About VMware Horizon Client for Mac
You can use VMware® Horizon™ Client for Mac to connect to and use remote desktops and applications from a Mac.
Add Horizon Client to the Dock
You can add Horizon Client to the Dock.
Setting the Certificate Checking Mode in Horizon Client
You can determine whether client connections are rejected if any or some server certificate checks fail by configuring a setting in Horizon Client.
Configure Horizon Client to Select a Smart Card Certificate
You can configure Horizon Client to select a local certificate or the certificate on a smart card when you authenticate to a server by setting a preference. If this preference is not set (the default), you must manually select a certificate.
Connect to a Remote Desktop or Application
To connect a remote desktop or application, you must provide the name of a server and supply credentials for your user account.
With some configurations, if you disconnect from a remote desktop without logging off, applications in the desktop can remain open. You can also disconnect from a server and leave published applications running.
Share Access to Local Folders and Drives with Client Drive Redirection
You can use Horizon Client to share folders and drives on the local client system with remote desktops and applications. This feature is called client drive redirection.
Clicking URL Links That Open Outside of Horizon Client
A Horizon administrator can configure URL links that you click inside a remote desktop or application to open in the default browser on the local client system. A link might be to a Web page, a phone number, an email address, or other type of link. This feature is called URL Content Redirection.
Open a Recent Remote Desktop or Application
You can open recent remote desktops and applications in Horizon Client.
Using a Touch Bar with Server, Desktop, and Application Connections
If the Mac has a Touch Bar, you can use the Touch Bar to add or disconnect from a server or connect to a recent remote desktop or published application. This feature requires macOS Sierra (10.12) or later.
Configure Horizon Client to Forget the Server User Name and Domain
By default, Horizon Client stores the user name and domain that you enter when you log in to a server to connect to a remote desktop or application. For increased security, you can configure Horizon Client to never remember the server user name and domain.
Hide the VMware Horizon Client Window
You can hide the VMware Horizon Client window after you open a remote desktop or application.
Connecting to a Server When Horizon Client Starts
The Always connect at launch setting is enabled by default for the first server that you connect to with Horizon Client. When this setting is enabled for a server, Horizon Client always connects to that server when you start Horizon Client.
Autoconnect to a Remote Desktop
You can configure a server to automatically open a remote desktop when you connect to the server.
Searching for Desktops or Applications
After you connect to a server, the available desktops and applications on that server appear on the desktop and application selection window. You can search for a particular desktop or application by typing in the window.
Select a Favorite Remote Desktop or Application
You can select remote desktops and applications as favorites. Favorites are identified by a star. The star helps you quickly find your favorite desktops and applications. Your favorite selections are saved, even after you log off from the server.
Switch Remote Desktops or Published Applications
If you are connected to a remote desktop, you can switch to another desktop. You can also connect to published applications while you are connected to a remote desktop.
Using a Touch Bar with Remote Desktops and Applications
If the Mac has a Touch Bar, you can use the Touch Bar to interact with remote desktops and published applications. This feature requires macOS Sierra (10.12) or later.
You can reorder server, remote desktop, and remote application shortcuts.
Using Drag and Drop with Shortcuts and URIs
You can drag and drop server, desktop, and application shortcuts and URIs.
Removing a Server Shortcut From the Home Window
After you connect to a server, a server shortcut is saved to the Horizon Client Home window.
Copying and Pasting Text and Images
By default, you can copy and paste text from the local client system to a remote desktop or application. If a Horizon administrator enables the feature, you can also copy and paste text from a remote desktop or application to the client system or between two remote desktops or applications.
Dragging and Dropping Text and Images
You can drag and drop text and images from the client device to an open application in a remote desktop.
Printing from a Remote Desktop or Published Application
You can print to a virtual printer or to a USB printer that is attached to the local client computer from a remote desktop or published application. Virtual printing and USB printing work together without conflict.
Use USB Redirection to Connect USB Devices
You can use locally attached USB devices, such as thumb flash drives, cameras, and printers, from a remote desktop or a published application. This feature is called USB redirection.
You can use many Mac functions with published applications.
Create Keyboard Shortcut Mappings
You can customize how remote desktops and applications interpret Apple keyboard shortcuts by creating keyboard shortcut mappings.
Modify the Horizon Client Mouse Shortcut Mappings
You can configure a single-button Apple mouse to send a right-click and a middle-click to remote desktops and applications. You can modify, enable, or disable the default mouse shortcut mappings. You cannot create new mouse shortcut mappings or delete the default mouse shortcut mappings.
Modify the Horizon Client Shortcuts for Windows Actions
Horizon Client includes preconfigured shortcut mappings for common Windows actions, including Toggle Full Screen, Quit, Hide Application, Cycle Through Windows, and Cycle Through Windows in Reverse. It also includes a preconfigured shortcut mapping for Toggle Exclusive Mode. You can enable or disable the default shortcuts. You cannot create new shortcuts or delete the default shortcuts.
Monitors and Screen Resolution
When you use the VMware Blast display protocol or the PCoIP display protocol, you can extend a remote desktop to multiple monitors. If you have a Mac with Retina Display, you can see the remote desktop in full resolution.
The DPI Synchronization feature ensures that the DPI setting in a remote session matches the client machine's DPI setting. When you start a new remote session, Horizon Agent sets the DPI value in the session to match the DPI value of the client machine.
Select Specific Monitors in a Multiple-Monitor Setup
You can use the selective multiple-monitor feature to select the monitors on which to display a remote desktop window. For example, if you have three monitors, you can specify that the remote desktop window appears on only two of those monitors. By default, a remote desktop window appears on all monitors in a multiple-monitor setup.
Exclusive mode is similar to full-screen mode in that the remote desktop fills the screen. Unlike full-screen mode, with exclusive mode the VMware Horizon Client menu bar and Dock do not appear when you move your cursor to the edges of the screen.
Using the Session Collaboration Feature
You can use the session collaboration feature to invite other users to join an existing remote desktop session.
You can configure Horizon Client to check for and install updates automatically each time it starts. You can also check for and install updates manually.
Troubleshooting Horizon Client
You can solve most problems with Horizon Client by restarting or resetting the desktop, or by reinstalling the VMware Horizon Client application.
Getting Started
Before you can log in and connect to a remote desktop or application, a system administrator at your company must set up your user account. If your system administrator has not set up your user account, you cannot use Horizon Client or HTML Access.
Connect to a Remote Desktop or Application
To connect a remote desktop or application, you must provide the name of a server and supply credentials for your user account.
Add Horizon Client to the Dock
You can add Horizon Client to the Dock.