Screens Express for macOS

 

Screens Express is a free utility complementary to Screens for iOS or Mac that grants a trusted party access to your Mac via a unique and temporary link. It ensures that the required services are configured and running properly on your Mac and configures your router so that your Mac can be accessed remotely.

The remote user that receives your sharable link never sees your username or password. He/she can use your link via Screens for iOS or macOS to connect to your Mac.

You can close the connection anytime you wish.

Note: Screens Express requires macOS 10.10 Yosemite or later.

Instructions

Download and Launch Screens Express (Optimized for Intel and Apple Silicon)

On the Mac you will be connecting to, download the app by clicking on the appropriate link:

Screens Express for macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later

Screens Express for macOS 10.10 Yosemite to macOS 10.12 Sierra

Then, simply double-click on the Screens Express icon to launch the app.

Required Service and Settings Validation

Screens Express will verify that the required settings are properly configured. If that is not the case, you will need to grant Screens Express permission to make those changes for you. Screens Express will restore those settings back to their initial state when you close Screens Express.

Sharable Link

Once the operation is complete, Screens Express will generate a unique link, which can be shared with the person who wish to connect to your Mac. You can choose to change that link every time you use Screens Express or make that link the same on each use.

Simply select and copy the unique link or click the Share button to get a list of options:

The person receiving that link can then tap or click on that link, which will automatically open Screens and initiate a connection to the Mac.

Incoming Connection

Until a connection has been made, Screens Express is in wait mode. When an incoming connection has been detected, you will be prompted to allow the remote guest connection to continue. Click on Share Screen to let the connection go through.

From this point, the person has access to your Mac like he or she would be sitting in front of it.

Closing the Connection

To close the connection, you can either Quit the app or click the Close button if you wish to close the connection but keep Screens Express running.

If you choose to close the connection, the app will need your permission to perform this action.

Troubleshooting

Make Sure Screens Express Is Running

Screens Express was designed to only operate when it is running and will not run in the background. If you close Screens Express, your sharable link will become invalid until you launch the app again.

Internet Connection

Make sure that your Mac is connected to a network and that it has access to the Internet.

Grant Screens Express The Permission To Perform Some Actions

When prompted by Screens Express, please enter your password so it can apply temporary changes on your behalf.

Screens Express never gets your user credentials. It will only receive the confirmation that you are allowing it to perform some operations.

Accept Screen Sharing Requests

When prompted, click on Share Screen to let the connection go through.

Configure Your Router Properly

Screens Express needs to open a public port on your router in order to make your Mac accessible remotely and does so through UPnP or NAT Port Mapping. In this example, we demonstrate how to enable NAT Port Mapping on your Apple router.

If you have a different router, then please refer to your router's documentation or perform a search on Google through this form:

Router Brand:       Model:   

For more information on which routers are supported, please consult this article.