How to Control Your Mac from Your iPhone

This wikiHow teaches you how to control your Mac with your iPhone or iPad using a virtual network connection (VNC). The following steps will teach you how to enable screen sharing and get the information you need from your Mac. Then you...

Part 1 of 4:

Enable Screen Sharing on Your Mac

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On your Mac, Click System Preferences. It's the grey icon that resembles a gear in dock at the bottom of your Mac's screen.
1. If you see a gear icon in your dock you can click the Apple Menu
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  and then select "System Preferences" in the drop-down menu.
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Click Sharing. It's the icon that has a blue folder and a yellow road sign with a person on it.
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Write down your Computer Name. You will need this later on. Your computer name is listed in the text bar at the top.
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Click Edit. It's the button below the bar with the computer name.
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Write down the Local Hostname. You will need this information later on. It's in the bar in the popup.
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Click Cancel. You don't need to edit this information, just make note of it.
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Click the checkbox next to "Screen Sharing". The box in the "On" column will turn blue with a white checkmark in it. It's in the box on the left side of the window.
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Click Computer Settings. This button will appear on the right once you've checked the "Screen Sharing" box on the left.
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Click the checkbox for "VNC users may control screen with password". It's the second option from the top.
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Enter a password in the text box. The text box is at the end on the right of the line you just checked. This will be the password needed to connect and control your Mac from your iPhone.
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Click OK. It's in the bottom-right corner of the pop-up.

Part 2 of 4:

Install VNC Viewer on iPhone or iPad

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On your iPhone, open the App Store
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. It's the app with a blue icon and a white capital "A".
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Tap Search
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. It's the magnifying glass icon on the bottom-right corner of the screen.
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Type VNC Viewer in the search bar. Tap the grey bar at the top and type a search entry.
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Tap the VNC Viewer app in the search results. It's a blue icon that has "vnc" in curvy white letters.
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Tap GET. It's the blue button under the "VNC Viewer - Remote Desktop" title at the top of the page. This will start downloading and installing the VNC remote desktop app on your iPhone.
1. Use your Touch ID or enter you Passcode if prompted before downloading the app.
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Tap OPEN. The "Get" button will change to "Open" once app is installed. This launches the VNC Viewer app on your phone.

Part 3 of 4:

Setup VNC Viewer

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Tap ☰. It's the three-line icon in the upper-left corner.
1. Swipe right on the introduction screens first and then tap "Get Started" to begin.
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Tap Sign In. It's below the bar at the top of the left column.
1. You can also tap "sign in" on the opening page.
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Type the email address and password associate with your RealVNC account.
1. Tap Don't have a RealVNC account to create a new account. You will be asked to provide an email, password, your first and last name, and country to sign up. After you've created your account, press the home button twice, tap the VNC Viewer app to return to it, and sign into your new account.

Part 4 of 4:

Connect to your Mac

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Click the + Icon. It's in the upper-right corner.
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Type the Local Hostname in the bar that says "Address". This is the information that was written down in Part 1. You can also type your Mac's IP address, if you know it.
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Type your Mac's Computer Name in the bar that says "Name". This is the information we gathered in Part 1.
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Tap Save. It's in the upper-right corner.
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Tap Connect. It's in the middle of the page.
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Tap Connect in the top-right. It's in the corner of the page.
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Type your password in the bar that says "Password". This is the same password you set up while enabling Screen Sharing on your Mac in Part 1.
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Tap Done. VNC Viewer will now connect to your Mac. You may need to scroll to the left or right to see the entire screen.
1. If this is your first time connecting to your Mac remotely, you'll be shown some gestures to navigate your computer using your phone. Tap "Next" and follow the prompts!

tap vnc click mac

Lesley Montoya

Update 04 March 2020

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