Remote Assistance in Windows 11 and 10: Turn It On or Off, Invite and Give Help

To turn on Remote Assistance in Windows 11, search the Start menu for remote assistance and open Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer, or press Windows + R and run SystemPropertiesRemote. On the Remote tab, check Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer and select OK. To turn it off, clear the same box. To ask for help, run msra /novice and save an invitation file for your helper, who opens it with msra /expert and types the password you give them. Remote Assistance works on Windows 11 Home and Pro, but its old Easy Connect option is grayed out on current Windows, so invitation files are the way to connect. For a quick one-off session, Quick Assist, opened with Ctrl + Windows + Q, needs no setup at all.

Ethan's mother called on a Sunday: her PC showed a message she did not understand, and she could not describe it over the phone. Ethan asked Jake how to see her screen. Jake's first question was whether she would ever need help again, and the answer was obviously yes. So rather than a one-time fix, he walked Ethan through both tools: Quick Assist for that afternoon, which worked in two minutes once she read out a code, and Remote Assistance, turned on and tested the following weekend, for times when Ethan visits her network or wants a tool that works the same on every Windows PC. He also showed them how to turn Remote Assistance off, because a door you never use should stay shut. This page covers Remote Assistance in Windows 11 and 10 from start to finish: turning it on and off, inviting a helper, giving help, the msra commands, Group Policy and the registry, the firewall, what Easy Connect's disappearance means, fixing connections that fail, and when to use Quick Assist or Remote Desktop instead.

What Windows Remote Assistance is

Windows Remote Assistance lets someone you trust see your screen from their own PC, chat with you, and, if you allow it, take control of your mouse and keyboard to fix a problem while you watch. You stay signed in to your own account the whole time, nothing happens without your approval, and either of you can end the session at any moment. The program behind it is msra.exe, short for Microsoft Remote Assistance, which is why that name appears in commands, firewall lists and error messages.

It has been part of Windows since Windows Vista, and it is still included in Windows 11 and Windows 10, in every edition, including Home. It is not a separate download and not an app from the Store. It is also still maintained: Microsoft fixed a security flaw in Remote Assistance, CVE-2026-20824, in the January 13, 2026 updates, which is one more reason to keep Windows updated if you use it, and to keep it turned off if you do not.

Remote Assistance is designed for help, not for working remotely. The person being helped must be at the PC, must start or accept the session, and sees everything the helper does. That is the main difference from Remote Desktop, which signs a user in to a PC remotely without anyone at the screen. And it differs from Quick Assist, Microsoft's newer help tool, mainly in setup: Remote Assistance must be turned on in advance and connects by invitation files or, on managed networks, by offering help, while Quick Assist connects anywhere with a short code.

Most home users today are better served by Quick Assist, and this page says so plainly where it matters. Remote Assistance still earns its place in a few situations: on a local network where the helper does not want to use a Microsoft account, in offices where IT offers help to PCs on the domain without a code, in scripts and shortcuts that use msra commands, and on PCs where Store apps such as Quick Assist are blocked. It is also worth understanding simply so you can turn it off when you do not need it.

Turn Remote Assistance on or off in Windows 11

Remote Assistance connections are controlled by one check box in the classic System Properties window. Turning it on needs an administrator account; our guide to checking whether your account is an administrator shows how to confirm it.

1. Press Windows + R, type SystemPropertiesRemote and press Enter. Or search the Start menu for remote assistance and select Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer.
2. System Properties opens on the Remote tab.
3. To turn Remote Assistance on, check Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer.
4. To turn it off, clear the same box.
5. Select OK or Apply. The change takes effect immediately; no restart is needed.

Turning the box on also enables the Windows Firewall rules that Remote Assistance needs, for the network profile you are on, so most people need nothing else. Turning it off stops new Remote Assistance connections; a session already running continues until it is closed.

