
There was also an annoying little popup informing me that my desktop is being shared, which I could move off to the side but not completely remove from the screen. But while mouse-clicking works fine, the two-finger scroll on a Mac or Chromebook trackpad didn’t work for me. The remote desktop session lets you manipulate the remote computer in most of the ways you’d expect, for example clicking on browser links, opening applications and viewing the file system. The shared desktop appears within a Chrome browser tab. This will generate a 12-digit one-time access code that must be typed into a second computer in order to grant it remote access privileges to the first.
#Chrome remote desktop beta website install#
In each, navigate to the Chrome Web Store to install the remote desktop extension, while granting the software permission to access “all data on your computer and the websites you visit.” I tested it out today using a MacBook Air, a Samsung Chromebook and an old Dell Latitude D620 running Ubuntu Linux.Īfter installing the Chrome extension, click the Remote Desktop icon from the new tab page, and then click the “share this computer” button. It is currently being targeted at IT helpdesk scenarios, but “additional use cases such as being able to access your own computer remotely are coming soon,” Google says.Īll you need are two computers running the Chrome browser.

Remote desktop technology certainly is nothing new, but Google’s is free, at least for now, and extremely easy to set up.

Yet despite some performance glitches, the beta shows promise. In other words, Google is cautioning users not to expect a fully-fledged remote desktop experience.

As usual with Google, there’s a big emphasis on the “beta” tag in the Chrome Remote Desktop BETA, which is ready for the public to use, but mostly exists to demonstrate Google Chrome Remoting technology and get feedback from users. Google has unveiled a remote desktop service allowing connections between any two systems running the Chrome browser, regardless of operating system.
