Web Remote

Updated September 2, 2026

Web Remote is Beacon’s zero-install, browser-based remote-desktop viewer. It opens in a new browser tab and gives a technician mouse, keyboard, and screen access to a Windows endpoint with nothing to install on either side beyond the Beacon agent already running there.

Under the hood, Web Remote runs its own screen-capture/input-injection helper process on the endpoint and reuses the same outbound session-relay architecture as Remote Shell (session_type: screen_share) — the endpoint makes an outbound connection to the relay, so no inbound port is ever opened.

Start a session

Open a device that is online and approved, then choose Web Remote. The session opens in a new tab. Initial connection can take up to a minute, since the agent only picks up the session request at its next check-in (sooner if Fast Poll is already active). If you know ahead of time that you’re about to open a session — for example, you’re still on the phone with the client — click the Fast Poll button on the device’s page first, so the device is already checking in every 15 seconds by the time you connect.

Web Remote can connect to:

  • An already-signed-in user’s desktop.
  • A machine sitting at its Windows sign-in screen with nobody signed in yet (see Sessions and displays).

If the target company or device requires it, the person at the machine is shown an Accept/Decline prompt before the session connects — see Web Remote consent.

Toolbar

  • Keyboard — a dropdown of key combinations that don’t reach a remote session normally, including Ctrl+Shift+Esc (Task Manager), Alt+Tab, Alt+F4, and Windows-key combos.
  • Paste — types your local clipboard’s text into the remote session. See File transfer and clipboard.
  • Fullscreen — scales the remote screen to fit your browser window.
  • Elevate — escalates the session to SYSTEM so you can see and interact with UAC prompts. See Elevate.
  • Disconnect — ends the session. It does not power off or restart the remote machine.

Scope and limits

Web Remote is Windows-only. It does not currently support:

  • Syncing the remote clipboard back to your local one (copy is one-way: local → remote only).
  • Non-Windows targets (Linux, macOS).
  • Full non-US keyboard layout, dead-key, or IME input — the key-injection path covers standard US-layout typing and the shortcut dropdown above.

Beta support

Core Web Remote (connect, control, disconnect) and multi-monitor switching are confirmed on real Windows hardware. Elevate is confirmed for an administrator console user; a standard (non-administrator) console user and file transfer are cross-compile-verified only, not yet exercised on real hardware. See Troubleshooting if a session won’t connect.