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I downloaded and installed anydesk (free licence) in Ubuntu 18.04:

sudo dpkg -i anydesk_2.9.6-1_amd64.deb

But it does not allow me to change the "alias" (change the number to a custom alias, like e.g. pc1@MyCompany or machine@ad) (see fingerprint)

enter image description here

According to anydesk (source) you have to modify this file:

Linux:

~/.anydesk/service.conf

But they do not explain how to permanently change it. How can I change the alias of anydesk? Thanks in advance

Update: (thanks to @danzel)

This question maybe has no answer (for free license). I have consulted with the official Anydesk, and only the Anydesk professional and enterprise license can change the ID to Alias. Therefore the free version can not. See https://support.anydesk.com/AnyDesk_ID_and_Alias

Note: If AnyDesk is used portable (not installed), only the ID is displayed and no Alias can be assigned.

So, at least on my part, this question is closed. Thanks to all the participants

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  • Which kind of licence do you use?
    – danzel
    Jul 5, 2018 at 19:50
  • i use free licence
    – acgbox
    Jul 5, 2018 at 21:09
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    According to the article you linked to, you can only set the alias once, and it sounds like you have to do it during installation ("Users who install AnyDesk can choose an Alias for the ID.") You cannot change it using a free licence. Also, the article doesn't tell you to modify the service.conf file.
    – danzel
    Jul 5, 2018 at 21:16
  • In the same way, the question remains the same. How (or where) is the "alias" established? (and according to your explanation, then the question would be: How (or where) is the "alias" established during the installation?)... In any case I would like someone to explain to me how I put the alias?
    – acgbox
    Jul 5, 2018 at 21:26
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    @danzel thanks for all. You're right. Free licence can not change ID for Alias
    – acgbox
    Jul 19, 2018 at 13:12

5 Answers 5

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This is available on the free version.

On the main welcome tab of AnyDesk, simply right click on the red icon in the "This Desk" card on the left hand side. This is the same UI component that shows you default AnyDesk address.

For example, the UI presents the option as so

enter image description here


I did this on the second run of AnyDesk. I had original tried looking at the service.conf file though I saw nothing relating to the alias name. You are also not prompted on the first run to set the alias (AFAIK) under Ubuntu; even though the AnyDesk help page on the topic says you will be.

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  • it only says "Alternative AnyDesk Address: XXXXXXXXX" where X is the number, but there is no way to change the number for an alias (name). And that is the question I ask. How to change the number to a name (alias)
    – acgbox
    Jul 31, 2019 at 13:27
  • Did you right click on the address textbox? That is how the menu containing the option to choose an alias is presented.
    – KDecker
    Jul 31, 2019 at 16:00
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    Sadly this doesn't work now
    – BeaST 30
    Jun 27, 2021 at 18:21
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Depends of version that you have in your System, normally when you finish the installation, it present only one time, at the first runs, the interface with you can choice your alias, it check that alias is available and set it in both site, your system, and the remote servers configuration (anydesk servers)... If you dismiss the first run when you can choice the alias, you can purge from your system the anydesk installation, and try again... this operation set a new ID and you can choice the desired alias...

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    That alternative does not appear in linux
    – acgbox
    Jul 19, 2018 at 12:55
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Just because this topic is in the active search so my experience might will helpful. So I cloned windows computer and any desk picked up old allies so I could not really access my first computer until the second one was on.

And just because any desk was installed I had real trouble even run portable version because no matter what you do it's still picking the old name of the first computer.

So how to actually to deal with it. There is cache file in user local and roaming folders. You need to delete the program itself and those files from user caches folders. Then if you run portable version again it will give you a number finally.

If you want to install it then change your computer name but before installation deletes old caches files otherwise, it will still pick the old name.

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  • Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! I recommend to edit this answer to expand it with specific details about how to do this. (See also How do I write a good answer? for general advice about what sorts of answers are considered most valuable on Ask Ubuntu.) Sep 17, 2018 at 8:12
  • Emphasis in Ubuntu ;) Nov 11, 2018 at 5:58
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The Alias is stored in a token on the computer, according to the AnyDesk support portal. This is for security reasons. They chose not to put the Alias in a file anywhere, lest the location be spread around amongst hackers and those who spend their time creating malware. Should one of them, or their programs, ever gain access to your computer they could do any number of malicious things with it. So, to answer the original posters question, by design the Alias is kept on the computer in a token and cannot be accessed, altered, or modified by anyone.

If you choose to use an Alias using the Free license, it will pick up the computer name that is stored in the "properties" information for the computer. You cannot choose your own Alias.

However, you can manually rename other computers that show up in the "Recent Sessions" area on the "New Connections" window. This is done by clicking on the menu icon (3 vertical dots in lower right side of computer icon) and selecting "rename". Of course, you have to make an initial connection to another computer running AnyDesk first, to get it to show up in the "Recent Connections" area, after which you can rename it to anything you desire.

if an "@acl" suffix appears after an Alias, it should be disregarded when connecting to computers on the local network. Although it shows up, it is not actually part of the Alias itself.

AnyDesk will only discover computers that are on the same network. It will only recognize Alias's of computers that are on the same network, as well.

If you want to connect to a remote computer that is not on the same network as the computer you are accessing it from, you need to use the AnyDesk ID of the remote computer you'd like to connect to. After connecting, you can then rename the computer to anything you'd like in the "recent connections" area of the AnyDesk "New Connections" window on the computer you accessed it from.

Using the Free License, you can only set the Alias once, from the Welcome screen, after the installation completes.

After you've set the Alias, if you need to locate the AnyDesk ID for the computer then you can right-click the AnyDesk Icon in the system tray of the computer you want to get the ID for, select "settings", then in the left-pane of the window that appears highlight "User interface", and in the right-pane check "Show AnyDesk ID instead of Alias". When you click the "New Connection" tab at the top of the window, Under "This Desk" the AnyDesk ID will now appear.

If you want set up "unattended access" to connect to a computer without anyone having to be present at the other computer, you need to set up a password on the machine you intend to access when you install AnyDesk on it. You can do this from the Welcome Screen by clicking the "set password" icon, or from the "settings" screen by clicking on "Security" on the left pane, then checking "Enable unattended access" on the right pane and clicking the "Set password for unattended access" button.

One last thing - if you can't connect to a computer that has AnyDesk installed on it, and a message appears saying "session closed" after timing out with error code win32_10060, a complete uninstall of AnyDesk needs to be done on the machine you can't connect to using a program like Revo Uninstaller or IOBit Uninstaller, then reinstall AnyDesk and set up the configuration again. Everything should work properly after that.

Hope this helps... ;-)

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Even though the free version only gives you the option of using your computer/device name, you can edit it to something else as long as the first letter stays the same (annoying I know).

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