Use your work PC from home with Google "Chrome Remote Desktop"

What is "Chrome Remote Desktop"?

Up to the last three times, we have introduced the "Shin Telework System" that allows you to easily build a remote desktop environment. If you create a remote desktop environment, you don't have to go to the office just for that situation, such as "I want to see the materials on the company PC" or "I forgot to bring that file back."

"Chrome Remote Desktop" is a remote desktop tool provided by Google as an extension of the web browser "Chrome". As with the Shin Telework System, no special equipment or network settings are required, and all you need is Chrome and a Google account.

Since it communicates using HTTPS, the content of communication is encrypted, but it does not have a built-in VPN (virtual private network) function like the Shin Telework System. Use your Google account and any 6-digit passcode for authentication to connect. Therefore, when enabling remote connection on the host side, there is an advantage that you do not need to register additional login information such as user name and password.

In the case of the Shin Telework system, the host (server) PC only supports Windows, but Chrome Remote Desktop can host macOS as well. In other words, remote connection is possible even if the PC at work is a Mac. Another major feature of Chrome Remote Desktop is that you can connect remotely not only from a PC but also from an iPhone or iPad. On the other hand, the Shin Telework System was able to use the remote desktop function of Windows itself when connecting between Windows, but Chrome Remote Desktop only uses the Chrome extension to connect.

Set up the host (work) PC

Let's start using Chrome Remote Desktop. As mentioned above, Chrome Remote Desktop can be used as a host on both Windows and macOS, but this time we will use Windows as an example to explain how to set it up.

To set up your host (work) PC, first sign in to your Google account in Chrome and visit the following site.

At first, the following page will be displayed, so click the "Access PC" button on the left. By the way, although I won't cover it this time, "Share screen" on the right is a function that can be used when you want to have other people remotely operate your PC and receive support.

When the following screen appears, click the download icon in the "Remote Access Settings" section.

This will open the "Chrome Remote Desktop" screen in the Chrome Web Store in a separate window. Chrome Remote Desktop is a Chrome extension for using Chrome Remote Desktop. Activate this extension by clicking the Add to Chrome button on the top right.

When the extension is added to Chrome, the previous page will say "Ready to install" and a button will appear that says "Agree and Install".

When you click this button, the "Select name" screen will be displayed as follows. Enter any PC name and press [Next]. The PC name can be anything as long as you can distinguish it.

Next, the PIN code setting screen will be displayed, so enter any PIN code of 6 digits or more. You must successfully authenticate with this PIN code when connecting to this PC remotely.

This completes the settings. Click the Launch button to remotely access and interact with this PC's desktop.