You’re about to present to a client, a new customer, or someone you have never met. You expect them to see your screen. The less comfortable question is: can they move your mouse or type on your computer?
In a Linkside session, they cannot. A viewer can watch the surface you choose, speak when their microphone is on, and use the in-session chat. Linkside has no remote-control feature and no way for a viewer to send clicks or keystrokes to your machine.
Showing a screen and controlling one are different capabilities
Remote control needs software on your machine to receive another person’s input and apply it locally. On a Mac, for example, an app cannot use accessibility features to “access and control your Mac” until you explicitly allow it under Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Apple recommends granting that access only to apps you know and trust.
Screen capture is a different capability. It produces video, and sometimes audio, from the surface you selected. That captured media can travel to a viewer, but the screen-capture stream itself does not carry remote mouse or keyboard input back to your computer.
That distinction is narrow on purpose. A screen-sharing app can still offer voice or chat, as Linkside does. Those features let people communicate; they do not let a viewer operate the presenter’s computer.
Why browser screen sharing can’t hand over your mouse
Linkside asks the browser to capture a screen, window, or tab with getDisplayMedia. Three parts of that browser API keep you in charge of what is shown.
First, you pick the surface. The screen-capture specification requires the browser to let you choose from the available display surfaces each time. A site cannot silently choose a particular source for you or use the display-capture API to list your windows in advance. Chrome supports picker hints, including excluding entire-screen capture; Linkside does not set those hints.
Second, the result is a media stream containing video and, when available and selected, audio. The screen-capture API does not define a channel for a viewer’s clicks or keystrokes.
Third, the permission is not saved for later use. The page must be served securely, and you must interact with it before capture can start. Modern browsers also show their own sharing indicator and stop control while capture is active.
The fine print, for the curious
Desktop Chrome 136 and later has a separate Captured Surface Control API. After another permission prompt, it can let a capturing app scroll or change the zoom of a captured browser tab. It does not provide mouse clicks or keyboard input, and it does not apply to captured windows or screens. Linkside does not use this API.
What a Linkside viewer can and cannot do
Linkside adds its own clear boundary on top of the browser’s capture controls:
- Only the room creator, called the host, can start a screen share.
- The viewer receives the host’s media but has no control message that can carry a click, key press, or mouse movement to the host’s computer.
- Viewers can unmute their microphones and send in-session chat messages.
- Viewers cannot share their own screens or use the presentation tools.
The host does have three presentation tools: a pointer, a laser, and drawing. They add a visual layer over the video shown to viewers. They do not click the underlying app, change the shared document, or control anyone else’s device.
This boundary is the same whether the media takes Linkside’s default direct browser-to-browser path or falls back to an encrypted TURN relay on a restrictive network. The relay routes encrypted media; it does not add remote control.
How to present without handing over control
- Create a room. Linkside does not require an account, download, extension, or plugin.
- Send the room link. Your viewer opens it in a browser and joins without a signup wall.
- Select Start sharing. In the browser’s picker, choose only the tab, window, or screen you want to show. If one window is enough, share that instead of your entire screen.
- Present with the pointer, laser, or drawing tools. Use voice or chat for questions.
- Select Stop in Linkside or use the browser’s stop-sharing control. Either one ends the screen capture. When the conversation is over, end the room to close the session.
Linkside does not record the session or keep chat logs. Rooms are temporary and disappear after the session ends. If you also want to understand how the media is protected in transit, read what WebRTC encryption guarantees.
When view-only isn’t enough
If the other person genuinely needs to operate your machine, Linkside is the wrong tool. Use remote-control software that makes its permissions and access clear, and grant that access only to someone you trust.
Many tasks need a second pair of eyes, not a second set of hands. A helper can watch your screen and guide you by voice. A client can watch a demo and ask questions. A colleague can review work while you remain at the keyboard.
View-only does not remove every privacy decision: the viewer can still see the surface you choose. Pick the narrowest useful surface, check it before you start, and stop sharing when you are done. For the separate question of limiting who can join, see how to share privately with one person.
The useful promise is specific: Linkside lets people see what you present, but it does not let them take control of your computer.