Docs / Obsidian Remote / Being supported

Letting someone connect

When someone (your IT support, a colleague) needs to see or work on your PC, Obsidian Remote shows you who is asking and what they want to do, and you stay in charge for the whole session.

Give them your ID

1. Open Obsidian Remote (from the Start menu, or click its icon in the notification area).
2. Read them Your ID, the 9 digits at the top left of the main window. The copy button copies it, so you can paste it into a chat or email.
3. If they ask for the password, click the eye button next to One-time password to show it, and read it to them.

Never give your ID or password to someone who called you. Microsoft, banks and shops never phone, text or show a pop-up asking to connect to your PC; anyone who does is a scammer. The main window says so under the password too.

The one-time password works for one session: after a session that used it, your PC makes a new one. The refresh button next to it makes a new one at any time, for example if you gave it to the wrong person.

Depending on how your PC is set up and how they connect, they either type that password, or your PC asks you to accept them.

Someone wants to connect

When someone asks to connect and your PC needs your approval, the Connections window opens at the bottom right of your screen, on top of other windows, and a notification says Someone wants to connect. The window shows:

• who is asking: Signed in to the server as ... with their user name on your server - the server checked it - or Not signed in to the server - anyone could be connecting,
• what their PC calls itself: Says it is ... with its name and ID, marked (not verified) - anyone can type any name there, so trust the server user name, not this,
• the kind of session (remote control, view only, file transfer, terminal or tunnel), whether they come over the local network or the relay, and their network address,
• how long you have to answer (60 seconds; after that the request is refused),
• what they will be allowed to do.

Before you answer, untick anything you don't want to allow:

Some permissions are greyed out when they don't apply to the kind of session (a view-only session can't use the keyboard, for example). A permission your organization has turned off stays off, whatever you tick: you can only narrow what they may do, never widen it.

Then click Accept or Deny. If you deny, they are told the connection was refused. If your PC also takes a password, they can still sign in with the password (you are not asked again in that connection).

The first time someone connects

Phone scammers pretend to be Microsoft, your bank, a shop or a refund desk and talk people into letting them in. So the first time a person connects to you, the request is different:

• it says Someone wants to control this PC in large letters, with a red warning: "Did someone call, text or show a pop-up saying your PC, bank, or account has a problem, or that you are owed a refund? That is a scam. Microsoft, banks and shops never call you to connect to your PC. Click Deny.",
• it shows their country as your server reports it (or local network when they are on your own network), next to their address,
• Deny comes first and is selected; Accept only works after 10 seconds - it counts down, Accept (7), Accept (6) - and pressing Enter never accepts,
• Block my input, Privacy mode, Terminal and Tunnels start unticked - blacking out your screen or locking you out while they "fix" things is what scammers do. Tick them only if you trust the person; they can't turn them on later by themselves, only you can, in the Connections window.

If someone new types your one-time password instead of asking, they still wait for you: the same warning appears and they get in only if you click Accept. If you didn't expect it, click Deny and make a new password with the refresh button.

Someone who has connected to you before gets the normal request. Your organization can turn this warning off for PCs its own staff look after every day; the bar described below always stays.

If you keep getting requests you did not expect: after 3 refused or unanswered requests from one address within 10 minutes, your PC stops showing requests from that address for 2 minutes, and for longer each time it tries again (up to an hour).

While they are connected

The Connections window lists each person connected to your PC, with what they are doing, whether they came over the local network or the relay, from which address, and for how long. You can:

• Change what they may do at any moment: untick a permission and it stops at once. Taking away Files cancels any copy under way.
• Chat: type in Message to the viewer and press Enter. Their messages appear here, and the window comes to the front when one arrives.
• Disconnect: ends their session immediately.

The main window shows how many people are connected, with Show connections to open this window again; so does the tray icon's Connections.... The tray icon also changes while someone is connected.

While someone controls your PC, a dark red bar across the top of every screen says Someone is controlling this PC, with their name and country, and Press Esc twice quickly to end. Press Esc twice quickly on your own keyboard and every remote-control session ends at once. It works even when they blacked out your screen or blocked your mouse and keyboard, and the person connected can't press it for you or hide the bar - they don't see it in their picture. A connected viewer who had never connected to you before keeps a red note in the Connections window: if someone called you and asked for this, click Disconnect.

If they turned on Privacy mode, your screen goes black and your mouse and keyboard stop until they turn it off or the session ends (the bar stays on top, and Esc Esc still works). Both always end with the session.

On a shared PC

On a PC that several people use at the same time (for example a terminal server), only the person signed in at the PC's own screen, or an administrator, can see the one-time password, accept or deny requests, change permissions or disconnect people. Other users see hidden here instead of the password.

Making it the way you want

How your PC accepts connections is in Settings > Security:

• Password, or the person at this PC clicks Accept (the usual setting),
• Password only (unattended), for a PC nobody sits at (see Unattended access),
• Only when the person at this PC clicks Accept, if you always want to be asked.

Under What viewers may do you choose which permissions are ticked to begin with. Your organization may have set some of these for you; they are then greyed out with a note saying so. See Settings.