You can also reach the Remote tab from Control Panel: open Control Panel, System and Security, and select Allow remote access under System. And in Windows 11's Settings, System, About, the Advanced system settings link opens System Properties, where the Remote tab is one of the tabs. All three routes reach the same check box.

Jake's routine for Ethan's mother was simple: turn Remote Assistance on just before a help session, and off again afterward. That habit means the door is closed almost all the time, and opening it is a ten-second job for her, or for Ethan when he visits.

The Advanced options: control, invitation time and older PCs

On the Remote tab, the Advanced button, next to the Remote Assistance check box, opens a few settings that are worth knowing.

Turning off remote control makes Remote Assistance view-only: the helper can see your screen and chat, and you follow their instructions with your own mouse. That is a sensible middle ground for people who want help but feel uneasy handing over control, and it is how Ethan's mother preferred to start. A short invitation lifetime means an invitation file that leaks, such as one left in an email, stops working quickly.

Turn Remote Assistance on or off in Windows 10

Windows 10 uses the same System Properties window, so the steps are almost identical. Press Windows + R and run SystemPropertiesRemote, or open Control Panel, System and Security, Allow remote access. On the Remote tab, check or clear Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer, then select OK. The Advanced options are the same as in Windows 11.

In Windows 10, searching the Start menu for remote assistance shows the same results as in Windows 11, and older Windows 10 versions also showed a Settings page under System, Remote Desktop, with a link to the classic window. The Remote Assistance check box has always lived in System Properties, whichever way you reach it.

Windows 10 reached the end of mainstream support in October 2025, and Remote Assistance on Windows 10 PCs enrolled in Extended Security Updates still receives security fixes, including the January 2026 one. On an unpatched Windows 10 PC, keeping Remote Assistance off is the safer default.

Ask for help: send an invitation

The person who needs help creates an invitation and gives it to the helper. On current Windows, the reliable ways to send it are as a file or by email; the Easy Connect option shown in the wizard no longer works, as explained further down.

1. Make sure Remote Assistance is turned on, as described above.
2. Press Windows + R, type msra /novice and press Enter. Or search for remote assistance, select Invite someone to connect to your PC and help you, or offer to help someone else, then select Invite someone you trust to help you.
3. Choose Save this invitation as a file, and save it somewhere easy to find, such as the desktop. The file has the extension .msrcIncident. If an email program is set up, Use email to send an invitation attaches the file to a new message for you.
4. Send the file to your helper, for example as an email attachment or through a chat app.
5. Remote Assistance now shows a window with a password. Give this password to your helper separately, ideally by phone, not in the same message as the file.
6. Keep the Remote Assistance window open. When your helper connects, Windows asks whether to let them see your desktop. Select Yes.

The window must stay open until the helper connects; closing it cancels the invitation. The invitation also stops working after the time set in the Advanced options, 6 hours by default, or when you close the session. A new session needs a new invitation and a new password, which is a good security property.

Sending the file and the password separately matters. Anyone who has both, while your window is open, can ask to connect, though you still have to say yes. Ethan reads the password to his mother's helper over the phone, which also means everyone knows who is about to connect.

Give help: open the invitation and take control

The helper needs the invitation file and the password, and the helper's PC must be able to reach the other PC over the network, which is easiest on the same network and harder across the internet, as covered in the troubleshooting section.

1. Save the invitation file you received to your PC.
2. Double-click the file, or press Windows + R, run msra /expert, choose Help someone who has invited you, then Use an invitation file and pick the file.
3. Type the password the other person gave you and select OK.
4. Wait while the other person approves the connection. Their desktop then appears in your Remote Assistance window.
5. To control their PC, select Request control. The other person sees a prompt and must approve it; they can also allow you to respond to administrator prompts.
6. Use Chat to type messages, and Stop sharing or close the window to end the session.

While you are connected, the other person sees everything you do and can take back control at any time by pressing Esc or selecting Stop sharing. If you need to restart their PC, warn them first; the session ends with the restart and they will need to send a new invitation afterward.

