Docs / Obsidian Remote / The web viewer

Connecting from a browser

The web viewer connects to an Obsidian Remote PC from a web browser, with nothing to install: on a borrowed PC, a Mac, or anywhere you don't have the Windows app. You can take control, watch, or move files.

Open it

The web viewer is part of your Obsidian Remote server, at /web/ on its address, for example https://remote.example.com:21114/web/. Your administrator gives you the address. In the admin console, the Connect buttons and Web viewer in the menu open it too.

You can put the ID in the address to fill it in: https://remote.example.com:21114/web/#123456789. Add /view or /file for a view-only or file session: .../web/#123456789/view.

Your administrator can turn the web viewer off; it then isn't available on that server.

What your browser needs

Browser	What works
Current Chrome or Edge	Everything, including sound, saving downloads straight into a folder, and the Windows key and Alt+Tab in full screen.
Current Safari	Remote control, viewing and files. Sound may not play.
Firefox	File transfer only. For the picture, Firefox lacks a feature the viewer needs, so it says This browser cannot show remote screens (it lacks WebCodecs).

The server must also be reached over https:// with a certificate your browser trusts. If your server uses its own self-signed certificate, the browser warns you before it opens the page; ask your administrator whether to continue, or (better) whether the server can get a proper certificate (see Installing the server).

Connecting

Open the web viewer. The top shows your server's name.
Type the Remote ID: the 9 digits shown on the remote PC.
Type its Password (the one-time password shown on that PC, or its permanent password), or leave it empty to ask the person at the PC to accept.
Choose Remote control, View only or Files.
Click Connect.

The page then shows the steps (Asking the server for the device..., Waiting for the device to join the relay..., Securing the connection...) and the remote PC's Host key. The server vouches for that key, and the browser remembers it. If a PC you connected to before turns up with a different key, the page stops with This computer's key has changed and shows the old and the new key: that is expected after Obsidian Remote was reinstalled on it or the PC was replaced; otherwise ask the person there to read you the key from their Settings > About before you click Connect anyway.

If you used the one-time password of a PC you haven't connected to before, the page may say Waiting for the person at the remote PC to confirm...: the person there sees a warning about phone scams and has to click Accept. If the server blocks the country you connect from, the page says Connections from your country are blocked by this server.

If the remote PC needs a password you didn't give, or the one you gave was wrong, the page asks for it (Password of the remote computer). If it uses two-factor sign-in, the page asks for the Code from the remote computer's authenticator; leave Trust this browser ticked and it won't ask again in this browser for 90 days. Cancel stops connecting.

The Recent list on the connect page keeps the last 8 devices you reached from this browser. Click one to fill in its ID; its x forgets it.

Signing in

At the bottom of the connect page you can Sign in with your Obsidian Remote user name and password (and an authenticator code if your account has two-factor sign-in). If the server requires it, the page says This server requires you to sign in. and you must sign in before you connect; you can then only reach the devices you own or your group's.

A web-viewer sign-in can only connect: it can't change your account, your address books or anything in the admin console. It lasts until you close the tab.

The toolbar at the top of the session hides itself; Keep the toolbar open (the pin) keeps it shown. It has:

Item	What it does
Displays	One button per remote monitor.
Scaling	Fit to window, Original size or Stretch.
Picture quality	Best picture, Balanced, Fastest response or Custom (frame rate and bitrate; bitrate 0 = automatic).
Options	View only (no input), Show remote cursor, Sync clipboard, Play remote sound, Block the remote user's input, Privacy mode (black out the remote screen); the keyboard mode; Capture the mouse (pointer lock).
Actions	Send Ctrl + Alt + Del, Windows key, Alt + Tab, Ctrl + Shift + Esc or Print Screen; Lock, Sign out the user and Restart the remote computer (click twice to confirm); Refresh the picture.
Chat	The chat panel. A badge counts unread messages.
Files	The file panel.
Save a screenshot	Downloads the current picture as a PNG file.
Full screen	Full screen, with the keyboard passed through in Chrome and Edge.
Disconnect	Ends the session.

Items the remote computer doesn't allow are greyed out with Not allowed by the remote computer. The toolbar also shows frames per second, bitrate and latency.

When the session ends, the page offers Reconnect.

Keyboard and mouse

Map keys (same physical keys) (the default) sends which keys you press; the remote PC's keyboard layout applies. Type characters (layouts differ) sends the characters your browser makes; use it when the two keyboard layouts differ.
Outside full screen, the browser keeps some shortcuts for itself (Ctrl+W, Alt+Tab, the Windows key). Use Actions to send them, or go Full screen: Chrome and Edge then pass the Windows key, Alt+Tab and Esc to the remote PC. Hold Esc to leave full screen.
Keys you are holding are released on the remote PC when the tab loses focus.
The mouse buttons, the wheel (both ways) and the back and forward buttons all work. Capture the mouse hides your pointer and sends movement directly, for games and 3D programs; press Esc to get your pointer back.
On a touch screen, tap to click and drag with two fingers to scroll.

Clipboard

With Sync clipboard on, text copied on the remote PC arrives in your clipboard, and text you paste is sent to the remote PC. The browser may ask for permission to use the clipboard the first time. Pictures work where the browser allows them.

Files

Files opens a panel with the remote PC's drives and folders.

Move around with the path at the top and Up one folder. Show hidden and system files shows those too.
Download the selected files or folders. Chrome and Edge ask for a folder (or a file name, for one file) and save straight into it; other browsers download each file separately.
Upload files, use Folder to upload a whole folder, or drop files onto the panel. They go into the folder you have open. If a name already exists you are asked: Replace, Skip or Keep both.
New folder, Rename and Delete work on the remote PC.

A Files session opens straight into this panel, without the picture.

Compared with the Windows app

Feature	Web viewer	Windows app
Remote control, view only, files, chat, clipboard text, sound	yes	yes
How it connects	always through the server's relay	direct on the same network when it can, otherwise the relay; or by address
Terminal and TCP tunnels	no	yes
Recording	no (screenshots only)	MP4
Windows key and Alt+Tab to the remote PC	in full screen, in Chrome and Edge	always, while its window is in front
Warns you if a device's key changes	yes, for PCs this browser connected to before	yes
Address books, discovered devices, Wake-on-LAN	no (use the admin console)	yes

What the browser keeps

The tab keeps your sign-in only until you close it. Your recent devices, the keys of the PCs you connected to, your viewer choices (quality, keyboard mode and so on) and the "trust this browser" tokens are kept in the browser's storage for the server's site. To make the browser forget them, clear the site's data in your browser's settings. On a shared or public computer, don't tick Trust this browser, and clear the site's data when you are done.