Support

How can we help?

Setting up your Mac, connecting away from home, and answers to common questions.

Get in touch

Questions about Porthole, or something not working? Email us, and we’ll usually reply within 1–2 business days.

Email Supportsupport@getporthole.app

Tip: Send Feedback in Porthole’s settings starts the email for you, with the app version, iOS version and device model filled in. Please add your Mac’s macOS version.

Can’t connect?

In Porthole, touch and hold your Mac and tap Test Connection. It checks your network, your VPN and your Mac, and says what to fix.

Common questions

  • Try it without a Mac

    Tap Try a Sample Mac on Porthole’s first screen, or open Settings › Help › Try the Sample Mac. It’s a pretend Mac built into the app, so you can try the trackpad, the Mac keys and the menus before you set up your own. It’s free, and nothing leaves your device.

  • Set up your Mac

    On your Mac, open System Settings › General › Sharing and turn on Screen Sharing. Click ⓘ next to it and make sure your account is allowed. Macs on your network then appear in Porthole on their own, or tap + to add one by its address. In Porthole, Settings › Help › How to Set Up Your Mac shows each step.

  • Use it away from home

    Porthole connects through your own VPN: WireGuard on your home router is the most private, and Tailscale is the easiest. Both are free. An SSH tunnel works too. Porthole won’t connect to a public address, so your screen and typing are never sent across the internet unprotected. Step-by-step guides ›

  • “Your VPN isn’t connected”

    Porthole checks before connecting. Turn on WireGuard, Tailscale or your VPN app, then try again.

  • “Screen Sharing is off on this Mac”

    Turn on Screen Sharing on the Mac (System Settings › General › Sharing) and make sure your account is allowed. If your Mac uses a different port, touch and hold it in Porthole, tap Edit and check the port.

  • Sign-in doesn’t work

    Use the short name and password of an account on that Mac, the same as Screen Sharing on another Mac. To find the short name, open Terminal on the Mac and run whoami.

  • Files

    Files lets you browse your Mac, save files to your iPhone or iPad, and send files to your Mac. It needs Remote Login: on the Mac, turn it on in System Settings › General › Sharing › Remote Login and allow your account.

  • Copy and paste

    Send to Mac (the clipboard button) pastes what you copied on your iPhone or iPad into your Mac, or types a password from your password app. macOS Screen Sharing doesn’t share the Mac’s clipboard with other apps, so to bring text back, use Files or share it from the Mac.

  • Macs with more than one display

    Tap the displays button in the session toolbar to see all displays at once or choose one. If a display looks wrong, choose Adjust Displays.

  • Keyboards

    The bar above the keyboard has ⌘, ⌥, ⌃, esc, tab, the arrows and function keys. Hardware keyboards work too, except shortcuts iPadOS keeps for itself, such as ⌘Tab and ⌘Space.

  • Purchases

    Every feature is free for 7 days, then $9.99 once unlocks Porthole for good. Unlocked it on another iPhone or iPad? In Porthole, open Settings › Purchase and tap Restore Purchases. Apple handles payments and refunds. Request a refund from Apple ›

  • Requirements

    An iPhone or iPad with iOS 18 or later, and a Mac with Screen Sharing turned on.