Administrator prompts, the User Account Control windows that ask for permission to change settings, normally appear only on the other person's screen, on a secure desktop the helper cannot see. When the person being helped approves control, Windows asks whether the helper may respond to these prompts; if they allow it, the helper sees and answers them. Otherwise, the person being helped must click Yes themselves. If their Yes button is grayed out, our guide to a grayed-out UAC Yes button explains why.

During a session: chat, pause, control and ending

The Remote Assistance window has a small toolbar for both people. Knowing it makes a session calmer, especially for someone nervous about letting another person in.

For the person being helped, Pause hides the screen from the helper temporarily, which is useful before opening a banking page or typing a password, and Continue resumes sharing. Stop sharing ends the session immediately. Chat opens a text box for messages in both directions, handy when one of you cannot use the phone. Settings lets you choose display quality, and lower quality makes the session smoother over a slow connection.

For the helper, Request control asks to use the mouse and keyboard, Stop sharing or Stop control gives control back, Actual size and Fit to screen change how the other desktop is shown, and Chat works the same way. Ending the session from either side closes the connection; the invitation cannot be reused.

Jake's tip for nervous users is to agree on a rule before starting: the helper says out loud, or types in chat, what they are about to do, and the person being helped presses Esc if anything looks wrong. Ethan's mother used Esc once, in the first session, simply to check it worked, and was far more relaxed afterward.

Setting up Remote Assistance for a parent or relative

If you are the family's go-to helper, half an hour of preparation on a visit makes every later call easier. Jake's plan for Ethan's mother had four parts, and it works for any relative who is not confident with computers.

First, decide which tool she will use most. For calls from a different house, that is Quick Assist, so Jake pinned Quick Assist to her Start menu and taskbar, and wrote the shortcut, Ctrl + Windows + Q, on a card by the monitor. Then he practiced once with her: he phoned from the kitchen, she opened Quick Assist, typed his code and selected Allow. Practicing while sitting together removes the fear the first real call would otherwise bring.

Second, for Remote Assistance on her own network, he created a desktop shortcut that runs SystemPropertiesRemote, named Turn on help, so that Ethan, on a visit, could turn Remote Assistance on in one click and off again afterward. He set the invitation lifetime to one hour and left remote control on, since Ethan usually needs to fix things rather than describe them.

Third, he made sure her account setup suited being helped. She uses a standard account for everyday work, and Ethan knows the administrator password, so administrator prompts during a help session need either her approval with that password or Ethan's. That arrangement protects her from installing things by accident and from scammers who ask her to approve changes.

Fourth, he wrote three rules on the same card: only accept help from people you called; press Esc if anything looks wrong; and never read a code or password to someone who called you. Ethan's mother says the card is the most useful thing on her desk, and it has already stopped one scam call in its tracks.

Helping someone on a Mac, Chromebook or phone

Remote Assistance is Windows-only on both sides: the helper and the person being helped must both run Windows. The same is true of Quick Assist. If the helper uses a Mac, a Chromebook or a phone, neither tool will work, and you need a cross-platform remote support app instead.

Several reputable remote support tools run on Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, iOS and Android, and many offer free use for personal help. The same safety rules apply to all of them: install them only from the maker's official site or app store, only connect with people you know, and uninstall or disable unattended access when you no longer need it, since some tools can stay ready for connections in the background.

For helping someone on a phone, the phone's own screen-sharing features, or a video call where they point another device's camera at the PC, are often enough for simple problems. Ethan has talked his mother through more than one problem by video call, with her phone propped up against the monitor, before either remote tool was needed.

Why Easy Connect is grayed out

The Remote Assistance wizard still shows an option called Use Easy Connect, which once let people connect with a password alone, without exchanging an invitation file. On current Windows 11 and Windows 10, that option is grayed out and cannot be selected. Nothing is wrong with your PC: Easy Connect depended on the Peer Name Resolution Protocol, PNRP, which Microsoft removed from Windows starting with Windows 10 version 1909. Without PNRP, Easy Connect has nothing to connect through.

