous.

Little mistakes to avoid

Drawing and pointing

When you help someone, a pointer or a quick drawn circle on their screen makes things clearer than any description. Use it to point, not to scribble. Read how to share your screen and draw on it for ideas.

Phone as a remote

You can also use a phone to see and control a computer in a pinch. Expect a smaller picture and tap controls, so keep the tasks short. See the guide on controlling your PC from your phone.

Final tips

Keep the apps up to date, since improvements to quality and shortcuts arrive in new versions. Install the Windows and Android apps and practise with a second computer before you need it in a hurry.