How to Set Up Raspberry Pi Connect for Remote Access

Connecting to a Pi remotely has always been interesting. There are many solutions, but none are perfect (VNC is limited to a local network, Teamviewer is a commercial product, etc.). But I have good news! With Raspberry Pi Connect, we now have an easy way to connect to a Raspberry Pi from anywhere, using a simple web browser.

Raspberry Pi Connect is pre-installed on the latest Raspberry Pi OS versions or can be installed with a simple command if not already present. A Raspberry Pi account is required to register and connect to the device via a web interface.

So let’s start with a little background on remote access on Raspberry Pi, and then we’ll go through the installation, setup, and tutorial for using Raspberry Pi Connect on Pi.

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About Remote Access on Raspberry Pi

I’ve talked a lot on this website about remote access solutions for Raspberry Pi, with different applications and their pros and cons. The idea is to control your Raspberry Pi from another computer, either on the same local network or from anywhere (depending on the solution you use).

For example, we can mention:

• SSH: allows you to access your Pi’s terminal remotely within a local network.
• VNC to get full control of the desktop interface of your Raspberry Pi.
• Teamviewer: a bit like VNC, but also works from a remote network (the main issue is that it’s a paid product).

However, the major drawback of these methods is you need to be in the same network as your Pi unless you do additional steps to set up networking (port forwarding, security configuration, etc.) or pay a subscription for a tool like Teamviewer.

To overcome this, the folks at Raspberry Pi came up with an easy and innovative solution: a secure peer-to-peer connection over the Internet using their software, Raspberry Pi Connect!

With Raspberry Pi Connect, you can directly access your Pi through a web browser!

This tutorial will help you with anything related to Raspberry Pi Connect, including installation, setup, or any other questions you have. All you need is a Raspberry Pi (the steps are slightly different depending on your version) with an official operating system (even Buster and older versions work).

Setting up Pi Connect on Raspberry Pi

First, we will see how you can set things up to start using Raspberry Pi Connect. Here is an overview of the things we will be covering in this section:

• Installing the Raspberry Pi Connect package.
• Creating your Raspberry Pi Account (a requirement for using Pi Connect).
• Linking your device to your Raspberry Pi Account.

Let’s see how to do this in detail.

Installing Raspberry Pi Connect

If you are using a Raspberry Pi 4 and above and you have the latest version of Raspberry Pi OS, chances are you won’t need to do anything as the Raspberry Pi Connect package is already installed on your system for you!

If you have an older Pi, you can download the package using the apt package manager. Just run the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install rpi-connect # rpi-connect-lite for Lite OS's

Note that you will need to get the lite version of the package if you are using Raspberry Pi OS Lite or any other older lite versions (add -lite at the end as shown). Perfect, this completes the installation part.

Setting up a Raspberry Pi Account

This is an important step as you need this account to use Raspberry Pi Connect. It allows you to link your Pi devices (yes, even multiple devices!) and access them through an easy-to-use web interface. Just follow the steps given below:

• Go to the official website here and click the ‘create one for free‘ option.
  
  
  
• This will take you to a new page where you enter basic information like the Email ID and Password for your new account. Just enter this information, complete the verification captcha and press the Continue button at the bottom.
  
  
• You will then receive an email to the Email ID you registered with to verify it. Just click on the link in the mail to complete the account creation process.
  
  
  
• Clicking on this link will take you back to the sign-in page. Just enter your credentials here and you have completed the account creation process! You should see your account homepage after signing in.
  
  

Great! You now have your own Raspberry Pi Connect Account. Next, we need to link our Raspberry Pi to this account in order to access it remotely.

Linking our Pi to the Raspberry Pi Account

Once you have your Pi Account’s credentials, you are ready to link your Pi to this account so that you can access it remotely through your web browser (that means any device, by the way!). There are two ways to achieve this:

• Through the Desktop UI
• Through the Terminal

Option 1: Desktop Interface

• If you have Raspberry Pi OS running on your Pi (which means you at least have a Pi 4), you will see the Raspberry Pi Connect Logo on the top right side of your screen.
  
• As shown in the image above, press this icon and click the Sign in option. This will open a browser window on your Pi prompting you to sign into your Raspberry Pi Account.
  
• Once you sign into your account, it will ask you for a name for your Raspberry Pi so that you can distinguish between your devices if you have more than one. Just give any name of your choice and press on the “Create device and sign” in button.
  
  
  
• This completes the device linking process! Congratulations, you can connect to your Raspberry Pi device from anywhere using a browser! Let’s see how to do just that in the next section.
  
  

Option 2: Terminal

The setup process almost remains the same in command lines. Let’s see how to do that:

• The first step is opening a pi terminal window on any device. Then, type in and execute the following command:
  
  rpi-connect signin
  
  You should see a link printed on your terminal. You have to use this link to complete the device linking process.
  
  
  
• Once you open the link in any browser, you will follow the same process as above, that is signing into your account and naming the device.
  
  
  
• This will open the sign-in page. Just enter your credentials there and click the Sign In button to continue.
  