There is no supported way to bring it back. Guides that suggest installing services or changing settings to enable Easy Connect date from before the removal. The replacements are straightforward: use an invitation file, as described above, or use Quick Assist, which does what Easy Connect did, connecting with a short code, through Microsoft's cloud service instead of PNRP.

This also explains a lot of older advice about Remote Assistance that no longer works, such as connecting by Easy Connect across the internet without touching the router. On today's Windows, Remote Assistance over the internet relies on the invitation file's connection details reaching the other PC directly, which home routers often prevent. That is why Quick Assist is the better tool for helping someone in another house, and Remote Assistance is at its best on the same network or in an office.

msra commands for the Run box and scripts

Remote Assistance can be started directly with msra.exe and a switch, from the Run box, Command Prompt, a shortcut or a script. The most useful switches are these.

The /saveasfile switch is useful for a desktop shortcut that a less confident user can double-click: it creates the invitation in a known place with a known password format, ready for the helper. For example, msra /saveasfile %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\help MyPass2026 saves an invitation named help on the desktop. Use a fresh password each time in practice, since a fixed password written in a shortcut is weaker.

Test any command on your own Windows version before relying on it in a script, since the wizard's behavior has changed slightly between versions. Typing msra /? in Command Prompt shows the switches your version supports.

Offer Remote Assistance without an invitation (IT use)

In offices, it is often easier for the help desk to connect to a user's PC by name, rather than asking the user to create and send an invitation. Windows supports this as Offer Remote Assistance, also called unsolicited Remote Assistance. The user still has to approve the connection on their screen, but they do not need to do anything else.

It is meant for domain networks and is set up by an administrator with Group Policy. In the Group Policy Management Console or the local Group Policy Editor, go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System, Remote Assistance, open Configure Offer Remote Assistance, select Enabled, choose whether helpers may view only or view and control, and add the helpers, usually a help desk group in the domain, to the list. The Windows Firewall must also allow the Remote Assistance rules for the domain profile, including the DCOM rule used by offers.

The helper then runs msra /offerra computername, or opens msra /expert and chooses Advanced connection option for help desk, enters the PC's name or IP address, and the user approves. On home networks without a domain, offering Remote Assistance is not practical; use invitations or Quick Assist instead.

Remote Assistance on work and school PCs

On PCs managed by an organization, Remote Assistance is usually set by policy, and the choices are made by IT. Some organizations turn it on with Offer Remote Assistance for their help desk, some disable it in favor of Quick Assist, which IT can control through the Store and policies, or of a commercial remote support product that integrates with their management tools, such as the Remote Help add-on for Intune. The check box on the Remote tab is grayed out when a policy is in control.

If your work PC shows a Remote Assistance prompt you did not expect, do not approve it unless you were told help was on its way. Contact your help desk through its usual channel to confirm. Help desks generally announce themselves before connecting, and legitimate IT staff are happy for you to check.

For IT staff, the Remote Assistance Group Policy folder also includes a setting to turn on session logging, which keeps a record of each help session on the PC, useful when audits ask who connected to which machine and when. Combine it with a short invitation lifetime and view-only defaults where full control is not needed.

Turn Remote Assistance off for everyone with Group Policy

On Windows 11 and 10 Pro, Enterprise and Education, Group Policy can turn off Remote Assistance and keep it off, so users cannot enable it in System Properties. This is the recommended mitigation for organizations that do not use Remote Assistance at all, and it was the mitigation suggested alongside the January 2026 fix.

1. Press Windows + R, run gpedit.msc.
2. Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System, Remote Assistance.
3. Open Configure Solicited Remote Assistance, select Disabled, and select OK. This blocks invitations.
4. Open Configure Offer Remote Assistance, select Disabled, and select OK. This blocks offers.
5. Run gpupdate /force or restart.

