Communicating Securely Using Chat

If you have a subscription which includes in session chat, you can chat with a RealVNC Server user if one is present, or with other RealVNC Viewer users connected at the same time as you, providing RealVNC Viewer is running on a desktop computer.

Chatting as a RealVNC Viewer user

To participate in a conversation, or start a new one:

1. Click the RealVNC Viewer Start Chat Session button on the toolbar located at the top of the session window while connected to a RealVNC Server. A message box appears at the bottom of the RealVNC Viewer window:
   
   
   
   
2. Enter a message and click the Send button or press the ENTER key.
3. The message is broadcast to a Chat dialog visible to you and to all other users:
   
   

Chatting as a RealVNC Server user

To start a conversation with connected RealVNC Viewer users:

1. Open the RealVNC Server shortcut menu by right clicking the RealVNC Server taskbar icon.
2. Select Chat. The Chat dialog opens. Type text in the field at the bottom:
   
   
   
   
3. Press the ENTER key to send the message:
   
   

Working with chat

The message box is minimized when chat is not being used. To see it again, hover the mouse over the hot area at the bottom of the RealVNC Viewer window:

Note that the Chat dialog can also be minimized. If so, you are notified when new messages appear by the taskbar button flashing (Windows and Linux) or a number overlaid on the dock icon (macOS).

Chat messages are stored on the RealVNC Server computer for 90 days. To stop recording messages, select Tools > Options in the Chat dialog, and turn off Log chat history. Alternatively, you can reduce the number of days, or switch to storing a particular number of messages.

To clear the conversation window, delete the vncchat.xml file. This file can be found:

• Under Windows, within %localappdata%\RealVNC  by default. You can configure the location using Tools > Options in the Chat dialog.
• Under Linux and macOS, this file is located in the .vnc directory within the desktop user's home directory.

You must first stop RealVNC Server, delete the file, then restart RealVNC Server.

Note that when a RealVNC Viewer user disconnects, messages sent by that user change colour in the Chat dialog.

Troubleshooting chat

If you cannot chat, check the following:

1. Does your subscription include in-session chat? You can check the subscription plan images at the top of this article if you are unsure.
2. Is there anyone to chat with? The RealVNC Server dialog reveals if any RealVNC Viewer users are connected.
   
   
   
   
3. Has RealVNC Server been configured to disable chat? If you have access, check the global permissions on the RealVNC Server Options > Users & Permissions page.
4. Has RealVNC Server been configured to prevent you chatting? If you have access, check the permissions for the user you are registered as on the VNC Server Options > Users & Permissions page.