NightdeskSupport
How can we help?
Most things are fixed in a minute below. If not, write to us at support@nightdesk.app and tell us your phone, its Android version and your macOS version.
01Setting up
Three steps to your Mac.
- Install Nightdesk for Mac
Download it from the Mac page, drag it to Applications and open it. Allow Screen Recording and Accessibility when it asks, and click Allow when macOS asks about your local network.
- Install the Android app
Get Nightdesk from Google Play. When it asks to find nearby devices, allow it: Android needs that before any app can reach your Mac over Wi-Fi.
- Pair
Scan the code in Nightdesk’s window on your Mac, from the app or with your camera. You can also tap your Mac under Nearby and type its 8-character code. Pairing never expires.
02Troubleshooting
If something isn’t working
Nightdesk for Mac comes straight from this site, not the App Store, so macOS asks once. Click Done, open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll to the message about Nightdesk and click Open Anyway, then Open. On macOS 14, Control-click Nightdesk in Applications and choose Open. After that it opens normally and updates itself.
On the Mac, open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording, switch Nightdesk on, then quit and reopen Nightdesk.
Accessibility is off for Nightdesk. On the Mac: System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility, then switch Nightdesk on.
Allow Nearby devices for Nightdesk on the phone, and Local Network for Nightdesk on the Mac (System Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network). Make sure Nightdesk is running in the Mac’s menu bar. You can also add the Mac by its IP address.
The Mac is asleep, turned off or offline, or Anywhere access is turned off. Check Nightdesk’s window on the Mac, and keep the Mac plugged in so it stays awake.
The phone was removed on the Mac. Pair again by scanning the code.
Lid-closed mode isn’t set up, or it’s turned off. Set it up in Nightdesk’s window on the Mac.
Nightdesk lowers the picture’s detail to keep up on a slow connection, and sharpens it again as soon as it can. Move closer to your Wi-Fi, or switch to Wi-Fi from cellular. More › Stats shows how the link is doing.
Make sure Google Play on this phone uses the Google account you bought Nightdesk with, then reopen the app; your plan comes back by itself.
03Gestures
Trackpad gestures
Trackpad mode is the default. Every multi-finger gesture can be changed in Settings › Gestures.
| Do this | To |
|---|---|
| Slide one finger | Move the pointer (faster flicks go farther) |
| Tap / double-tap | Click / double-click |
| Tap, then drag (or long-press and drag) | Drag, select text, move windows |
| Two fingers | Scroll, with momentum |
| Two-finger tap | Right-click |
| Pinch | Zoom the view (it follows the pointer) |
| Three fingers left / right | Next / previous Space |
| Three fingers up / down | Mission Control / App windows |
| Four fingers up / down / left / right | Apps / Desktop / next tab / previous tab |
In touch mode, your finger is the pointer: tap clicks right there, drag drags, long-press right-clicks, two fingers scroll, and three fingers move around a zoomed view.
04Free trial and plans
Your free trial, plans and refunds
Everything is on for 14 days from the first time you link to a Mac, no card needed. The app shows how many days are left on Home, in Settings and in the More panel, and reminds you 3 days and 1 day before the end. After that, choose a plan in the app: a subscription or a one-time purchase through Google Play, which shows the price in your currency.
Another phone, or reinstalled the app? Your plan belongs to your Google account. Sign in to Google Play with the same account and tap Restore purchases in the app (Settings › Your plan).
Cancel a subscription: in Google Play, tap your profile picture › Payments & subscriptions › Subscriptions › Nightdesk › Cancel, or open your subscriptions. You keep everything until the end of the period you paid for.
Refunds go through Google Play under its refund policy. See also our terms.
Controlling a computer from a Mac or Linux computer? That has its own 14-day free trial, then a computer license from the pricing page: monthly or lifetime, on up to 3 computers. Manage or cancel it with your license key there, and for a refund within 14 days, write to support@nightdesk.app. The computers you control are always free.
05Contact
Still stuck?
Email support@nightdesk.app. Tell us your phone and its Android version, your Mac and its macOS version, and what you see. A screenshot helps. For privacy questions and data requests, write to privacy@nightdesk.app.