  
  
• Once you sign into your account, it will ask you for a name for your Raspberry Pi so that you can distinguish between your devices if you have more than one. Just give any name of your choice and press on the “Create device and sign” in button.
  
  
  
• This completes the device linking process through the terminal. You should see the following output on your terminal stating that you have successfully signed into your account and linked your device.
  
  

Using Pi Connect for Remote Access

Now that everything is set up, let’s see how to connect to our Pi remotely from the web browser.

For both options, sign in to your Raspberry Pi account from this link.

Once you have signed in you should see a screen like this:

Depending on your Raspberry Pi version, you will see either one or two options to connect to your device:

• Remote Shell: You will see these options regardless of the Raspberry Pi version (yes, even the Raspberry Pi 1 supports this). You can get your Pi’s shell in any web browser.
• Screen Sharing: Here, things are a bit different. They use Wayland compositor for this, which is only supported in Raspberry Pi OS (i.e. Raspberry Pi 4 and later versions). So, if you have an older version of Pi, you are limited to shell access. However, you can still set up VNC.

Note that you will also see the supported connectivity types for each device on the home screen to make things easier for you. Let’s now see how to connect to our Pi using both options.

Option 1: Shell Access

Note: As mentioned above, all Raspberry Pi versions support this functionality.

To get a remote shell of your Pi on the browser, follow the steps below.

• From the devices tab on our home screen (shown above), select the device you want to connect to and click the Connect via button. This will show you all the available options for that device. Select the remote shell option.
  
  
  
• Well, that is it! Easy, right? Once you click on that, a new window will open. It will take a few seconds to establish a connection with the Pi and then you will be able to access your Pi’s shell remotely through a web browser window!
  
  

Perfect! Next, let’s see how to access the Pi’s Desktop interface remotely for newer Raspberry Pi devices.

Option 2: Remote Desktop Access

Note: Again, just a heads up, you will only see this option if you have a Raspberry Pi 4, 5 or 400 as this is only supported for versions running Raspberry Pi OS.

• Just as before, we have to expand the Connect via menu and this time choose the Screen Sharing option instead.
  
  
• As before, this will open a new window for you and this time, you will be able to access the entire Desktop interface of your Pi (through the internet!). Personally speaking, the response times are impressive (I felt they were even better than VNC).
  
  
• Let’s explore the interface in our browser window (shown above).
  
  • The main Desktop interface takes up the majority of the space on the screen with two toolbars, one on top and the other on the bottom.
  • Top Toolbar: The top bar has the Disconnect button that can be used to end the present session, a lock icon indicating a secure peer-to-peer connection and Clipboard access options to copy and paste between devices.
  • Bottom Toolbar: As this is a browser-based tool, you might be using a mobile device for this. So, they have provided some Keyboard keys which might be required and aren’t available by default on mobile devices (mobile and tablets).

Congratulations! Now you can connect to your Raspberry Pi remotely without any hassles. Let’s check out some customization options now.

Customization Options (Beta)

It is worth noting that the software is currently in beta so new features can be added at any time. Keep an eye on this article as it will be updated as new updates roll out. For context, the software version was v1.2 at the time of writing this article.

Device Customizations

You can manage and customize your existing devices from your Raspberry Pi account. Here is a list of things you can do as of now:

• Change the Name: You can change your device name by clicking on it and then clicking the Edit button to update the device name.
  
  
  
• Delete Device: You even have the option to delete any device straight from the web interface. All you need to do is click on the device you want to delete and press the Delete button.
  
  

These are all the options available on the website. However, I am sure that new features like adding a new device, other customization options, etc will be added in future updates.

Conclusion

This marks the end of this tutorial. If you have come this far, you have successfully set up Raspberry Pi Connect on your Raspberry Pi and you should now be able to connect to your Pi remotely through the Raspberry Pi Connect website.

As mentioned, this is not the only option available for remote connectivity on the Pi. There are numerous alternatives but I still feel that this option requires the least time and effort to set up (after all, it’s an official Raspberry Pi product). Regardless, here are some options for you:

• 3 Easy Ways to Access Your Pi Over the Internet Remotely explores options you can use to connect to your Pi over the Internet.
• Getting Started With VNC on Raspberry Pi is the evergreen option you can use if you are okay with accessing your Pi over a local network.

Whenever you’re ready, here are other ways I can help you:

The RaspberryTips Community: If you want to hang out with me and other Raspberry Pi fans, you can join the community. I share exclusive tutorials and behind-the-scenes content there. Premium members can also visit the website without ads.

Master your Raspberry Pi in 30 days: If you are looking for the best tips to become an expert on Raspberry Pi, this book is for you. Learn useful Linux skills and practice multiple projects with step-by-step guides.

The Raspberry Pi Bootcamp: Understand everything about the Raspberry Pi, stop searching for help all the time, and finally enjoy completing your projects.

Master Python on Raspberry Pi: Create, understand, and improve any Python script for your Raspberry Pi. Learn the essentials step-by-step without losing time understanding useless concepts.

You can also find all my recommendations for tools and hardware on this page.