How To Remotely Control An Android Phone From Your Computer’s Desktop

Why would you want to remotely control your Android phone from a desktop pc anyway? There are a couple of reasons to consider.

First, you frequently transfer files back and forth from your computer to the Android device and vice versa. This can be achieved by enabling USB debugging method but the disadvantage here is that you have to plug in the USB cable, enable USB debugging and transfer files from the Android device to your computer and vice versa.

Instead, if you can wirelessly control an Android device, you would be able to transfer files using your home Wi-Fi or that 3G mobile web connection, without having to use any USB cable at all.

Second, you want to receive SMS and notifications of your Android device on desktop computer. Sure there are a lot of free apps which lets you control your phone’s message folder from your desktop but what if you want to compose and send SMS messages from your computer itself?

Third, you want to use your phone’s camera as your computer’s webcam and need a quick and easy solution which would let you record videos or capture screenshots directly from your computer. Your phone will remain idle at the desk while all the functionalities can be controlled from the desktop pc itself.

Lastly, you would want to completely control your phone using your computer’s mouse. Wouldn’t it be great and exciting?

Here is a very easy way to remotely control an Android phone from desktop

Setting Up The Remote Connection Between Your Computer And the Android Device

1. Open the Android market from your phone and install the Remote web desktop app. Both free and paid version of the app are available, so you can first install the free one and upgrade later on.

2. Once the app is installed, start it and hit the “Start server” button. The app will then connect to your desktop computer via the Wi-Fi connection so make sure your computer and the Android device are both connected to the same Wi-Fi connection. You may choose a password or leave the option blank.

3. The app will then give you a URL in the form of http://192.168.1.3:8999/, which you should open on your computer’s desktop browser and login with the password chosen earlier.

That’s it, you have successfully connected your computer with the Android device and now you can control the phone from your computer using the remote Wi-Fi connection. Let’s quickly learn various features of the app and what makes it one of the best remote control apps for any Android phone or tablet device.

You might also like to read our previous tutorials on setting up remote desktop connection between two Windows computers or remotely controlling Windows from a browser.

Use Android’s File Explorer From Your Desktop

On the start screen, you will see a full featured desktop featuring a file explorer, media manager, contacts book, screen capture utility, Wi-Fi keyboard, shared clipboard, remote control add-on and a couple of more shortcuts. Here is how the remote desktop of your Android mobile looks on your computer’s browser

To access files stored on your phone’s SD card, simply double click the File explorer shortcut and you can copy, move, delete or rename files directly from the desktop browser of your computer. There is no need to use that USB cable, all the changes will be transmuted wirelessly and you should see the changes almost instantly.

So you can copy your entire music library from your computer’s hard drive to Android SD card or move the entire My Pictures folder to your phone. Since all the files are copied or moved wirelessly, it should take more time when compared with the USB wired method. But that’s fine, because you need not connect the USB cable at all.

Use Your Android Camera As PC Webcam

Sure you can shoot videos directly from the Android device but there is no direct way to use it as the web camera of your PC. However, once you install the remote control app for Android, you can use the Webcam shortcut on the mobile desktop to use your Android’s camera as the webcam of your computer. Double click the shortcut and it just works out of the box

You can either use the phone’s camera in portrait or landscape modes, take photos or record videos and save it on your phone’s SD card or to the hard drive of your computer. Sweet !

Control Android Phone With Your Computer’s Mouse And Keyboard

Wouldn’t it be nice if you can use your computer’s mouse to control every aspect of your phone? What if you can type on your Android device from your computer’s keyboard? This app, paired with the remote control add-on for Android lets you do just that.

Once you have installed the add-on, you can use your computers mouse to control the phone. Dial numbers using your computer’s numpad keys and navigate around your folder, as if it’s a standalone computer

Additionally, you can share clipboard data between your computer and the Android device, change the system wallpaper or send and receive SMS messages directly on your computer. This is by far one of the best remote sharing app for Android, and once you start using it, you will never feel the need of any other extra app for managing your phone settings, messages, files and other stuff from your desktop.

Watch the Video Screencast: Controlling an Android Phone From Desktop

Related reading: Use a Windows pc to install apps on your Android phone