How to Enable VNC on Headless Raspberry Pi Running Raspbian and Set Resolution

This video will show you how to enable VNC on your headless Raspberry Pi (no display, keyboard, or mouse) and set the resolution. I am assuming that you have SSH set up, so if you do not, go through this video first: • How to Enable SSH on H...
I am using the Raspberry Pi 3B+: amzn.to/2Tnsc0l and recommend using a 2.5A minimum power supply, such as: amzn.to/2G0wcku I usually use whatever SD cards I can get cheaply, but recommend minimum 8GB and class 10, here's an example of a good cheap option: amzn.to/2MHJkvb If you need recommendations for good compatible Pi hardware just leave a comment below.
First step is to go through SSH and run the command:
sudo raspi-config
Here, go to the interface options, and then select VNC, and go to yes to enable it.
Now you can use your VNC viewer to connect. If you do not have a VNC viewer, you can download it from here: ninite.com/
Once you have VNC working, you can either go back to SSH, or go to the terminal in the VNC viewer. Here run the command
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
This is a text file of the boot configuration for the Pi. You will need to remove the hashtag before
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=1
Then, change the mode and group to match your wanted display settings. For 1080p, use
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=82
The list of other resolution options can be found here: elinux.org/RPi...
The hit ctrl+o then enter to save, and then hit ctrl+x to exit. Now run sudo reboot to reboot the Pi. When it boots back up you will have VNC with 1080p resolution.
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[@Osacerable]

Thank you so much for the video, my raspberry usb port died, so I thought I'd have to buy a new one, but thanks to you now I can work BETTER than before!

[@TCDIXON]

Excellent tutorial been racking my brain trying to figure this out couldn't figure out how to VNC without having a monitor hooked up to it .I have a Raspberry Pi 4 running completely from solar away from my house that I turned into a media server so when people come to visit and stay in the guest bunkie they have access to media even if the power is down.

[@garrettweems7557]

what quantum computer are you handling all those open tabs with?

[@machoneboard]

Great. Thanks. Many other tutorials but none as straightforward as this.

[@overclock25]

Very good tutorial. I have solved the issue about "cannot currently show the desktop" on Raspi PI 4.

[@lucianocosta4426]

this really help me thank you! from brazil

[@eclecticlife]

I thank you so much for your tutorials. Very clear to the point. Excellent!

[@bean0_099]

I have restarted 3 times and checked the HDMI mode and group and it still looks the same

[@NorthernKitty]

Hi! Thanks for the tutorial, it was very helpful in helping me to identify why I was only getting a "Cannot currently show the desktop" message when I had VNC setup for a headless configuration. Although I actually didn't catch it the first time through your video - you may wish to stress that enabling "hdmi_force_hotplug=1" is ESSENTIAL for remotely accessing via VNC when no monitor is plugged in. However, I didn't find the resolution settings to work until I commented out the line "dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d". Only THEN I could get the desirable screen resolution to show on my VNC client. But there's a downside to that - the wireless keyboard on my Pi no longer functioned when dtoverlay was commented out. Sometimes I want to boot the Pi with a monitor and keyboard, and I'm having to decide which is more important: a working keyboard on my Pi when connected to a monitor, or better screen resolution on my VNC client when I'm not. The answer is obvious, of course - I can't do much without a keyboard! Any idea on how I can get the best of both worlds?

[@Tinytoesable]

Go to raspi-config> advanced> resolution set it to max

[@KDG860]

Thanks for pointing me to dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d - commenting out this fixed my issue as well. I have a pi 3+ so maybe that driver is incompatible with the older pi.

[@fuel777]

Super video, it helped me a lot to set up mi Rpi. Thanks again great work, simple, slick, clear.

[@TonyMendyk]

Thanks, this video helped me solve my issue!

[@bean0_099]

@howtwos101 can you help me fix my resolution for some reason it looks horrible on all resolutions and is still way too big

[@StanleyBateswar]

Very nice, you helped me thanks man!!!

[@sarimbinwaseem]

Very helpful bro.... but I am having black squares on my android VNC when I open folders or something... resolution set to 1280x720 60Hz... and medium quality set in VNC settings.. EDIT: anyway to reduce refreshrate to 30Hz???

[@jerabekj]

Nice tutorial, unfortunatelly this does not work for me. I sat everything up as You did and it still connects in basic resolution. Does anybody have a clue what is happening?

