2020 is the year many people will work from home for the first time as the COVID-19 virus sweeps across the world. For a lot of workers the best option will be to connect remotely from their home computer to either their work computer or server, as this will allow them to access all their files and applications exactly the same as in the office. Setting up Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) with RDGateway is the most common way to achieve this, and the setup process is very simple to connect from one Windows PC to another: Your IT provider can send you a RDP shortcut which you open on your home PC to connect into your work PC. If however you’re trying to connect from a Mac to a Windows PC the process is a little more complicated. In this article we will go through the step-by-step process with screenshots of how to setup RDP from your home Mac to your work Windows PC.
Step One: Go to the Mac App Store and download the “Microsoft Remote Desktop 10” app. Although the app is free you will still need an Apple ID to download it. Alternatively you could download it directly from the Internet from sites like this, however to make sure you get the latest and most secure version it is best to go to the Mac App Store if possible.
If you were provided a RDP shortcut by your IT provider, you can now open that shortcut to get access to your work PC or server. The RDP shortcut looks like this:
If you don’t have a RDP shortcut then keep following the steps below to setup remote connection from scratch:
Step Two: Open the app and select “add desktop”.
Step Three: Add the name of the PC or server you are going to connect to. You can get this info by right-clicking the start menu on the PC which you want to connect to and selecting “system”. The System window will tell you the PC name. Or alternatively your IT provider can help you find this.
If you are already connected to a work VPN then you can skip to Step Six. If you are not sure if you need to use a VPN or RDGateway your IT provider can advise you on this.
Step Four: Select the “show more” button and under the “Gateway” drop-down menu select “Add Gateway”.
Step Five: Enter the server name for RDGateway. You will need to obtain this from your IT provider.
Step Six: Select “add user account”.
Step Seven: Enter your office PC/server username in the “domainuser” format and your password.
Step Eight: Select “save”.
Step Nine: Double-click/tap the newly created desktop to open it and RDP into your office PC/server.
