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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?

JBeen
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Sopalajo de Arrierez
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8 Answers8

8

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.

Sopalajo de Arrierez
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6

I fixed this by disabling the "send special characters" setting in Real VNC's advanced settings. I use OSX, so now I can command+tab to switch to a different app.

rbrc
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3

I solved this under Windows 10 using AutoHotkey, which understandably is not suitable for all users/use cases. The code can be compiled into a .exe file.

The code listens for control-F1 to be pressed, and when triggered, sends the F8 keystroke top open the menu, followed by n (to minimize). This could be written to only work when VNC Viewer is the active window, but this meets my needs.

;; Escape VNC
^f1::   ; press control-F1 to escape
    send {f8}
    send n
    return

https://www.autohotkey.com/

pyn
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0

I came here looking for the same solution and what worked for me was:

  1. Left-click on VNC logo at left side of titlebar or hit F8 if mouse is stuck in VNC session.
  2. Uncheck "Relative Pointer Motion"

Now I can freely move my mouse from local to remote contexts just by moving the mouse to the session I want.

Jeff Ghitelman
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0

Ctrl-Shift-e and F8-> n didn't work for me, but it made me notice that the media keys on my laptop can be used to bring the focus back to the viewer as long as you're not passing the media keys through the vnc (adjustable in vnc settings).

In my case, the airplane mode, bluetooth, on-screen keyboard, and favorites buttons (overlayed on top of Fnc keys) work to change the focus back the viewer. Then alt-tab allows moving to viewer windows.

Obviously this is specific to my laptop, but it may be a workaround for others who have media keys directly mapped on their laptops (or keyboards with media keys).

horta
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0

CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + F
In windows 10 enterprise

DarkDiamond
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temp user
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0

On a macOS client, I set SendSpecialKeys to False to allow cmd+tab out of VNC, and also LeftOptKey to Alt_L, so can that I can alt+tab within the Windows host

drkvogel
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-1

F8 - uncheck Full Screen

Works even with Send special characters turned on.

Rakly3
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