RealVNC Viewer – Escape Remote Desktop Screen Using Keys

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I often use RealVNC Viewer to connect to remote VNC desktops served by RealVNC Server, Tight VNC Server, X11VNC… etc.

When connected, all pressed hotkeys are passed to (captured by) the remote desktop, and that is OK for me, but I then need use to the mouse to click on my local desktop if I want to interact with local programs… and keys are always faster than the mouse.

Is there any hotkey to escape from the remote desktop and send focus to the local desktop?

Best Answer

I don't know about any hotkey for escaping nor way to define it at RealVNC Viewer. I would really love to know.

Meanwhile, I use two workarounds for this:

  • Pressing some hotkey that is defined (say Ctrl+Shift+E for Windows Explorer) for a local program (on the computer running VNC Client), as long as they are prioritized by RealVNC Viewer. This automatically send focus to local desktop. Problem: such hotkey will not work on the remote machine (you can not define Ctrl+Shift+E for Windows Explorer on the computer running VNC Server) .
  • Pressing this key sequence: F8, then n (to minimize; maybe any other on your Windows). Problem: this minimizes the window that shows the remote desktop, and some times you don't want this.

The first one is preferred for me, since a sequence is always slower than a direct hotkey.

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