RealVNC Viewer can be passed arguments at the command line, or via a configuration file containing the parameters to use for the connection. Configuration files can be used as shortcuts, directly on the command line or as start-up items.

Exporting connections

If you already have a connection set up in your Address Book that you would like to set up a shortcut for, or launch automatically when you log in, follow the steps below.

1. Ensure that you have set up the connection so that it appears in the Address Book section of RealVNC Viewer.
   You can do this by either connecting to the computer via a Team, the address bar, or using the File menu to create a new connection
2. If you created a new connection in step 1, disconnect from the remote computer. Otherwise, skip to step 3
3. Click Address Book on the left side menu of RealVNC Viewer
4. Click File (RealVNC Viewer on macOS), then Export Connections
5. Choose a folder to save the file to, and click Next
6. Select whether you want to export passwords or not and then click Export
7. Click Show in folder to see the exported connections
8. Click Done

Using connection files

By importing to RealVNC Viewer

You can import the connection files back into RealVNC Viewer, by using the File -> Import connections menu item. You may want to do this after manually editing the connection files, or after copying them to another device.

As a shortcut

You can double click an exported connection file and RealVNC Viewer will automatically use it.

At the command line

You can launch a RealVNC Viewer connection at the command line by providing the the path to the connection file you want to use as part of the -config argument. For example, on Windows:

"C:\Program Files\VNC Viewer\vncviewer.exe" "C:\Users\username\Desktop\myconnection.vnc"

At start-up/login

You can launch a RealVNC Viewer connection automatically on login by creating a start-up item for your user. This varies between operating systems. On Windows, for example, you can copy the connection file to your user's startup folder:

​C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup