Control Your Computer From Your Phone

How it actually works

OpenAI's remote connections docs

Your phone is the remote. Your computer is the one doing the work.

When you send a message from your phone, ChatGPT runs it on your computer, with everything already on it: your files, your apps, your plugins, and the websites you're already logged into. It doesn't need copies of anything. It's using the real thing.

From your phone you can start new chats, answer its questions, approve actions, look at screenshots of what it did, and get a notification when it's finished or needs your OK. So you can be at the gym, in line at Chipotle, wherever, and still get real work done on your computer.

What you need before you start

• Your account:
  Codex access on the ChatGPT account you use. If you are on a work or school workspace, your admin may have to switch on Remote Control first.
• Your computer:
  The latest ChatGPT desktop app on a Mac or Windows PC, signed in, online and awake. Setup only starts from the desktop app. It will not work from the Codex CLI or a code editor.
• Your phone:
  The latest ChatGPT app on iPhone or Android, signed in to the same account and the same workspace as your computer.

1. The 2-minute setup

Do this once, at your computer, with your phone in your hand.

1. Start on your computer Open the ChatGPT desktop app. Go to Settings, then Connections, then Control this Mac or PC (on Windows it says PC). Hit Set up, or Add if you have connected something before. Approve remote access and finish any verification it asks for.
2. Scan the QR code with your phone A QR code pops up on your computer. Point your phone camera at it. It opens ChatGPT on your phone to finish the connection.
3. Finish on your phone Confirm it is the same account and workspace, then do any two-factor, SSO or passkey step it asks for. That is the pairing. Each phone pairs with each computer once.
4. Find your computer in the app Open ChatGPT on your phone and tap Codex. Your computer is sitting right there. (It used to be called Remote.) No Codex tab? Update the app first. That fixes it almost every time.
5. Flip on Keep this Mac awake Back on your computer, in Settings, then Connections, turn on Keep this Mac awake. It stops your computer from sleeping while it is plugged in and remote access is on. If your computer sleeps, your remote control dies with it.

2. The 4 settings that make it actually useful

Most people stop after the QR code. Then they ask it to do something in their browser and it can't. These four take another 5 minutes and they're the difference between a cool demo and something you use every day.

1. Turn on Computer Use (this is the big one) Without it, ChatGPT can work with files and run commands. With it, ChatGPT can actually see your screen and click, type and move through any app like you would. In the desktop app, open Plugins, then Computer Use, hit Install plugin (or Enable), and turn on both toggles. On a Mac, say yes when it asks for Screen Recording and Accessibility. Those two let it see apps and click inside them.
2. Install the browser extension This is how it uses the sites you are already logged into: Gmail, your bank portal, your CRM, whatever. Go to Settings, then Computer Use, find your browser (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi all work) and hit Install. Add the extension, then come back and make sure your browser now says Manage instead of Install.
3. On a Mac, turn on locked use By default, once your Mac locks, it cannot use your apps. Locked use fixes that. Settings, then Computer Use, then enable locked use. It only unlocks for an active ChatGPT task, covers every screen while it works, and relocks the second anyone touches the keyboard or mouse.
4. Set up a project before you leave Remote chats run inside projects on your computer. Before you walk out the door, open the desktop app and make sure you have a project pointed at the folder you want it working in, like your Desktop or Documents. Then from your phone, you just pick that project and start a chat.

3. Run this before you leave the house

The worst time to find out something isn't connected is when you're already at the gym. Send this from your phone while you're still sitting next to your computer. It tests every piece and tells you exactly what's missing.

I'm about to leave my desk and control you from my phone. Run a readiness check on this computer so I know what works before I go. Don't change, move, or delete anything. This is read-only.

Test each of these and give me a PASS or FAIL with one line on why:

1. Files: list the 5 most recent files on my Desktop and in my Downloads folder.
2. Computer Use: open a harmless app (like Calculator or Notes), take a screenshot, and close it.
3. Browser: open [Chrome] and tell me the title of the page on whatever tab is open. Then tell me which of these sites I'm signed in to: [Gmail, Google Drive, the other sites I care about].
4. Staying awake: tell me if this computer is plugged in and whether anything will put it to sleep while I'm gone.
5. Plugins: list the plugins and connected apps you can use from here.

For every FAIL, tell me the exact setting to change and where it is, in steps simple enough to follow on my phone or before I walk out the door.

Then, based on the files and apps you found, suggest 3 jobs I could hand you from my phone this week that would actually save me time.

4. 8 jobs to run from your phone

Fill in the brackets, paste it from your phone, put your phone away. Every prompt that sends, deletes, buys or submits something stops and checks with you first.

Pro tip: you don't have to type these out on your phone. Tap the voice icon in the chat and just say it.

1. Clean up your Downloads folder

The one from the video. Hundreds of random files, sorted in a couple of minutes while you are at the gym.

Clean up my Downloads folder.

1. Sort everything into folders by type: Documents, Images, Videos, Installers, Spreadsheets, Zips, Other.
2. Anything that is an obvious duplicate (same name with (1) or (2) on the end, same size), move into a folder called "Duplicates - review" instead of deleting it.
3. Installers older than 30 days, move into "Old installers - review".

Do not delete anything. When you're done, send me a short summary: how many files you moved, where they went, and anything you weren't sure about.

2. Build a slide deck from the files on your desktop

Also from the video. You have the notes, the numbers and the screenshots sitting on your desktop. It turns them into a deck before you are back.

Use the files in [the folder, e.g. "Q4 Review" on my Desktop] to build a slide deck for [who it's for, e.g. my team meeting on Monday].

Keep it to [10] slides. One idea per slide, big headline, no walls of text. Pull real numbers and quotes from the files, don't make anything up. If a number is missing, put [NEED NUMBER] on the slide instead of guessing.

Save it as a new file in that same folder called "[Deck name] - draft". Don't overwrite anything. Then send me the slide titles in order so I can check the flow from my phone.

3. Find that file and get it to someone

Someone needs the contract, the invoice, the PDF. It is on your computer and you are not. It finds it and drafts the email with it attached.

Needs: Computer Use + the browser extension, signed in to your email in that browser

Find the most recent version of [the file, e.g. the signed Acme contract PDF] on my computer. Look in Documents, Desktop and Downloads.

Tell me the file name, where it is, and when it was last changed. If there's more than one version, list them and tell me which one you think is right.

Then open my email in [Chrome] and draft an email to [name / email] with that file attached. Subject: [subject]. Keep the message to 2 sentences in a normal, friendly tone.

Do not send it. Leave it as a draft and tell me it's ready.

4. Pull a report from a site you are logged into

Your analytics, your bank, your Shopify, your ad account. It logs in as you (because you already are), grabs the numbers and puts them somewhere useful.

Needs: Computer Use + the browser extension

Open [the site, e.g. my Shopify admin] in [Chrome]. I'm already signed in.

Pull [what you want, e.g. last 7 days of sales: total revenue, number of orders, top 5 products]. Compare it to the 7 days before that.

Put it in a simple spreadsheet on my Desktop called "[Report name] - [today's date]". Then send me a 5-line summary: the main numbers, what went up, what went down.

Read only. Don't change any settings, don't click anything that edits, buys or sends.

5. Clear your inbox from the line at Chipotle

It reads your actual inbox in your actual browser and drafts the replies. You approve from your phone. You send them when you are back, or tell it which ones to send.

Needs: Computer Use + the browser extension, signed in to your email

Open my email in [Chrome] and go through everything unread from today.

Sort it into:
- NEEDS ME: someone is waiting on me. Who, what they need, by when.
- I DRAFTED IT: things you can answer. Write the reply as a draft in my email, short and in my tone.
- FYI: one line each.
- JUNK: just give me the count.

Send me the list. Don't send any email, don't archive or delete anything, don't unsubscribe from anything. Drafts only.

6. Research something into a doc that is waiting for you

Thinking about something on the drive home? Hand it off now. When you sit down, the doc is already on your desktop.

Research [the topic, e.g. the best CRM for a 3-person service business under $50/month].

Compare the top [4] options. For each one: price, the 3 things it does best, the biggest complaint real users have, and who it's built for. Use real sources and link them.

