How to control a Mac remotely

Introduction:

A lot of people use their Mac as their main computer, but what happens when you need to use it from a distance? Maybe you're out of the house and need to work on a project, or you want to watch a movie on your Mac while someone else is using the computer. In cases like these, it's helpful to know how to control a Mac remotely. We'll show you three different ways to do this, so you can choose the method that works best for you.

How to control a Mac remotely

Controlling a Mac remotely is a process that's been made a lot easier in more recent versions of macOS. With the release of macOS Sierra in 2016, Apple included a new built-in feature called " Continuity Remote ". This allows users to control their Macs from an iPhone, iPad or even another Mac. The process of setting up Continuity Remote is thankfully very easy, but there are a few requirements you'll need to meet beforehand. In this article, we'll walk you through the process of setting up Continuity Remote and how to use it to control your Mac.

Step 1

The first step to controlling your Mac remotely is to open the System Preferences window. This can be done by clicking on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your screen and selecting System Preferences from the menu. Once you're in System Preferences, click on the "Sharing" icon.

Step 2

If the Mac you want to control remotely is already turned on and connected to the internet, the next step is to make sure Management is activated. Management is what allows you to remotely access and control a Mac. It's turned on by default, but if it isn't activated, you'll need to do so manually. To check, open System Preferences and click on the Security & Privacy icon. Under the General tab, look for the Remote Management section. If Management is activated, it will be turned on and appear in green. If it isn't activated, click on the checkbox next to it and then click on the lock in the bottom left corner to enter your administrator credentials. After that, select the options that apply to your needs. For example, if you want to be able to access and control the Mac from any location, make sure Allow connections from anywhere is selected.

Step 3

Now that you've enabled remote login, it's time to connect to your computer from another device. Open up the Finder on your other device, and then head into Sharing. From there, select Remote Login and enter in the login info provided back in Step 3. The computer name will be listed at the top of the Remote Login window (for example, MacBook Pro would be "macbook-pro"). Once you've entered in the info, click Connect and you're good to go! You can now control your Mac from anywhere in the world.

Step 4

Step 4: Now that you’ve installed and set up the app on your Mac, it’s time to configure the remote control settings. This is where you’ll specify the IP address of the Mac you want to control. You’ll also need to know the password for that Mac. The easiest way to find this is to use a service such as whatismyIPaddress.com. Enter the IP address into the “Remote Address” field, then type in the password into the “Password” field. Click “Save” and you’re done!

Step 5

Terminal is a macOS application that lets you access and control your computer remotely. This is really useful if you need to access a file on your computer from another location, or if you need to troubleshoot a technical issue. To start, open Terminal on the Mac you want to access remotely. You can find it by bringing up Spotlight search with “Command + Space” on your keyboard, or by heading into your Application folder followed by utilities. In the Terminal window, type the following command and hit return: ssh [email protected] -p port number. For example, if I wanted to connect to my computer at home from my office, I would type ssh [email protected] -p 22 (assuming that my home computer’s IP address is 192.168.0.100 and its SSH port is 22).

Step 6

To control your Mac remotely, you'll first need to open the Terminal app on your Mac. This app is located in the Applications > Utilities folder. Once open, type in the following command and hit return: ssh [email protected] (replacing "yourname" and "computername" with your own information). You'll then be prompted to enter your password. If you're using a DNS service instead of a computer name, you'll have a string of numbers instead of the "computername.home" part of the command. Just enter those numbers in place of the words "computername.home" and follow the rest of the instructions as normal.

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Conclusion:

With a little bit of set-up, you can control your Mac from anywhere in the world. Whether you're looking to access files on the go or need to troubleshoot an issue, these steps make it easy to take control of your Mac no matter where you are.