You see the real lock screen
Not a placeholder and not a black rectangle. The host's actual lock screen streams to your device, so you can tell at a glance whether the machine is locked, asleep, or simply showing a screen saver.
✦macOS · Windows · Linux hosts
The machine is locked and you are not in the building. Locked screen. Unlocked from your pocket.
Your Mac locked itself while you were out. On most remote tools that is the end of the story — a black screen, a dropped connection, or a lock screen you can look at but not type into. With Remio you see the lock screen, type your password from your phone, and land on your desktop.
3
host platforms
Lid
closed works too
Off
switchable per host
Free
no account
✦How it behaves
The lock screen is a screen like any other.
Remio does not bypass your computer's lock. It streams it, and passes your keystrokes to it — so the machine asks for your password exactly as it would if you were standing in front of it.
You type the real password
Your keystrokes reach the lock screen, and the operating system validates them the way it always does. Remio never stores, sees, or transmits your account password as anything other than the encrypted keystrokes of the session.
Lid closed counts
Close a MacBook's lid and connect from another device: you get the lock screen rather than a black screen and a dropped session. No HDMI dummy dongle required.
✦You stay in control
It is a setting, not an assumption.
Remote unlocking is powerful, so it is something you can turn off — and when it is off, your device tells you clearly instead of pretending to work.
Turn it off per host
Each host decides whether a connected device may type at its lock screen. Switch it off and you can still see the lock screen from your device — no keystrokes reach it.
Honest feedback
With remote unlocking off, your client says the computer is locked and that unlocking from here is turned off — rather than inviting you to type a password that goes nowhere. Tap the lock message and the keyboard opens right away when it is allowed.
Locked means locked
While the screen is locked, a connected device sees the lock screen and nothing more. Clipboard does not sync, files cannot be sent, and apps cannot be launched until someone actually signs in.
✦Who can do this
Only devices you already paired.
The security question that matters is not what happens after you connect — it is who is allowed to connect at all.
Pairing first
A device can only reach a host it has already been paired with, using a six-digit code you can rotate at any time or a QR scan. There is no account to phish and no directory of machines to enumerate.
End-to-end encrypted
The session is end-to-end encrypted between the two devices. Your screen never touches Remio's servers, and when a relay is needed it only ever sees ciphertext.
Revoke any time
The host lists every paired device and lets you remove any of them. Remove one and it is disconnected immediately and has to pair again before it can get back in.
✦Questions
Questions about connecting to a locked computer
Does this bypass my computer's password?
No. Remio streams the lock screen and passes your keystrokes to it; your operating system checks the password exactly as it would in person. If the password is wrong, it fails in exactly the same way.
Which hosts support remote unlocking?
macOS, Windows and Linux hosts. It can be switched off on any of them, and the client is told when it is off.
Does it work on a MacBook with the lid closed?
Yes. Connecting to a lid-closed MacBook shows the lock screen and you can unlock from your device. Previously this was a black screen and a dropped connection.
What can a connected device do while the screen is still locked?
See the lock screen, and type the password if remote unlocking is enabled. Nothing else — clipboard sync, file transfer and launching apps all stay off until someone signs in.
Can I reach a computer that fully restarted and nobody has signed in yet?
Not in the current public release. Today Remio reaches a machine whose screen is locked within a signed-in session — including a lid-closed MacBook. Reaching a Mac at the sign-in screen after a cold restart is in development and this page will be updated when it ships.
Is my password sent anywhere?
Only as the encrypted keystrokes of the session, to the host you are controlling. Remio does not store it, and Remio's servers never see it — the session is end-to-end encrypted.
Do I need an account?
No. Pairing is a six-digit code or a QR scan. Signing in is optional and only syncs the list of computers you own across your devices.
A locked machine is still your machine.
See the lock screen, type your password, land on your desktop — from a phone, tablet or another computer. Free, no account, no card.
Free foreverNo accountmacOS · Windows · Linux hosts