Move a finger up and down or from side to side to move the mouse cursor in the direction you want to pan. The desktop automatically scrolls as the cursor nears an edge.
Zooming the desktop
If your device supports multi-finger gestures, pinch two fingers apart to zoom in and see more detail. Pinch two fingers together to zoom out and see more desktop. Note you cannot double-tap to zoom fully out as you may be able to in a web browser.
If your device does not support multi-finger gestures, an alternative mechanism may be presented, for example zoom in and zoom out buttons.
Opening the toolbar
VNC Viewer has toolbar buttons to perform key operations. To open the toolbar:
The toolbar appears at the bottom of the desktop, and stays visible until you touch the screen.
The toolbar appears at the top of the desktop, and stays visible for a few moments.
Using gestures
A gesture is a finger movement (one or more) that emulates a mouse operation in a touchscreen environment. As an alternative, you can use mouse button mode.
Note: Not all devices support multi-finger gestures.
To | Do this |
---|---|
Navigate the desktop | Move one finger in the direction you want to pan. More... |
Zoom in | Pinch two fingers apart. More... |
Zoom out | Pinch two fingers together. More... |
Move the mouse cursor | Place one finger on the screen and drag. More... |
Click the left mouse button | Tap the screen. More... |
Double-click the left mouse button | Double-tap the screen. More... |
Click the right mouse button | Tap two fingers on the screen. More... |
Click the middle mouse button | Tap three fingers on the screen. |
Scroll the mouse wheel | Place two fingers on the screen and slowly drag up or down. More... |
Drag an object or select text | Double-tap the screen, hold the second tap, and drag. More... |
Place a finger on the screen and drag to move the mouse cursor. The cursor is offset from under your finger so you can always see it. Note all operations are performed where the cursor is positioned, not your finger.
Tap anywhere on the screen to click the left mouse button once. Depending on the position of the cursor, an operation might be performed, such as pressing a dialog button or giving an application focus.
Double-tap anywhere on the screen to click the left mouse button twice. Depending on the position of the cursor, an operation might be performed, such as starting an application or selecting a line or word of text.
Tap two fingers anywhere on the screen simultaneously to click the right mouse button. Depending on the position of the cursor, a shortcut menu might open.
Place two fingers on the screen in an application window and move both up or down to scroll it. You may need to experiment with the distance between fingers to find the spacing that gives you the best result.
Double-tap anywhere on the screen, hold the second tap, and move your finger to drag a desktop object such as a dialog or icon, or select a body of text. Note that the cursor must be appropriately positioned for this operation to succeed, for example on the title bar of a dialog.
Using mouse button mode
In mouse button mode, virtual mouse buttons and an imaginary scroll wheel are superimposed on your view of the desktop (see the explanation in the picture below). This gives you even more precise control over operations.
Touch the toolbar button to enter mouse button mode. To quit, touch the same toolbar button again, or press the Back button.
Note you can move the mouse cursor around the desktop using your finger in the normal way. In addition, the scrolling key bar is available.
Entering text
To enter text in a suitable application or field, you can either use:
Touch the toolbar button to enter text entry mode. Note that if a device keyboard is detected, the virtual keyboard is not displayed. To quit, touch the same toolbar buttona again, or touch
to the right of the text preview.
You can enter any available character. Text you type is displayed in the preview bar. To obscure text (perhaps a password), touch . Note that in addition the scrolling key bar is available.
Entering international characters
You can enter international characters providing:
To access international characters, add the appropriate keyboard(s) to your device before you connect.
Performing keyboard operations
Computer keyboards have numerous non-character keys that, when pressed, and sometimes in combination, perform useful operations. For example, holding down the Control and Alt keys and pressing Delete enables you to reboot a Windows computer.
VNC Viewer has a scrolling key bar containing buttons representing the following keys:
Note that some other keys (such as the Space bar) can be accessed from a keyboard. Other keys (such as Print Screen and Num Lock) are not available.
The scrolling key bar is available in both mouse button mode and text entry mode. To see more buttons, scroll the bar to the left. Note that:
For example, you might touch the button (to emulate holding down the Control key) and then
on the virtual keyboard to copy the current selection to a Windows computer's Clipboard. The button automatically releases once the operation has been performed.
Transfering text
For connections to computers running VNC Enterprise Edition or VNC Personal Edition, you can copy text from your computer and paste it to a suitable application on your device, such as Email or Calendar, and vice versa. Note this is not possible for connections to computers running Apple Remote Desktop/Screen Sharing, or other VNC-compatible Server technology.
To transfer text from computer to device, use VNC Viewer to select and copy text in the expected way for the computer, for example by emulating the Control-C key combination. Press the Home button to switch out from VNC Viewer (you will not be disconnected), open the appropriate application, and paste text in the expected way for the device.
To transfer text from device to computer, open an appropriate application, and select and copy text in the expected way for the device. Close the application, open VNC Viewer, connect to a computer, and paste text in the expected way for its operating system, for example by emulating the Control-V key combination.
Tweaking performance
For connections to computers running VNC Enterprise Edition or VNC Personal Edition, you can trade picture quality for speed and vice versa while the connection is in progress. Note this is not possible for connections to computers running Apple Remote Desktop/Screen Sharing or other VNC-compatible Server technology.
To do this, touch the toolbar button to display connection information. Touch the Picture Quality dropdown, and choose either Low to make the connection faster but see potentially less detail, or High to have full color at a potential cost in speed.
If you retain the default Automatic option, VNC Viewer optimizes performance automatically according to the speed of your network.
Viewing connection information
Touch the toolbar button to bring up information about the current connection. This may be useful if you contact Support.
Note that only connections to computers running VNC Enterprise Edition or VNC Personal Edition are encrypted end-to-end (though authentication credentials are always encrypted). Upgrade your computer to this technology if security is important to you.
Closing the connection
Touch the toolbar button to close the connection.
Note you are not disconnected if you press the Home button to switch out from VNC Viewer.