Help · Kinds of tab
Remote desktop
Open a Windows or xrdp desktop in a tab, sign in, hand it the keyboard and get the keyboard back.
Open a remote desktop
- Press Ctrl+Shift+T and pick RDP.
- Type the machine, for example
administrator@10.42.0.77. - Press Enter.
The port is 3389 unless you add one (host:3390). Links that start with rdp:// or ms-rd:// open the same way.
A user name can carry its domain: CORP\anna and anna@corp.local both work.
To reach the machine through a proxy or ProxyPass, set the Route of the connection. See Routes.
Sign in
If Vandle has no password for the connection, it asks before it connects. Some servers (xrdp, or Windows without NLA) would otherwise show their own logon screen, and a password typed there cannot be kept.
- Tick Save this connection with the sign-in (or Remember the sign-in on a saved connection) to keep the password. It is stored only after the server accepts it.
- If the server refuses, you are asked again: "The server did not accept those credentials."
- An expired password has to be changed on the server itself.
- Cancel ends the attempt. The tab stays; click Connect to try again.
Screen size
The remote desktop follows the size of the tab. Resize the window or the pane, and the server is asked for a matching desktop shortly after.
A server that cannot change size keeps its own desktop. Vandle then scales the picture to fit the tab, in proportion, with black bars around it.
Give the remote machine the keyboard
Click into the remote screen. While it has the keyboard, the header shows Keys → remote.
Keys that your own desktop normally takes for itself now go to the remote machine:
- Windows: the Windows key, Print Screen, Ctrl+Esc and Alt+Esc. Alt+Tab stays on your computer, so you always have a way out.
- Linux: the Super key, Print and your desktop's own shortcuts. Under Wayland this only works where the compositor lets an X11 window grab the keyboard (on GNOME, with
xwayland-allow-grabs).
Take the keyboard back
Press Ctrl+Alt+Home, or click Keys → remote in the header. Click the remote screen again to hand the keyboard back.
Switching to another window also gives the keyboard back. Keys still held down are released on the remote side, so nothing stays stuck.
Send Ctrl+Alt+Del
Your own computer keeps the real Ctrl+Alt+Del. To send it to the remote machine:
- press Ctrl+Alt+End, or
- click the keyboard button in the header (Send Ctrl+Alt+Del).
Sound and microphone
The first time a remote desktop connects, Vandle asks once where sound should play and which microphone the remote machine may hear. Pick devices and click Use these, or click No sound.
Change that choice later under Settings, Defaults, Remote screens. New connections pick it up; a running one keeps what it has.
Each connection can refuse what the defaults allow. Open its Edit connection dialog and clear Allow sound or Allow the microphone. This takes effect on the next connect.
While a remote desktop runs, the header has a speaker and a microphone button:
- Click the button to mute or unmute.
- Click the small arrow next to it to switch devices (Sound plays on, The other side hears). The device you pick also becomes the default for the next remote desktop.
On Linux the device lists come from PulseAudio or PipeWire.
Clipboard
Vandle does not pass the clipboard between your computer and a remote desktop.
Vandle keys inside a remote desktop
A remote desktop keeps every key for the machine on the other side, except these:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Alt+Home | Take the keyboard back |
| Ctrl+Alt+End | Ctrl+Alt+Del on the remote machine |
| Ctrl+Shift+S | Mute the sound |
| Ctrl+Shift+M | Mute the microphone |
| Ctrl+Shift+T | New tab or switch to one |
| Ctrl+Shift+W | Close the tab |
| Ctrl+Tab | Next tab |
| Ctrl+Shift+Tab | Previous tab |
| Ctrl+Shift+1 to 8 | Tab 1 to 8 |
| Ctrl+Shift+9 | Last tab |
| Ctrl+Shift+Y | Show a tab beside this one |
| Ctrl+Shift+J | Next pane of the layout |
| Ctrl+Alt+arrow keys | Pane in that direction |
| Ctrl+Shift+B | Show/hide the sidebar |
| Ctrl+Shift+Enter | Full screen |
| Ctrl+Shift+L | Lock the master key |
| Ctrl+Shift+O | Open a handed-over tab |
These are the defaults. You can change them in Settings (Ctrl+Shift+,), under Hotkeys. See Keyboard.
On Linux, Vandle draws the remote screen itself and sees every key first. There, the other Vandle keys that make sense for the tab, such as Settings, also work while the remote desktop has the keyboard.
When the connection drops
The tab says what happened. Click Connect, or press Ctrl+Shift+R, to connect again.
Windows and Linux
- Windows: the remote screen is a native window inside the tab.
- Linux: the remote screen is drawn by Vandle from a shared picture, at full pixel density for your display scaling.
Both behave the same for signing in, sound, size and the keys listed above, apart from the differences noted on this page.