Remote control Keynote presentation from iPhone iPad

If you need to give presentations using Keynote on Mac and you have an iOS device as well, you can link your iPhone to Mac in Keynote and transform your phone into a Keynote remote control. In this way, you can deliver your presentation with confidence and have the freedom to move around without having to return back to your computer o laptop for Keynote control. You can start the presentation, advance to the next slide, go back to previous slides, end the presentation right at your fingertips. Your iPhone is the perfect Keynote remote control for speakers, students, teachers and lecturers. Here is how to set up iPhone or iPad as a remote control for a presentation on a Mac.

Requirements

Here is what you need for Keynote remote control:

  1. Keynote on both Mac and iPhone;
  2. Wi-Fi network.

Connect iPhone to Mac in Keynote

Connect both iPhone and Mac to the same Wi-Fi network. 

Open Keynote on iPhone, tap the Remote icon at the upper right corner to open the Keynote Remote screen. Tap Continue to open the Set Up Remote screen.

set up keynote remote on iPhone

Run Keynote from the Launchpad on Mac. Click Keynote > Preferences. Switch from the General to the Remotes tab in the Preferences window. Click Enable > Link. A four-digit code appears on both Mac and iPhone. Verify that the four-digit codes match, click Confirm, then close Keynote preferences.

Keynote for Mac enable remotes, link iPhone
Link iPhone to Mac in Keynote Remotes

Unlink iPhone from Keynote for Mac

If you don’t want to allow the connected iPhone to present slideshows on Mac in Keynote, you can go to unlink or disconnect it from Keynote > Preferences > Remotes > Unlink.

Remote Control Keynote from iPhone or iPad

After the devices are linked, you can remote control the Keynote presentation on Mac right from the iPhone or iPad. 

Open your presentation in Keynote from your Mac. Open Keynote on iPhone or iPad. Tap the Remote button at the top right corner to advance to the Keynote Remote screen where you will see a big Play button. Tap on it to start playing the Keynote presentation on Mac. 

iPhone keynote remote to play control slideshow presentations on mac
iPhone keynote remote to play control slideshow presentations on mac
  • Advance to the next slide: Tap the slide, or swipe left across the slide.
  • Return to the previous slide: Swipe right across the slide.
  • Skip to a specific slide: Tap the slide number in the upper-left corner, then tap the slide you want to display.
  • Stop playing the presentation: Tap X close button at the top right corner.
  • Tap the Layout button at the upper right section to change a different layout: Current, Next, Current and Next, Current and Notes, Next and Notes.
  • Tap on the Pen icon to highlight on a slide from a remote control device. You can draw on your iPhone or iPad to emphasize information on the slide. The drawing appears on Mac screen at the same time.
iPhone keynote slideshow presentations remote control

Presentation Remote Control using Android or PC?

If you want to control presentation using an Android phone or control PowerPoint presentation on a Windows PC, computer, you can use a remote control app instead.