[@jerabekj]

Well, I found out. It is crucial to turn off open gl support and set only software rendering

[@t__--__t]

@@jerabekj please share more

[@jerabekj]

@@t__--__t Open a terminal Type sudo raspi-config Advanced Options - GL Driver - set to legacy

[@MikeGormez]

Thanks for the great video. On my pi 3 I can't enable the legacy GL Driver.

[@M0XYM]

@@jerabekj That's it! thanks

[@hardatwork38]

Thanks, nice instructions, very handy.

[@basidz]

nice video, did everything exactly as you mentioned, but when logging in to raspberry pi 4 via vnc (tightvnc) I still get 600x600 screen....

[@ClaudioVolber]

Me too.

[@mitkosokolov9382]

I try the same thing, but can't get to the VNC desktop. Any help?

[@im-dt2er]

Great, that works. thanks so much

[@heinrichwolf1117]

setting the display options / resolution to 1600x1200 in rasp_config (D1) worked for me as well and faster.

[@crunchybrunch6447]

Can you please help me? I have followed every step in the video, yet when I get into VNC it says "Cannot currently show the desktop" Thanks :)

[@NorthernKitty]

I replied earlier, as I was having same problem, but I'm editing that reply as I fixed the problem. I hadn't bothered with the resolution changes, but it seems part of the reason he is showing us that was to add the hdmi_force_hotplug=1 so that your system thinks a monitor is connected. Otherwise, if a monitor isn't connected, the desktop never loads and VNC has nothing to display. Edit the /boot/config.txt as he shows you to enable the hotplug setting. (You still don't have to change the resolution if you don't need to or wish to.)

[@linhtunthaw306]

Finally i can solve this weird problem. Thanks a lot :)

[@vladilas]

For me it just won't work... just stays at that crappy 640 res :(

[@josephkeller2521]

I'm currently trying the same thing on a Raspberry Pi 4. I'm having a lot of issues with setting the resoloution and I'm not sure why. I've edited the file, then I've gone into advanced options and messed around with the resoultion...I'm not quite sure what to do here. Anyone tried it with a Raspberry Pi 4 yet?

[@MrGKanev]

The same problem still haven't found a solution.

[@luismb2383]

Having the same problem, did you manage to solve it? thanks

[@luismb2383]

This helped www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=246641 apparently you only need to set it in the config.txt and then switch it in the preferences

[@slainiae]

Could you make a quick comment on what VNC server is and why you would use it?

[@howtwos101]

VNC is a application that allows you to remotely control a computer over a network. I use it all the time with Raspberry Pi's,because I will have several on my network. Instead of bringing a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to the Pi and hooking it up, I can just VNC into it from my laptop and work on it from there. This way I can put Pi's in cases, or innacessable areas and still easily work with them. There is also the option to do this with SSH instead of VNC, but SSH only gives you access to the command line rather than the desktop interface that most users are used to.

[@slainiae]

@@howtwos101 Is it kind of the same as Putty?

[@howtwos101]

Similar, but you can have a full desktop view, instead of with putty only protocols that are text based

[@GianlucaLaMantia0]

ah finally a nice tutorial : )

[@MPElectronique]

Thank You! :)

[@amittky8390]

Thank you

[@vitorracoski2874]

Thanks a lot men. Almost giving up on that kkkkkkk

[@ideology8323]

mine says "cant show desktop now"

[@germaniii3773]

Help! I have a problem. Whenever I use vncviewer, the hardware keyboard connected to my pi is not working

[@howtwos101]

So as soon as you connect, the local keyboard that was working before stops working?

[@germaniii3773]

Yes that is my problem

[@howtwos101]

Is it connected headless (no HDMI connection to monitor)?

[@germaniii3773]

@@howtwos101 yep it's headless only the phone and the raspi is involved

[@howtwos101]

I will have to do some experimenting tomorrow when I have access to my Pi. My guess is the VNC session is creating a new virtual desktop that is somehow not linked to your local keyboard and mouse. You may have to override that with the VNC settings.

[@cristihenos]

Big like!

[@SchrodingersPlatypus]

Thanks

[@notkirb_]

I'm just looking at how many tabs he has open XD

[@gauravnawale3352]

Thanks, this video helped me solve my issue!