How to control your PC from your phone

"Control my PC from my phone" can mean quite different things: seeing and driving the whole desktop, using the phone as a mouse and keyboard, pressing big shortcut buttons, or just a remote for playback and volume. Pick the wrong kind of tool and you'll be pinching and zooming at a tiny desktop when all you wanted was to pause a video. Here's how the options break down on Windows 10 and 11, from an iPhone or an Android phone, plus the extra settings a laptop needs. iPhone owners: see the step-by-step iPhone guide; for a Mac, controlling a Mac from an iPhone.

• Remote desktop · mouse and keyboard · button decks · voice
• Android · media remote · volume · laptops · hardware remotes

1. Remote desktop: see and drive the whole screen

Remote desktop apps stream your PC's screen to the phone and send your taps back as mouse clicks. They're the right choice when you need to do anything you'd normally do sitting at the PC — and the only choice when you're away from home.

• Microsoft Remote Desktop / Windows App — built into Windows 10/11 Pro and higher (not Home). Fast on a local network; for access from outside, pair it with a VPN rather than exposing it to the internet.
• Chrome Remote Desktop — free, works on Windows Home, and handles the connection through your Google account, so it works from anywhere. On the PC, go to remotedesktop.google.com, set up remote access and choose a PIN; on the phone, install the Chrome Remote Desktop app and sign in with the same Google account.
• Commercial tools such as TeamViewer, AnyDesk or Parsec (game streaming) — convenient, with licensing that depends on personal or commercial use.

Downside: a desktop squeezed onto a phone is fiddly. It's great for "I need that file" and poor for "skip this song".

2. Mouse-and-keyboard remotes

These turn the phone screen into a trackpad plus keyboard, often with extra remotes for media players. Unified Remote is the best-known; KDE Connect is free and open source, with an Android app and a Windows app that also share the clipboard and files and show notifications (both sides have to be installed and paired on the same network). They're ideal for a living-room PC where you mostly browse and type, and they don't need to stream video, so they're responsive on modest Wi-Fi. See how to use your phone as a mouse and keyboard for the options, or PC remote apps compared for a side-by-side.

3. Button decks: one tap per action

A deck shows a grid of big labeled buttons, each doing one thing on the PC: launch an app, send a hotkey, toggle mute, switch an OBS scene, run a macro. This is the "Stream Deck on your phone" approach — see our comparison of Stream Deck alternatives. Decks are the fastest way to do the same things over and over, because there's no cursor to steer.

4. Voice

Voice is the most natural remote when your hands are busy or you're across the room. Windows 11's Voice Access controls the PC with its own microphone; phone-based voice remotes (SofaDeck included) use the phone as the microphone, which works much better from a sofa. More in how to control your PC with your voice.

Which should you use?

Set up SofaDeck in about a minute

1. Install SofaDeck on the Windows PC (Microsoft Store or the installer from sofadeck.com) and allow it on Private networks when Windows Firewall asks.
2. Scan the QR code SofaDeck shows with your phone's camera (iPhone or Android).
3. Type the 6-digit PIN shown on the PC.
4. Use the default page: play/pause, volume, mute, YouTube, Netflix, fullscreen, Enter and lock, or tap the mic and say a command such as 'volume 30'.

The phone needs no app, and nothing leaves your home network. The free version has one page of 12 buttons, media keys, volume and app launching, plus voice commands like open Spotify and pause; Pro (one payment) adds unlimited pages, hotkey combos and multi-step macros. Add the deck to your phone's home screen so it opens like an app. The setup guide covers the details and fixes for the usual Wi-Fi snags.

Direct installer .exe · 3.7 MB Store version signed by Microsoft No account Local network only Signed updates SofaDeck installs on your Windows PC. Your phone is the remote — it works in the phone’s browser. Copy the link for my PC Or email me the link to open on my PCEmail me the link Send me SofaDeck updates (about once a month)One email from support@dixonappstudio.com. No list unless you tick the box. PrivacyOr on your PC, go to sofadeck.com/get

From an Android phone

Everything above works from Android. The free options: Chrome Remote Desktop for the whole screen, KDE Connect for files, clipboard, notifications, media and a touchpad, and SofaDeck for a button deck and voice remote. SofaDeck needs nothing installed on Android: open the camera, scan the QR code and the deck opens in Chrome or any browser. Microsoft's Phone Link doesn't help here — it puts the phone on the PC, not the other way round. On Android 9 or later, Bluetooth keyboard-and-mouse apps can also make the phone act as an ordinary Bluetooth mouse, with no software on the PC.

Use your phone as a PC media remote

A media remote — play/pause, skip, volume, mute — is the most-used remote there is. Windows and macOS both have system media keys: Play/Pause, Next, Previous, Volume Up/Down and Mute. When you press one, the system sends it to whatever is currently playing — Spotify, a YouTube or Netflix tab in your browser, Apple Music, Windows Media Player and most video players. That's why a remote that sends media keys works with every player without setup, while a remote that sends ordinary shortcuts (like Space) only works when the right window has focus.

A 12-button media page covers almost everything you do while watching or listening:

That's SofaDeck's default page, so once your phone is paired you already have a media remote, in the free version.

