Guides
How to control your monitors and window layouts from a phone
You are on the couch with the laptop docked to the TV, or standing at a whiteboard while the PC drives three screens across the room. Getting up to change brightness, switch a display profile or put your windows back is a small hassle that adds up. WindowLayout 1.5 adds a phone remote: a simple web page on your phone, served by the PC over your local network, with no app to install and no cloud account. This guide covers setup, pairing, what the phone can and cannot do, and how to keep it safe.
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Turn on the phone remote
Open WindowLayout on the PC and choose Phone remote in the sidebar, then switch on Allow phone remote. It is off by default, and while it is off WindowLayout opens no network port at all. When it is on, it listens only on the PC's local network addresses, on port 47823 unless you change it; if another program already uses that port, enter a different one between 1024 and 65535. The page shows the address on this network, such as 192.168.0.23:47823, and warns you if no local network connection was found.
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Let Windows Firewall allow the connection
Windows Firewall often blocks incoming connections, so the first time you turn the remote on, WindowLayout offers to add a rule. Click Add firewall rule and accept the administrator prompt. The rule allows only this port, only on networks marked Private and only from your local subnet, so it never opens anything on public Wi-Fi. If you decline, the page lists the manual steps in Windows Security under Firewall & network protection, Advanced settings. Also make sure your home or office network is set to Private in the Windows network settings.
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Pair your phone with the QR code
Click Pair a phone. WindowLayout shows a QR code and a 6-digit code that expire after 2 minutes and work only once. Scan the QR code with the phone's camera and tap Pair, or open the address in the phone's browser and type the code. Both devices must be on the same network. The phone receives its own key and keeps it in the browser, so you pair only once; add the page to your home screen for one-tap access. Up to 10 phones and tablets can be paired.
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Control your desk from the phone
The phone shows your monitors as numbered tiles. Tap one to set its DDC/CI brightness, add software dimming, cover the screen with black or move the active window there. Below are your window profiles with Restore and Undo last restore, and your display profiles with Apply. After a display profile is applied you have 15 seconds to choose Keep or Revert on the phone or the PC, so a mode the monitor cannot show fixes itself. Programs are never started from the phone; only windows that are already open are moved.
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Manage devices and stay safe
The Paired devices list shows each phone with when it was paired and last used. Rename it, Revoke a single phone or Unpair all; a revoked phone stops working immediately. The PC stores only a SHA-256 fingerprint of each key, never the key itself, and the Activity list of what phones did is kept in memory only. Requests from the internet, from other host names and from other web pages are refused. The connection is plain HTTP on your own network, like most smart-home devices, so turn the remote off before the PC joins public Wi-Fi.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to install an app on my phone?
No. The remote is a web page served by WindowLayout on your PC, so any recent phone browser works, on iPhone or Android. There is no account, no cloud service and no connection outside your local network.
Why can't my phone connect?
Check that WindowLayout is running, that the phone and the PC are on the same network, that the network is marked Private in Windows and that the firewall rule exists; the Phone remote page shows its status. Guest networks and some office networks isolate devices from each other, which blocks the connection.
Can someone else on my network control my PC?
Only a device that has paired with a fresh code shown on your screen. Codes expire after 2 minutes, wrong guesses are rate limited, and you can revoke any device at any time. Even a paired phone can only do the actions in this guide; it cannot start programs, read window titles or change settings.
Try it on your own desk
WindowLayout is free, about 3 MB, works offline and has no ads or telemetry. Save your first window layout in under a minute.