End with your pick for me and why, in 3 sentences. My situation: [one line about you, e.g. I run a small marketing agency and mostly need email follow-ups and a simple pipeline].

Save it as a doc on my Desktop called "[Topic] research" and send me your pick when it's done.

7. Fill out the boring form

Expense reports, applications, the vendor form someone emailed you. It fills it in from the info on your computer and stops before submit.

Needs: Computer Use + the browser extension

Open [the form, e.g. the expense report page at expenses.mycompany.com] in [Chrome].

Fill it out using [where the info is, e.g. the receipts in the "October receipts" folder on my Desktop]. One line per receipt: date, vendor, amount, category.

If anything is unclear or a receipt is hard to read, leave that field blank and tell me which one.

Stop before you hit submit. Take a screenshot of the filled-out form and send it to me so I can check it first.

8. Check on the thing that is still running

A video export, a big upload, a download, a script. Instead of driving home to check, ask.

Check on [the thing, e.g. the video export running in Premiere / the Google Drive upload / the download in Chrome].

Tell me: is it done, still running, or did it fail? If it's still running, how far along and roughly how long is left. If it failed, tell me the exact error message and what you think caused it.

Don't restart or cancel anything. Just tell me, and send a screenshot if that's easier.

5. 4 rules so it doesn't do anything dumb

It's using your real computer and your real logins. That's what makes it powerful, and it's why these matter.

• Keep tasks narrow
  One app or one job at a time. "Clean my Downloads folder" is great. "Organize my whole computer" is how things end up somewhere you didn't want them.
• Say what not to do
  Every prompt above ends with the same kind of line: don't delete, don't send, don't submit. Keep doing that. It asks before risky actions anyway, but telling it up front means fewer surprises.
• Be stingy with Always allow
  When it asks to use an app, you can pick Always allow so it never asks again. Only do that for apps you'd genuinely trust it in unsupervised. You can remove apps from the list in Settings, then Computer Use.
• Close what it doesn't need
  If it's using your browser, it can act on any site you're signed in to. Close your banking tab if the job has nothing to do with money. Stay present for anything involving passwords, payments or security settings.

When it disconnects (and 8 other fixes)

• Your computer has to stay on
  Your phone just sends the instructions. All the work happens on your computer. If it sleeps, loses wifi or you close the ChatGPT app, remote access stops until it's back.
• Closing your MacBook lid kills it
  On a Mac laptop, it keeps working with the lid open and the charger in. With the lid closed, it only works if an external monitor is plugged in. And choosing Sleep from the menu stops it no matter what.
• On Windows, it takes over your screen
  Computer Use on Windows runs in the foreground, so it moves your mouse and types while it works. Keep the PC unlocked, and don't try to use it at the same time. Remote control from your phone is actually the best way to use it on Windows.
• No Codex tab on your phone
  Update the ChatGPT app on your phone and your computer. Then make sure both are signed in to the same account and the same workspace. That is the cause 9 times out of 10.
• Your computer doesn't show up on your phone
  Check that the desktop app is open on your computer and that Allow other devices to connect is on. If you haven't used the connection since June 8, 2026, update both apps and scan the QR code again.
• Remote Control is off after you sign back in
  Signing out turns Remote Control off, but it keeps your pairing. Sign back in and switch Remote Control on again. If you get an error when you hit Add, restart the desktop app and try again.
• It can't see or click an app
  On a Mac, open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, and make sure Codex Computer Use is on under both Screen Recording and Accessibility.
• It can't use your browser
  In the desktop app, go to Settings, then Computer Use. Your browser should say Manage. If it still says Install, redo the setup. Also make sure you're in the browser profile where you installed the extension.
• Some things it just won't do
  It can't automate terminal apps or the ChatGPT app itself, and it can't type your admin password or approve security pop-ups for you. That's on purpose.

Where this came from

The setup steps, settings and fixes come from OpenAI's own docs: Remote connections, Computer Use and the browser extension, current as of October 6, 2026. OpenAI is renaming things fast (the old Remote tab is now called Codex), so if a menu has moved, the docs will have the latest.