Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteOn Wayland, apps usually share screen content through XDG Desktop Portal and PipeWire, while remote desktop services separately provide network access to a desktop session. To share your active GNOME desktop, open Settings → System → Remote Desktop and enable Desktop Sharing; enable Remote Control only if the other person needs to interact. For remote login or headless access, configure a remote desktop service for that specific mode instead—an app’s screen-sharing permission does not create a network-accessible desktop.
First choose what you need to connect to
“Screen sharing” can mean an app sending a view of your screen to a meeting, or another computer connecting to your desktop over the network. Wayland uses related components for these tasks, but the setup and permissions differ.
| Need | What it does | Typical route |
|---|---|---|
| Share screen content from an app | Lets a compatible app receive a screen stream after the desktop mediates access and selection. | The app requests access through the ScreenCast portal; the portal can present a chooser for the screen or window. |
| Let someone control your active desktop | Allows remote input as well as, where configured, viewing. | Use a desktop remote-sharing feature with remote control enabled, or a RemoteDesktop portal flow that requests input access. |
| Connect to a login screen | Provides a route to sign in remotely before an existing desktop session is active. | GNOME Remote Login, configured as a system service. |
| Connect to a separate headless desktop | Provides a remote graphical session that is not simply the currently active local session. | A headless remote-desktop service configured for that user session. |
Whether a remote service supports RDP, VNC, or both depends on the implementation and mode. A screen-casting portal alone does not listen for network connections or set up a remote login.
How Wayland screen sharing works
A compatible application generally asks the XDG Desktop Portal ScreenCast interface for access. The portal coordinates with the active desktop environment so the user can select what to share; it then provides access to a PipeWire stream. This is why an app may show a desktop-controlled screen or window chooser rather than directly capturing arbitrary screen contents.
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Remote input is a separate capability. The RemoteDesktop portal can create a session, request device types, and start a session that typically asks the user to approve access. It can be combined with ScreenCast for video and input in the same remote session; clipboard access is another distinct capability. Sharing a picture of the desktop does not automatically grant keyboard, pointer, or clipboard access.
Share or control the current GNOME desktop
- Open Settings → System → Remote Desktop.
- Turn on Desktop Sharing to let another device connect to the active desktop.
- Turn on Remote Control only when the connecting person should be able to move the pointer and use the desktop. That grants meaningful interaction, not just a view.
- Use the hostname, port, username, and password shown in the panel in the remote client. Verify the displayed encryption fingerprint against the value shown by the connecting client when prompted.
- When finished, open the system menu’s Screen is being shared item and choose Turn off.
If you also enable GNOME Remote Login, it uses port 3389, while Desktop Sharing uses a different port, such as 3390. Use the exact port shown by the host rather than assuming the default. GNOME’s help also notes that some networks require adding .local to the hostname. Its listed client options include Remmina, Connections, or xfreerdp on Linux and Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc) on Windows.
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GNOME’s help describes H.264 use as dependent on the graphics pipeline, client support, and an available NVIDIA NVENC encoder. Do not assume that every host/client combination will use H.264 hardware encoding.
Choose the right GNOME remote desktop mode
| Mode | Use it for | Configuration distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Remote assistance / Desktop Sharing | Helping with an already active user session. | GNOME documents RDP and VNC support for remote assistance; the graphical Settings panel exposes Desktop Sharing. |
| Remote Login | Reaching the graphical login screen and signing in remotely. | This is a system-level RDP route integrated with GDM and requires administrative configuration. It is distinct from sharing an already open desktop. |
| Headless single-user desktop | Connecting to a separately configured graphical session without relying on the active local desktop. | GNOME documents RDP and VNC configuration for this mode; it uses a user-session service rather than the system service used for Remote Login. |
GNOME Remote Desktop’s grdctl tool configures credentials and enables services, but commands and service steps differ by mode. RDP configuration requires a TLS key and certificate; GNOME’s project documentation describes certificate-generation options using FreeRDP’s winpr-makecert, GnuTLS certtool, or OpenSSL. Follow the upstream instructions for the exact mode and GNOME Remote Desktop version you have. Do not apply a system Remote Login command sequence to user-session assistance or headless hosting.
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KDE Plasma and other Wayland desktops
KDE’s KRFB handbook describes enabling Desktop Sharing in KRFB’s main window, using its displayed address and port as the connection details, setting a password, and configuring unattended access. Those instructions describe KRFB’s documented workflow; they should not be taken as a guarantee that KRFB is the right Wayland remote-desktop service for every Plasma release. Check the documentation for the Plasma version and service actually installed.
Plasma also documents an advanced permission-store feature for pre-authorizing remote desktop access; the developer documentation says it was introduced in Plasma 6.3 and gives org.kde.krdpserver as an example application ID. This is specific to Plasma and is not a universal Wayland permission switch. Prefer the normal interactive approval flow unless you deliberately administer this desktop-specific configuration.
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For other compositors—especially desktops assembled from separate components—the working pieces usually include xdg-desktop-portal, a backend appropriate to the active desktop/compositor, and PipeWire. Package names and session setup vary by distribution and compositor, so use its current documentation rather than copying a package-install command from another system.
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Troubleshoot a missing chooser or failed connection
- Identify the failing task. Is an app unable to share a screen, does remote viewing work but input fail, or can no one connect to a login/headless host? These point to different capabilities or services.
- Check the desktop and portal backend. Identify the active desktop/compositor and distribution, then verify that
xdg-desktop-portaland the matching backend are installed, selected, and running. A backend for a different desktop may not provide the expected selection and capture integration. - Check PipeWire and the session environment. Confirm PipeWire is available and that portal processes activated over D-Bus receive the user session’s relevant environment, including
WAYLAND_DISPLAYandXDG_CURRENT_DESKTOPwhere applicable. This is especially important on manually assembled setups; integrated GNOME and KDE environments normally arrange this automatically. - For network access, use the host’s displayed connection details. Check the hostname or IP, exact port, credentials, and encryption fingerprint. If GNOME Remote Login and Desktop Sharing are both on, make sure the client targets the intended service’s port.
- Check network reachability and firewall scope. Confirm the host firewall and network permit the selected service. Keep access limited to a trusted network or deliberate VPN/security design; do not broadly expose a remote desktop service to the public internet.
- If video works but input does not, check permissions and mode. The host must allow remote control, and an app-based RemoteDesktop flow must have requested and received input permission. ScreenCast approval alone is not a grant of remote input.
Limit access to what the session needs
- Choose view-only access when interaction is unnecessary; enable remote control only for a trusted person and task.
- Distinguish assistance in an already logged-in session from system login or a separate headless session before enabling a service.
- Use the credentials and encryption checks provided by the selected desktop service. For KRFB, KDE warns against sending the connection address and password together in unencrypted email.
- Restrict network reach deliberately. GNOME Remote Desktop’s project documentation cautions against opening the firewall to the public internet.
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