From home to your own office computer — with “My devices” and a second factor

What it is for

You work from home and need your computer at the office. Nobody is there to click "Allow". So your office computer is set up once to be reachable without consent. At home you open browserdesk.de/app, sign in with your personal account and connect from My devices — without installing anything. A second factor makes sure a stolen password alone is not enough.

What you need

• Cloud or an own relay. With Free every session has to be confirmed at the device — in an empty office nobody says yes.
• At the office computer: BrowserDesk with the service (C4), in your company's access (C2), with its own password and access without consent (D2).
• A personal user account in the access. The administrator creates it (B5). The shared access password does not sign you in to "My devices".
• For the second factor: an authenticator app on your phone, for example Microsoft Authenticator, Google Authenticator or Aegis.
• At home: a current browser — or BrowserDesk on your computer.

How to do it

Set up once at the office

1. Install BrowserDesk and set up the service so the computer is reachable even when nobody is signed in (C4).
2. Add the computer to the access: Einstellungen › Fernzugriff (Settings > Remote access) → card Zugang (access) → sign in with your user → switch on Dieses Gerät hinzufügen (Add this device) (C2).
3. Set an own password for the computer and choose Automatisch zulassen (unbeaufsichtigt) (Allow automatically — unattended) (D2). Remember the password — you need it at home.
4. Note the computer's ID (start page, card Ihr Desktop — Your desktop). It helps you recognise it in the list.

Connect from home

1. Open browserdesk.de/app.
2. In the card My devices enter "Access", "User" and "Password", then Sign in.
3. If your account has a second factor: enter the code from the authenticator app.
4. Click your office computer on the left, then Connect.
5. In the dialog enter the "Device password" — the office computer's password, not your account password. Click Connect. The session opens in a new tab.
6. If the computer is offline and can be woken, there is Wake up. Waking goes through another BrowserDesk device in the same office network.

With the program instead of the browser: at home in BrowserDesk under Einstellungen › Fernzugriff (Settings > Remote access) sign in with your user and click Beitreten (Join). Your office computer then appears in the Adressbuch (Address book) (D3). If your account has a second factor, the window Zweiter Faktor (Second factor) asks for the code.

Set up the second factor

1. While signed in to "My devices", click Two-factor, then Set up.
2. Scan the QR code with the authenticator app. If that does not work, type the key shown below it into the app.
3. Enter the code from the app, then Activate. The page says "Second factor set up."
4. If your access requires the second factor, signing in walks you through Set up second factor by itself.

From now on every sign-in — in the browser and in the program — asks for a code from the app.

For the administrator

• Devices per person: in the console, at the access under users → the person's menu → Set devices. Default: all devices of the access (B5).
• Require the second factor: Second factor required for users in the access's policies.
• Phone lost: Reset second factor in the person's menu.

How you know it worked

The new tab shows your office computer's screen; the tab carries its name.

What the other side sees

Nobody is at the office computer. On Windows, a small session window with your user name appears there for the duration of the session (F2).

Good to know

• Two passwords: the account signs you in to "My devices". The device password opens the computer. They are separate.
• The sign-in applies only to this browser tab and lasts at most 8 hours. Sign out ends it at once.
• A code is valid only once. If you sign in twice in quick succession, wait for the app's next code.
• After setting up the second factor, the program also has to sign in again — with a code.
• Turning it off: Two-factor → enter the current code → Turn off. If your access requires the second factor, only the administrator can reset it.
• There are no recovery codes. If the phone is gone, the administrator resets it.

If it does not work