Set up your RDP client

What you need first

• An account. The one waydesk-setup-admin made, or one an administrator made with waydesk-admin users add NAME.
• A way to the port. By default it listens on the server's own 127.0.0.1 only, so you reach it through an SSH tunnel (below), or the server was opened to a local network or a VPN, see Connect.
• The certificate fingerprint, to compare on the first connection: sudo waydesk-admin cert status on the server prints it. A local certificate authority makes the comparison unnecessary.

The tunnel, from your own computer (macOS, Linux, or PowerShell on Windows 10 and 11, which has an OpenSSH client):

$ ssh -N -L 3389:127.0.0.1:3389 you@your-server  # keep this running

If your computer already uses port 3389 (a Windows PC with Remote Desktop switched on does), forward 13389 instead (-L 13389:127.0.0.1:3389) and connect to localhost:13389.

Windows App on macOS

Tried, works, with the Retina display sharp and the window resizing live.

1. Start the tunnel and leave it running.
2. In the Windows App, add a PC and give it the name localhost (or localhost:13389).
3. Give it the Waydesk account's name and password.
4. Connect. The first time, the app shows the server's certificate: compare its fingerprint with the one from waydesk-admin cert status, then accept.

A Mac keeps some shortcuts for itself: Cmd+Space opens Spotlight and never reaches the session, so a desktop that uses Super+Space (Omarchy's menu or launcher) cannot be opened that way. Turn Spotlight's shortcut off or move it (System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Spotlight), or use another binding of the desktop. A MacBook's keyboard sends some keys to other places than a PC's. Waydesk follows the client's layout, and there is a Keyboard window in the desktop if a key arrives wrong.

mstsc on Windows

Tried on Windows 11 for ARM in a virtual machine, through an SSH tunnel; the VPN was not tried with it.

1. Start the tunnel in PowerShell (ssh -N -L 13389:127.0.0.1:3389 you@your-server).
2. Press Win+R, type mstsc, and enter localhost:13389 as the computer. Under *Show options*, enter the account's name.
3. Connect and enter the password.
4. The certificate warning is expected with the server's own certificate. Windows shows a SHA-1 thumbprint where Waydesk prints a SHA-256 fingerprint, so the two cannot be compared by eye: for Windows clients the practical way is the local certificate authority, imported once with certmgr.msc into Trusted Root Certification Authorities.

FreeRDP on Linux

Tried with Debian 13's sdl-freerdp3 (FreeRDP 3.15).

$ sudo apt install freerdp3-sdl
$ sdl-freerdp3 /v:localhost /u:alice /size:1680x1050 /gfx:AVC420

/gfx:AVC420 asks for the H.264 stream Waydesk sends, and /size sets the window. It asks for the password and shows the certificate: compare the fingerprint with waydesk-admin cert status. On Ubuntu, the packaged xfreerdp3 (3.32) cannot decode that stream: use Debian's client, or another client from the list above.

If it does not connect

Is the tunnel still running? Is the port the one you forwarded? waydesk-admin access show on the server says where it listens and who may connect, and troubleshooting lists the rest in the order to check them.