How to : Remote assistance - Mac to Mac

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Level 1

21 points

How to : Remote assistance - Mac to Mac

My mom, wife and I all have Macs running Sierra. I use TeamViewer between my work/home devices however was thinking there might be an easier solution built into Sierra. We are all fairly new to Apple so I'm not that familiar with all that's available.

What would you recommend for remote assistance? I don't need unattended access; just something that is easy to administer (and secure). If my mom has a problem, I want to be able to connect to her computer, see her screen and possibly take over her computer to perform whatever task she is trying to do.

Thanks.

--- Val

Mac mini, macOS Sierra (10.12.1), iPhone 6s / iPad Air 2 - iOS 10.2

Posted on Nov 4, 2016 10:07 AM

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Answer 1

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Barney-15E

Level 10

112,518 points

Nov 5, 2016 10:50 AM in response to vpalhories

If your message them using Messages on both Macs, you can Invite them to share their screen or vice versa from the Name popup menu on the message header area or from the Details button.

If they are messaging from an iPhone, then you might still see the invite commands initially, but once it figures out it is not a Mac, they will go away.

Messages for Mac: Share your screen or another user’s screen in Messages

The Screen Sharing in the Sharing System Preferences does not need to be enabled for this to work, and it should work over the internet (Screen Sharing only works on local networks as it can't get through the firewall/router).

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Answer 2

vpalhories Author

Level 1

21 points

Nov 5, 2016 10:50 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks a bunch. This should work. Didn't even know it was an option from messages. Still learning about the Apple ecosystem.

have a good one.

--- Val

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