When you invite someone to your Hand desktop, they can see the same shared screen. Viewing and controlling it are separate permissions. The host manages guest control while the sharing session is active.
See who is in the session
- Open the Hands Console, select the Hand, then open its active Computer desktop.
- Look for People in this session. Supported viewers display participant avatars with each person’s name.
- Identify the entry marked you, and whether someone is indicated as has control. With many participants, the header shows a limited set of avatars and an additional count.
- Select another participant’s avatar to open their participant menu in the viewer, if that menu is available.
Participant controls appear only when the viewer supplies a supported state report and you are the session owner/admin. An older viewer may still display the desktop without showing these extra controls.
Allow or revoke mouse and keyboard control
- Check Guests can control: off/on. The host uses this switch to decide whether guest control is generally allowed.
- If the participant menu supports it, use that menu to grant or revoke control for a particular participant.
- To block guest control broadly, switch to Guests can control: off. Recheck the state reported by the viewer and the participant who currently controls the desktop.
- Give control only for the work that requires it; revoke it when that work is finished.
A guest who cannot control the desktop can still view it. Disabling mouse and keyboard input is not the same as stopping the video/session. Do not leave sensitive documents, credentials or private data visible while someone is watching.
End desktop sharing altogether
- With the shared desktop open, choose More options.
- Select End sharing.
- Verify the message Sharing ended. Your apps and files remain on the Hand.
This ends the current desktop sharing session and invalidates its existing guest invitations and active viewers. It does not delete the Hand’s files, applications or workspace. To share again, open a new desktop session and invite the person again.
Waiting for the invitation link to expire is not the same as explicitly ending sharing. Links expire within four hours, but participants can already have joined the current session. Use End sharing whenever you need to terminate the current access.
When controls are missing or unresponsive
- No participant avatars or guest switch: check whether the desktop is active and whether your viewer supports host status and guest controls. Some desktop engines do not offer invitations or guest input.
- A switch does not reflect your change: allow the viewer to report its updated state. If it stays stale, reconnect and verify the permission before continuing.
- The desktop disconnected: use More options → Reconnect while the sharing session still exists. If it was ended, start the desktop again.
Related: Invite someone and Use your Hand desktop.