back to my mac

Macs include a built-in way to remotely access your Mac'due south files and its screen from anywhere in the globe. The "Back to My Mac" feature is gratuitous but only works betwixt Macs.

While Microsoft discontinued the like features offered past Windows Alive Mesh and left Windows users with basic OneDrive syncing, Apple tree still supports the old Back to My Mac service and rolled it into iCloud.

Enable Back to My Mac

Back to My Mac is office of iCloud. It doesn't actually store your files or other sensitive data in the cloud. Instead, it uses your iCloud user account (Apple tree ID) to associate your Macs. To connect to a Mac, you must have logged into each Mac with the same iCloud account.

On each Mac yous desire to apply, open the System Preferences window by clicking the Apple icon and selecting System Preferences. Click iCloud and ensure the "Back to My Mac" check box is enabled.

Note the iCloud business relationship you're using here. To remotely admission your Mac from some other Mac, yous must log into that other Mac with the same iCloud account. Even if you don't own the Mac, y'all can create a new user account on it and log in with your iCloud account.

Actuate File and Screen Sharing

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Back to My Mac allows you to share a Mac'due south files and screen. This lets you remotely access whatever single file on your Mac, or use "screen sharing" to remote-desktop into your Mac and use information technology as if yous were sitting in front of it.

To utilise these features, you'll need to ensure both File Sharing and Screen Sharing are enabled on a Mac. From the System Preferences window, click the Sharing icon and enable Screen Sharing and File Sharing.

You'll need to practise this on each Mac you want to remotely access via Dorsum to My Mac.

Router Configuration

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For best connectivity and maximum performance, Apple recommends yous enable the UPnP or NAT-PMP features on your router. This allows your Mac to automatically forward the ports it requires for connectivity.

Configure these options from your router'southward web interface.

Remotely Access a Mac's Files and Screen

With Back to My Mac, File Sharing, and Screen Sharing enabled, you should at present be able to remotely connect to your Mac. Log into another Mac with the same iCloud account you used to log into the first Mac you lot fix upwardly. You can practise this from anywhere in the world every bit long equally you lot take an Internet connection.

When y'all open the Finder, you'll see all the Macs you've signed into and enabled Dorsum to My Mac on under Shared in the sidebar. Click a Mac's name to access its files — y'all tin can browse its entire drive and catch any file from the Finder window.

To remotely access a Mac's screen, click the Mac in the Finder'southward sidebar and click the "Share Screen" push button at the peak of the window. Your Mac will immediately establish a screen-sharing connection with the other Mac, and you'll run into its desktop in a window on your current Mac. You lot can remotely command the Mac as if y'all were sitting in front of it.

If Your Mac is Sleeping

If the remote Mac is in sleep style, you won't normally be able to access it over the network. If you'd like to remotely access a Mac and initiate connections while it's in sleep mode, the "Wake on Demand" feature can assistance. You'll require a device that can part as a "Bonjour Sleep Proxy," which will tell the Mac to wake up when yous endeavor to connect. Apple's AirPort Base Station, Time Sheathing, and Apple TV can all function every bit a sleep proxy, waking up your Mac when you try to connect to it over the Internet.

Back to My Mac actually uses something called "Wide-Area Bonjour" to securely detect and connect to services over the Internet. Other Bonjour-enabled services — not just file sharing and screen sharing — can also piece of work between Macs with Back to My Mac enabled.

Image Credit: ehacatzin on Flickr