Per-app tips

• Spotify: media keys control the desktop app. To control Spotify from the phone's Spotify app instead, use Spotify Connect — our Spotify guide compares the two.
• YouTube and Netflix in a browser: media keys work in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. For full screen, YouTube and Netflix both use the F key; a single-key button for it is free. More in YouTube and Netflix from your phone.
• VLC and other players: most respond to media keys; if one doesn't, check its hotkey settings for a "global" or "media keys" option.
• Mac: allow SofaDeck under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility so it can send media keys.

Change the PC's volume from your phone

Windows itself only takes volume from the PC: the volume keys, the speaker icon in the taskbar, and the volume mixer (right-click the speaker icon) for per-app levels. Your phone needs a helper on the PC:

• Spotify Connect — with Spotify open on the PC, the phone's Spotify app can pick the PC as the playing device and change its volume. That's Spotify's volume only; everything else stays as it is.
• KDE Connect — its Android app, paired with the Windows app, includes media controls and system volume.
• SofaDeck — Vol −, Mute and Vol + buttons in the phone's browser, or tap the mic and say volume 30, turn it up by 20 or mute. It changes the Windows system volume, so it works for YouTube, Netflix, games and everything else, in the free version. The full list is on the voice commands page.

Tips for a living-room PC:

• Set a sensible maximum on your speakers or TV so a 100% mistake isn't painful.
• If one app is always louder, set it lower in the volume mixer once, and use the phone for overall volume.
• HDMI to a TV? The TV's own remote changes TV volume, the phone changes Windows volume. Pick one and leave the other at a fixed level.

Controlling a laptop: settings that make it reliable

A laptop is often the computer furthest from your hands: closed on a stand next to a monitor, plugged into the TV for a film, or open on the desk while you present from across the room. The remote part is the same as for a desktop; what decides whether it works every time is a handful of laptop settings.

Keep it awake with the lid closed (if you dock it)

Windows: open Control Panel → Hardware and Sound → Power Options → Choose what closing the lid does, and set "When I close the lid" to Do nothing under "Plugged in". Leave "On battery" as Sleep so it doesn't cook in a bag. Mac: a MacBook stays awake with the lid closed only when it's connected to power and an external display.

Lengthen the sleep timer while plugged in

A remote can't wake a sleeping laptop over Wi-Fi in most cases. On Windows 11 go to Settings → System → Power & battery → Screen, sleep & hibernate timeouts and raise "When plugged in, put my device to sleep after". On a Mac, check System Settings → Battery → Options and turn on "Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off". For a desktop PC that does sleep, see waking a PC from your phone.

Stay on one private network

Laptops hop between networks. Phone remotes that work over Wi-Fi need the phone and laptop on the same network, and Windows only lets them in when that network is marked Private (Settings → Network & internet → Wi-Fi → your network → Network profile type). Guest networks and "client isolation" on some routers block devices from seeing each other.

Mind the battery, and build a page per use

A laptop serving a remote all evening should be on its charger; many makers' apps have a battery-care limit (around 80%) worth turning on for a laptop that lives on a stand. In SofaDeck, build a page for how you use it: Docked (meeting mute, window layouts, lock), TV (play/pause, volume, YouTube, Netflix, full screen) or Presenting (next, previous, black screen — see the presentation remote guide).

Hardware remotes for a PC, compared

A phone remote has labels, voice and app launching, and costs nothing. A physical remote has buttons you can find in the dark and doesn't depend on who has their phone. For a shared living-room PC, it's reasonable to have both.

• Air mice look like a TV remote but move the cursor when you wave them; most show up in Windows as a keyboard and mouse. Their microphones usually only work with Android TV boxes, not Windows. Air mouse remotes on Amazon.
• USB or Bluetooth media remotes send media keys with no software. USB media remotes for PC.
• An IR receiver turns a remote you already own into key presses; place it where the remote can see it.
• A compact wireless keyboard with a touchpad is still the best way to type a search or password on a TV PC. Couch keyboards on Amazon.
• A game controller suits Steam Big Picture and launchers; see the LaunchBox and Big Box phone remote guide.

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For the whole living-room setup, read the HTPC remote guide.

Security basics, whatever you choose

• Prefer tools that pair devices or require a password — never an open port anyone can hit.
• For access from the internet, use a tool built for it or a VPN, and turn on two-factor authentication for the account it uses.
• Keep Windows network profiles honest: your home Wi-Fi as Private, cafés and hotels as Public.
• Remove paired devices you no longer use.

Frequently asked questions

Remotes for specific apps

• VLC remote: control VLC on your PC from your phone
• Kodi remote on your phone for a PC running Kodi
• Plex HTPC remote: your phone as the remote for Plex on a PC
• Jellyfin remote: your phone as the remote for Jellyfin on a PC
• Disney Plus remote control for a PC: your phone
• Hulu remote for a PC: control Hulu from your phone
• Prime Video remote for a PC: your phone
• Apple Music remote: control Apple Music on your PC from your phone
• Media keys on your phone for your PC
• All remotes by app

More guides

• Use Your Phone as a Stream Deck for Streaming: A Setup Guide
• LaunchBox & Big Box Phone Remote With Voice Control
• HTPC Remote & Controller: Your Phone as a Home Theater PC Remote
• Use Your Phone as a Presentation Remote for PowerPoint
• All guides