Working with multiple monitors in RealVNC Connect

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Working with multiple monitors on a remote device running RealVNC Server

By default, RealVNC Viewer will show all monitors connected to the remote computer. However, with RealVNC Viewer 7.1.0 and later, you can switch between monitors using the monitor icons on the toolbar at the top of the session window.

monitor_select_toolbar_both.png

This feature can only be used on desktops (Windows, Mac and Linux) which are listed as a supported platform. Switching monitors is not currently supported on RealVNC Viewer for Mobile. 

Viewing a single monitor

You can choose to either cycle through monitors:

monitor_select_cycle.png


or select a particular monitor to view:

monitor_select_toolbar.png

monitor_select.png


Please note, the selected monitor is not saved between sessions and will need to be selected each time you connect.

Viewing multiple monitors (Multi-Window mode)

New in RealVNC Viewer and RealVNC Server 7.10.0

From RealVNC Viewer and RealVNC Server 7.10.0 onwards you can use RealVNC Viewer in Multi-Window mode. This mode lets you create a separate RealVNC Viewer application for each remote monitor connected to the RealVNC Server device.

This feature can only be used on desktops (Windows, Mac and Linux) which are listed as a supported platform. Multi-Window mode is not currently available for RealVNC Viewer on mobile platforms.

To activate Multi-Window mode, first click the Monitor Select icon:

monitor_select_toolbar.png


then click the icon for Multi-Window mode, followed by the monitor(s) you wish to view:

Multi-Window_Monitor_Select_Multi.png

Each window can be independently scaled or placed into Fullscreen mode using the RealVNC Viewer toolbar.

toolbar_fullscreen.png

Please note, the selected monitor(s) and window mode are not saved between sessions and will need to be selected each time you connect.

Working with multiple monitors during an On-Demand Assist session

Starting with RealVNC Viewer 7.1.0 and On-Demand Assist 2.1.0, technicians can switch between monitors during an On-Demand Assist session.

When connected to a device with multiple monitors, you can use the monitor icons in the toolbar at the top of the session to select a particular monitor to view:

Toolbar_ODA_2.png

MonitorSelect.png

or cycle through monitors:

Toolbar_ODA_3.png

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Comments

38 comments
  • Hi Adam,

    Thanks for your message, I will pass your feedback on to our product team.

    Kind regards,

    Jack

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  • Nice work. It works good for my windows plattform. Thank you.

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  • Hi Jack,
    I have upgraded to ver. 7.10 on both server and viewer and I do not see that multi-windows option. Any idea why?

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  • Hi Jack,
    Same behavior than SpeednetUSA for us. We tried on several computers and the multi-window mode is not available.

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  • Hi both,

    SpeednetUSA - I can see you raised this with our Support team and there was an issue with your team which we have now corrected.

    Charles, do you license RealVNC Server online or offline? If online and you don't see the feature, please can you open a ticket? If you license RealVNC Server offline, you will need to apply an updated offline license to enable this feature. See https://help.realvnc.com/hc/en-us/articles/360029797672

    I hope this helps!

    Kind regards,

    Jack

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  • Hi Jack,

    Thanks for the quick reply, we license RealVNC offline. We are currently on the renewal process so when we will receive the new license the feature should be available.

    I will wait for our new license and try it again.

    Thanks again!

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  • Hi All, Is it possible to drag an opened file (doc, excel, pdf, etc.) from one monitor to another monitor while in multi-monitor mode? How, if possible? I can't seem to do it while viewing from a desktop multi-monitor setup or on a single monitor on a laptop. Thanks.

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  • Hi Ron,

    Thanks for your message. Being able to drag items from one window to another is something we are looking to implement in a future release. Currently you should be able to drag a window to the edge such that it "overlaps" with the additional monitor(s) then resume dragging on the desired monitor.

    Note, when connecting to RealVNC Server on macOS server it's not possible to partially drag a window, instead the easiest way is via the Window menu - there’s a “Move to <MONITOR>” entry. The only other option is to switch to “single window all monitors” mode temporarily, drag it, then switch back to multi-window mode.

    Thanks,

    Jack

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