To re-establish the connection to your Mac

If you are having trouble connecting to a Mac that was previously accessible - whether after upgrading or migrating macOS, if Screens hangs while downloading... or if an error occurs with an incorrect username or password - the following steps may resolve the issue.

This article will guide you through resetting the Remote Management and Remote Login services and ensure that your macOS Firewall is configured correctly to allow incoming connections.

If you are using an iPhone, iPad or Vision Pro, or if your Mac is running macOS 15 Sequoia or later, you will need to authorise Screens to discover your computers on the Local Network. Instructions on how to enable this feature can be found at the end of the article.

Important: These instructions must be performed while you have physical access to your Mac, otherwise you will lose remote access and will not be able to reconnect.

Reset the Remote Management Service

Under macOS 13 Ventura or higher

1. on the Mac you are connecting to, click here to open the Sharing settings, or manually open the System Preferences app and go to General > Sharing
2. switch the Remote Management switch off and on again
3. click on the ⓘ button next to the switch and make sure that Allow access for is set to All users or that your user is listed if Only these users is selected.
4. click on Options...
5. make sure that both Watch and Control are enabled. If they are already enabled, try to deselect and re-enable them to force a reset

Note: If your Mac is running macOS 14.5, we recommend using All Users to work around a bug introduced in this version. For more details, see this article.

Under macOS 12 Monterey or earlier

1. on the Mac you are connecting to, click here to open the Sharing settings, or manually open the System Preferences app and go to General > Sharing
2. deactivate the Remote management tick box and activate it again
3. click on Options...
4. make sure that both Watch and Control are activated. If they are already enabled, try disabling and re-enabling them to force a reset. 5.
5. make sure the Mac user (or all users) are allowed to connect.

Reset the remote login service.

If you have enabled secure connections for this Mac, follow these instructions:

Under macOS 13 Ventura or higher

1. on the Mac you are connecting to, click here to open the Sharing settings, or manually open the System Preferences app and go to General > Sharing.
2. switch the Remote Login switch off and on again.
3. click on the ⓘ button next to the switch.
4. click on Options....
5. ensure that the Mac user (or all users) is authorised to establish a connection.

Under macOS 12 Monterey or earlier

1. click here to open the Sharing settings or manually open the System Preferences app and go to General > Sharing
2. deactivate and reactivate the Remote login tick box
3. click on Options...
4. make sure that the Mac user (or all users) are allowed to connect

Reset the firewall

If the firewall is activated on your Mac, follow these instructions:

Under macOS 13 Ventura or higher

1. on the Mac you are connecting to, click here to open the Network settings or manually open the System Preferences app and go to Network
2. select Network
3. select Firewall
4. click on Options...
5. make sure that Remote Management and Remote Login (if enabled) are set to Allow incoming connections

Under macOS 12 Monterey or earlier

1. on the Mac you are connecting to, click here to open the Network settings, or manually open the System Preferences app and go to Network
2. select Network
3. select Firewall
4. click on Firewall options...
5. make sure that Remote Management and Remote Login (if enabled) are set to Allow incoming connections

Activate local network access

iOS 14 or higher

To find and connect to computers on your network, Screens must be able to detect devices on your local network. Make sure this is allowed in the Settings app under Privacy and Security > Local Network and make sure Screens is allowed.

visionOS

The same applies to your Vision Pro. Make sure this is allowed in the "Settings" app under Privacy and Security > Local Network and make sure Screens is allowed.

macOS 15 or higher

As of macOS 15 Sequoia, new privacy measures require that apps are authorised to detect computers in your local network. To grant this access, open Preferences, navigate to Privacy > Local network and make sure Screens is allowed.

Note: This step only needs to be performed on Macs where Screens is installed and used to establish connections.