ManyScreens Download

Remote desktop for Linux on Wayland

On X11 any program could read the screen and fake a keystroke. Wayland closed that door on purpose, which is why remote desktop on a current Ubuntu, Fedora or KDE desktop so often shows a black picture or ignores the mouse. ManyScreens goes through the door Wayland left open: the desktop’s own portals, the same ones its built‑in screen sharing uses.

How it works

• The picture comes from the ScreenCast portal over PipeWire. The desktop asks the person at the machine which screen to share.
• Mouse and keyboard go through the RemoteDesktop portal over D‑Bus. The desktop asks once for permission to be controlled, and remembers the answer.
• The viewer is any browser, on any device, with nothing installed. The picture travels over WebRTC, direct where possible and through a relay on port 443 otherwise.

Which desktops

Desktop	Picture	Mouse and keyboard
GNOME on Wayland	Yes	Yes
KDE Plasma on Wayland	Yes	Yes
Sway, Hyprland	Yes	No — view only
Any desktop on X11	Yes, every monitor	Yes, through XTest

Setting it up

1. Download the AppImage (x64 or Arm) and make it executable. On Ubuntu 24.04, install libfuse2t64 first; AppImages need it.
2. Start it, create an account in its window, and click Share this computer.
3. Answer the two desktop dialogs and pick the same screen in both: one for the picture, one for remote control.
4. Switch on Start at login in its settings. ManyScreens then installs a systemd user unit, or an autostart entry where there is no systemd, so it comes back when you log in and after a crash.

The honest limits

• The picture permission is asked once per start of ManyScreens. That is the desktop’s rule, not ours. After a reboot, somebody at the machine clicks Share once; the control permission is remembered.
• One monitor under Wayland. The desktop hands over one screen, and every viewer shares it. On X11, all monitors are available and each viewer can pick one.
• No Wayland login screen. The optional service that reaches the login screen after a restart works with X11 login screens only.

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