Install PC_Remote and use it: five steps, what each tab does, and what to check when something goes wrong.
version 0.11.65
Before you start
A Windows PC. It runs the server; no administrator rights are needed.
A phone on the same Wi-Fi, Android or iPhone. Nothing to install on it: the remote is a web page. An Android app exists and is optional.
About 30 MB to download. The server carries everything it needs.
Installing, in five steps
Download the folder from the product page: you get a file called “pcremote.zip”.
Extract the folder — really extract it. Do not run the program from inside the zip, and never separate “pcremote.exe” from the “_internal” folder: it would not start.
Double-click “pcremote.exe”. A window opens with a code to scan: that window is the server. Close it and the remote stops. On first launch Windows asks for network access — tick “Private networks”, then Allow.
Scan the code with the phone. The camera app is enough. The browser will warn once about the certificate: the PC makes it itself, no outside authority knows it, so you have to choose to continue.
Check the green dot at the top of the page: you are connected. The browser menu lets you add the remote to the home screen, like a real app.
What each tab does
Status — the state of the link, the alarm that helps you find the phone, and the button that reloads the interface.
Touchpad — one finger moves the mouse, a tap clicks, two fingers scroll.
Keyboard — what you type goes to the PC, with the special keys and a few macros.
Windows — the open windows: bring to front, minimise, maximise, close. Plus processes, and a way to launch an app.
Streaming — search a title on a service from the phone and play it on the PC. Needs the browser extension.
VoiceMeeter — the PC mixing desk, if VoiceMeeter is installed. The tab does not appear otherwise.
Screens — the brightness of each monitor, and the layout: extend, duplicate, or show on only one of them. The screen left out turns itself off, and the same button brings it back.
Mirror — the PC screen live, with touch control. It is made for taking over remotely, not for use as a second display: there is always a delay.
Session — the conversation of a coding assistant running on the PC, followed live. Sessions are found on their own, including inside Linux distributions installed on the machine.
When it does not work
No green dot, or “can’t reach this site” — the phone is not on the same Wi-Fi, the server window is closed, or network access was refused. The Windows permission is tied to where the program sits: if you moved the folder, it has to be granted again.
A security warning in the browser — expected, once per device. The Android app removes this step.
“No screen responds” in brightness — the setting travels through the video cable, and many monitors disable it out of the box. Look for “DDC/CI” in the monitor’s own menu, using its physical buttons.
Streaming says “Extension not loaded” — the extension is not loaded, or already-open tabs no longer talk to it: reload the service page in the PC browser.
The phone screen looks frozen after an update — Status tab, “Reload the interface”.
Going further
Two optional additions, both started from a button in the PC window. The Android app rings the phone even with the screen off and removes the certificate warning. The browser extension unlocks control of streaming services.