With these policies disabled, the check box in System Properties is grayed out, and Remote Assistance cannot accept connections. To allow it again, set both policies back to Not Configured, or set Configure Solicited Remote Assistance to Enabled, where you can also limit control and invitation time centrally. The same folder has policies for logging sessions and for turning on custom invitations, which large organizations use to keep a record of help sessions.

Turn Remote Assistance on or off with the registry or a command

The System Properties check box is stored in the registry, which is handy for scripts and for Windows 11 Home, which lacks the Group Policy editor. Back up the registry before editing.

The value is fAllowToGetHelp, a DWORD under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Remote Assistance. Set it to 1 to allow Remote Assistance connections and 0 to turn them off. A second value in the same key, fAllowFullControl, matches the Advanced option for remote control: 1 allows control, 0 makes sessions view-only.

From an administrator Command Prompt, these lines turn Remote Assistance off and on:

reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Remote Assistance" /v fAllowToGetHelp /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Remote Assistance" /v fAllowToGetHelp /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Changing the registry value does not adjust the firewall rules the way the check box does. If you turn Remote Assistance on by registry, make sure the Remote Assistance firewall rules are enabled too, as described in the next section; if you turn it off, the rules can stay as they are, since nothing is listening.

Remote Assistance and the firewall

Windows Defender Firewall has a built-in group of rules called Remote Assistance. Checking the box in System Properties turns on the rules it needs for the current network profile, so in most cases you never touch them. They matter when a third-party firewall is installed, when the PC moves between network profiles, or when a script turned Remote Assistance on through the registry.

To check them, open Windows Security, Firewall & network protection, Allow an app through firewall, select Change settings, and find Remote Assistance in the list. Make sure it is checked for the profile you use, usually Private at home. Avoid checking it for Public, so that Remote Assistance is not reachable on cafe or hotel networks. Our guide to allowing an app through the firewall walks through that window.

Third-party security suites with their own firewall may block Remote Assistance regardless of the Windows rules; check the suite's settings for msra.exe. And the router matters for connections across the internet: home routers do not forward incoming connections by default, which is the main reason invitation files often fail between two homes. Opening router ports for Remote Assistance is not something we recommend for home users; Quick Assist avoids the problem entirely.

When Remote Assistance will not connect or open

Most failures fall into a few groups, and the error message usually points to one of them.

"Remote Assistance can't make the connection" or the helper waits forever. Check that Remote Assistance is turned on, on the PC being helped. Check that the invitation window is still open and has not expired. Check that both PCs can reach each other: on the same network, this almost always works; across the internet, the routers usually block it, and Quick Assist is the practical answer. Check the firewall rules on the PC being helped, especially if it has a third-party firewall.

"The password is incorrect." Each invitation has its own password; make sure the helper uses the one shown for the current invitation, typed exactly, and that the person being helped did not close and reopen Remote Assistance, which creates a new one.

The check box is grayed out. A policy controls Remote Assistance; on a work PC, ask IT. On a home PC, check the Remote Assistance folder in Group Policy, or the registry policy location under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services, for a leftover setting from an old tweak tool. Standard accounts also cannot change the box; sign in as an administrator.

msra.exe does not open or crashes. Run sfc /scannow in an administrator Command Prompt to repair system files, install pending updates, and restart. Some privacy or debloat tools remove or block Remote Assistance; check whether one was used on the PC.

Easy Connect is grayed out. Expected on current Windows, as explained above; use a file or Quick Assist.

The screen is black or frozen for the helper. Lower the display quality in Settings, close video-heavy apps on the PC being helped, and check that its graphics driver is current. An administrator prompt can also pause the screen for the helper until the person being helped answers it.

Remote Assistance, Quick Assist and Remote Desktop compared

Windows has three built-in ways to reach another PC, and choosing the right one saves most of the trouble people have with Remote Assistance.

