How to Disable Remote Management via Mac Terminal

Remote management can be great if you need to have someone from tech support look at your Mac or if you want to access your computer remotely from another location. It’s a nice feature, but it can often raise security concerns for many. So, can it be disabled?

The answer is yes, you can disable remote management, and if you’re using Mac Terminal, you can do this quickly and easily using the command below.

sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -deactivate -stop

My name is Eric, and I have worked as a software engineer for over 25 years. Security is something that I always take seriously, and being able to disable remote management is something that everyone should be able to do if they choose. 

I have shown you the command to use above. Keep reading if you would like to see more details on how to use the command and how you can turn remote management back on if needed.

Steps To Disable Remote Management in Mac Terminal

Disabling remote management from Mac Terminal is quick and easy. You will need to log in to your Mac with your administrator account and know the password for that account. Use the following steps to disable remote management using Mac Terminal.

Step 1: Start Mac Terminal.

Start up the Terminal application on your Mac using your preferred method.

Step 2: Run the command to deactivate remote management.

You will run the kickstart command with the -deactivate and -stop parameters. The command shown below is run as one line. You can type it in or copy and paste it from the text below. Once you have it on your screen, hit the return key.

sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -deactivate -stop

Step 3: Enter your password.

As shown above, you will enter your password. This is the password you use to log in to your Mac. The account you log in with should be an administrator account. Hit return once you have entered the password.

Once the steps are complete, your remote management will be disabled and will not start back up when you reboot your Mac. 

Steps to Enable Remote Management in Mac Terminal

Remote management of your Mac can be a handy tool, and while you may want to keep it disabled for security reasons, there are occasions when you may want to turn it on. Turning it on with Mac Terminal can be just as easy as it was to turn it off. Just follow the steps below.

Step 1: Start Mac Terminal.

Start up the Terminal application on your Mac using your preferred method.

Step 2: Run the command to activate remote management.

Here you will run the kickstart command with the -activate parameter. The command shown below is run as one line. You can type it in or copy and paste it from the text below. Once you have it on your screen, hit the return key.

sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -activate

Step 3: Enter your password.

As shown above, you will enter your password. This is the password you use to log in to your Mac. The account you log in with should be an administrator account. Hit return once you have entered the password.

Remote management will now be turned on. Remember that this will now be on all the time and will even start back up if you reboot your computer. If you wish to keep it off for security reasons, use the steps in the previous section above to disable it once you have completed whatever tasks you need to turn it on for.

Not Comfortable with Mac Terminal

Using Mac Terminal to disable or enable remote management is an excellent method. You can do it quickly and easily with one command, and if you need to automate the process for any reason, you can even put the commands into a script or schedule them in a cron job.

Not everyone is comfortable using Mac Terminal, and I understand that. There’s nothing wrong with it, and there is a way to disable and enable remote management from your desktop settings. This method is relatively easy, and if you want to know how to do it, check out the steps below.

Step 1: Open System Settings.

Click on the Apple symbol in the upper left corner of the screen and then click on System Settings.

Step 2: Select the General section in System Settings.

Click on the General section on the left side of the System Settings window.

Step 3: Find the Remote Management setting.

Look for the Remote Management setting on the right side of the window.

Step 4: Click on the switch to disable or enable remote management.

FAQs

Below are a few frequently asked questions when discussing disabling remote management.

What is remote management used for?

Remote management can be used for several things and is most commonly used to allow a tech support person to connect to your computer to detect and solve problems. A user can also use it to connect and perform actions on their computer remotely from another computer.

Why does remote management cause security concerns?

For the most part, remote management is safe, but it could open your system up for a hacker to connect to your system. Apple secures this feature pretty well, but nothing is 100% secure, and turning the feature off is the safest protection if you have concerns. 

Can I get help from tech support if remote management is turned off?

No, you will need to have remote management enabled to have a tech support person get on your system and troubleshoot and fix the issue. If you want the ability to do this, you can turn it on when the support person contacts you and then turn it off when they are done.

Conclusion

Disabling remote management on your Mac is something that many users wish to do to make their system more secure. You can easily disable it with Mac Terminal using the above command and enable it when needed.

Suppose you’re uncomfortable using Mac Terminal to disable/enable remote management. In that case, you can always do this through the System Settings on your desktop, but using Mac Terminal can also allow you to do this using scripts or schedule it as a cron.

The information above provides you with what you need to disable or enable the remote management feature on your Mac. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. I would love to hear from you.