How to Enable Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain Mode [Windows/Mac]

How do I enable Curtain mode in Chrome Remote Desktop?

“I’m remoting into work PC via Chrome Remote Desktop, and I have this sinking feeling that someone is peering over my shoulder on the other side. I’ve heard that Curtain mode helps effectively covers the monitor at the remote point. Is it just immediately initiated when I log on? If it is not, how do I enable Curtain mode on my work PC?”

What is Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode?

Curtain mode is one of the most useful features of Chrome Remote Desktop. With this mode enabled on the host computer, when you remotely log onto it, it will automatically show a lock screen, preventing someone physically present at host machines from seeing what you’re doing when remotely connected. This helps protect the privacy of users when they use Chrome Remote Desktop to remotely control their PC.

How to enable Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode on Windows

Next, we provide you with two methods to enable Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode on Windows. But you need to note that this feature only works on Windows devices running Windows Professional, Ultimate, Enterprise, or Server, for example, Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode for Windows 10 Home is not supported.

Method 1. Enable Curtain mode using Registry

On the host computer, you can set the following four keys using Regedit to enable Curtain mode:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\fDenyTSConnections to 0.
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\UserAuthentication to 0.
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\RemoteAccessHostRequireCurtain to 1.

For Windows 10 computer, you will need to add one more registry key:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\SecurityLayer to 1.

In case you don’t know how to do this, we’ll take the first key as an example, teaching you how to set it. For the next three keys, simply repeat the previous steps.

Step 1. Press Win + R and then type in “regedit” to open the Registry Editor.

Step 2. Navigate here: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > Terminal Server. On the right pane, find and double-click fDenyTSConnections.

Step 3. Set its value to 0.

Method 2. Enable Curtain mode using Command Prompt

The second method to enable Chrome Remote Desktop stealth mode on the host computer is to use the Command Prompt to run an elevated command line to set the required registry key values and force them to take effect.

Step 1. Press Win + R and then type in “cmd” to open the Command Prompt.

Step 2. Copy and paste the following command into the Command Prompt and then press Enter:

reg add HKLM\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome /v RemoteAccessHostRequireCurtain /d 1 /t REG_DWORD /f && reg add “HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server” /v fDenyTSConnections /d 0 /t REG_DWORD /f && reg add “HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp” /v SecurityLayer /d 1 /t REG_DWORD /f && reg add “HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp” /v UserAuthentication /d 0 /t REG_DWORD /f && net stop chromoting && net start chromoting

Note: You can disable Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode by restoring the registry key values to their original settings.

How to enable Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode on Mac

In this part, we’ll introduce how to enable Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode on Mac. Also, you need to note that this feature is no longer supported on Mac devices running macOS Big Sur or later.

Step 1. Press the Command button and the space bar simultaneously, type Terminal in the search field, then click Terminal to open a terminal window.

Step 2. Use the defaults command to set the default value of RemoteAccessHostRequireCurtain to true for both the current user and root:

defaults write com.google.Chrome RemoteAccessHostRequireCurtain -boolean true

sudo defaults write com.google.Chrome RemoteAccessHostRequireCurtain -boolean true

✍Bonus tips: How to disable Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode on Mac

You can disable Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode on Mac by restoring RemoteAccessHostRequireCurtain, delete the key from the defaults for the current user and root:

defaults delete com.google.Chrome RemoteAccessHostRequireCurtain

sudo defaults delete com.google.Chrome RemoteAccessHostRequireCurtain

Chrome Remote Desktop alternative: Protect privacy with AnyViewer

Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode is surely a great feature to protect privacy during the remote session. But it has some unavoidable defects:

• Both the host and the client machines need to be running the Pro (or higher) version of Windows to enable Curtain mode. For example, you can’t access your Windows 10 Pro computer from a Win 7 Home laptop and successfully instantiate Curtain Mode.
• Curtain mode is not available for mobile devices like smartphones or tablets. For example, when you’re using Chrome Remote Desktop on an iPad to remotely control a computer, you can’t black the screen of your host computer.

As sometimes you may also encounter Chrome Remote Desktop not working problem, you may need a Chrome Remote Desktop alternative. Here we would like to introduce the free yet professional remote desktop software for Windows and iOS, AnyViewer to you, which has the Privacy mode feature enabling users to black the screen of the remote device when remotely controlling it. Its advantages over Chrome Remote Desktop are mainly reflected in:

• Its Privacy mode is available on various versions of Windows, including Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 and Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2012 R2.
• AnyViewer for iOS supports Privacy mode as well. You can black the screen of the computer when remotely controlling your PC from your iPhone or iPad.

Let’s get started with AnyViewer right now.

Step 1. Download, install and launch AnyViewer on both computers.

Step 2. On your host computer, go to Log in, and then click Sign up. (If you already have signed up on its official website, you can log in directly.)

Step 3. Fill in the signup information.

Step 4. Then you can see you successfully logged in to AnyViewer. Your device will automatically be assigned to the account you’ve logged in to.

Step 5. On your client computer, log in to the same AnyViewer account. Then you can see your host computer on My devices. Choose your host computer, tick Connect in privacy mode, then click Remote control to achieve unattended remote access to your host computer

Note: Privacy mode is an exclusive feature for Professional or Enterprise plan when you control PC from PC. You can also assign more devices to achieve secure unattended remote access after upgrading.

Step 6. Once connected successfully, the host computer will become a black screen, no one on that side can see what you're doing on it. Also, its mouse and keyboard will be blocked, no one can control it except you.

If you remotely control your computer from your iPhone/iPad, you can find Privacy mode in the menu.

Conclusion

This post gives you a stepwise tutorial on enabling Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode on Windows and Mac. With this feature enabled, you can remote into a computer without anyone seeing what you’re doing on it.

But still, Chrome Remote Desktop Curtain mode has certain shortcomings. Therefore, we recommend AnyViewer to you. With AnyViewer, you can remotely control another computer privately without any limitations. Download it and try it right away!