Quick Assist is the default choice for helping friends and family. Press Ctrl + Windows + Q, or search for Quick Assist. The helper signs in with a Microsoft account and gets a short security code, valid for a few minutes; the person being helped enters the code, sees who wants to connect, and chooses to allow screen sharing. The helper can then request full control, which the person being helped must also approve. It works across the internet without router changes. If Quick Assist is missing, install it from the Microsoft Store.

Remote Desktop is for reaching your own PC or a work PC when nobody is sitting at it, and it signs the person at the PC out of the screen while you are connected. Our guide to Remote Desktop on Windows 11 covers the Pro requirement and connection problems.

Ethan now uses Quick Assist for nearly every call to his mother, and Remote Assistance when he is at her house and wants to fix something from his laptop in the other room without asking her to sign in to anything. Jake uses Remote Assistance's offer feature at the office, where the PCs are on a domain. Each tool is right for something; the mistake is using Remote Assistance for the job Quick Assist does better.

Stay safe: remote access scams

Remote help tools are one of the main ways tech support scammers steal money and data. The pattern is consistent: a pop-up, call or email claims your PC has a virus, a refund is due, or your account is compromised, and the "support agent" asks you to open Quick Assist, Remote Assistance or a downloaded remote tool, then uses the access to install malware, steal files or open your bank account. Microsoft has added scam warnings to Quick Assist for this reason.

The rules are short. Never give remote access to someone who contacted you first, whatever company they claim to be from. Microsoft and banks do not call or pop up messages asking to connect to your PC. Only accept help from people you know and contacted yourself, such as family, a trusted repair shop, or your workplace IT through its official channel. If you are unsure, end the session; pressing Esc or Stop sharing ends it immediately, and turning off the PC's internet connection ends it for certain.

If you think a scammer had access, disconnect the PC from the internet, run a full scan with Microsoft Defender, change your passwords from a different device, starting with email and banking, and call your bank if financial details were exposed. Then check for remote tools that were installed during the session and uninstall them.

Keeping Remote Assistance turned off when you are not using it reduces your exposure further, since an attacker on your network cannot connect to a service that is off. That is why Jake's routine is on for the session, off afterward.

Should you turn Remote Assistance off?

For most home users, yes, unless you use it regularly. Remote Assistance only accepts connections with a valid invitation and your approval, so leaving it on is not an open door. But a feature you never use is still something that could have a flaw, as the January 2026 fix showed, and turning it off costs nothing. On laptops that join public networks, it matters a little more.

Turn it off in System Properties, Remote tab, by clearing Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer. If you might need help someday, you or the person helping you can turn it back on in ten seconds, or use Quick Assist, which needs no advance setup. In offices, IT departments that do not use Remote Assistance should disable both Remote Assistance policies so the setting is consistent on every PC.

If you do use it, keep Windows updated, keep invitation lifetimes short, use view-only mode when control is not needed, and never send the password in the same message as the invitation file. Those habits make Remote Assistance as safe as any help tool can be.

Frequently asked questions

Remote Assistance in Windows 11 and 10 comes down to one check box, on the Remote tab that SystemPropertiesRemote opens, an invitation file with a password for each session, and a few habits: turn it on when needed, send the password separately, and turn it off afterward. Easy Connect is gone for good, the internet is better served by Quick Assist, and offices can manage it all with Group Policy. Ethan's mother now knows both tools, and she has learned the most important rule of all: help only comes from people she called.

Revision note. Written October 3, 2026, combining our 2016 guides to launching Remote Assistance and turning it on or off into one complete guide for Windows 11 and 10. It covers turning it on and off, the Advanced options, sending and opening invitations, sessions, why Easy Connect is grayed out, msra commands, offering help, Group Policy, the registry, the firewall, troubleshooting, Quick Assist and Remote Desktop, and scam safety. May every helper be someone you called.