---
myst:
html_meta:
"description lang=en": "Using a Kasm Workspaces session."
"keywords": "Kasm, Workspaces, User Guide"
"property=og:locale": "en_US"
---
```{title} Control Panel
```
# Control Panel
The in-session control panel serves as a centralized hub for accessing various tools and features that enhance your interaction with the remote desktop environment. It provides you with convenient options to customize your session, manage audio settings, transfer files, control streaming quality, and more. This documentation will guide you through the different functionalities of the control panel, empowering you to make the most out of your remote desktop experience.
```{figure} /images/user_guide/new_control_panel.webp
:align: center
**Control Panel**
```
## Sound
Audio produced within the session can be toggled on and off via the **Sound** item. Depending on certain browser settings,
users may need to click inside the session at least once in order for audio to start playing
## Webcam
Access to a local webcam can be toggled on and off via the **Webcam** item.
## Webcam Pass-through
The local webcam can be used within the Kasm session by enabling this option. Depending on browser settings,
the user may be asked to grant permission to the microphone.
```{figure} /images/user_guide/webcam_permission.png
:align: center
**Webcam Permission Pop-Up Box**
```
## Webcam Settings
In addition to the basic on/off toggle, there are more nuanced settings that the user can control to optimize their webcam usage within a Kasm session. These include:
* Quality
* FPS (frames per second)
* Webcam Device
### Quality
The quality setting allows you to control the video feed's compression level from your webcam. While selecting a higher quality setting can result in a more detailed and sharp image, it will lead to an increased consumption of bandwidth.
### FPS
The FPS, or frames per second, refers to the frame rate of the webcam video feed. The higher the rate, the more responsive the feed will be. Yet, it's important to note that higher frame rates will lead to increased badwidth consumption.
### Webcam Device
This setting allows you to select which webcam device you want to use within the session, especially beneficial if your setup includes multiple webcams. The change in the webcam device will be instantaneous.
However, please note that showing the webcam settings might require you to grant permissions to access your devices. This is standard procedure to protect your privacy and to ensure the software can find all connected webcam devices. You may be prompted with a permission pop-up box, like the one shown below:
```{figure} /images/user_guide/webcam_permission.png
:align: center
**Webcam Permission Pop-Up Box**
```
For more detailed information about webcam pass-through, please refer to {doc}`../guide/webcam_passthrough`.
## Microphone Pass-through
The local microphone can be used within the Kasm session by enabling this option. Depending on browser settings,
the user may be asked to grant permission to the microphone.
```{figure} /images/user_guide/mic_permission.webp
:align: center
**Microphone Permission Pop-Up Box**
```
## Clipboard
The clipboard option in the control panel allows you interact with the clipboard of the remote host. If you are using a Chromium based browser on your local system, such as: Chrome, Chromium, Brave, or Edge, there is no need to use the manual clipboard control. Kasm supports seamless clipboard for Chromium based browsers. For non-Chromium based browsers, such as Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer, you will need to use the control panel to transfer text to and from the remote session's clipboard.
## Download
The download option in the control panel gives you a list of files that are in the remote session's download folder. You can then download any file in this folder to your local computer. The Downloads folder is located at `/home/kasm-user/Downloads`.
## Upload
The upload option in the control panel gives you the ability to upload files on your local computer to the remote session. Files uploaded will be placed at `/home/kasm-user/Uploads`.
## Displays
If your local computer has multiple monitors, you can use the Kasm display manager to add additional displays and manage their location. The `Auto Placement` option is available for supported browsers. With this option enabled, Kasm will automatically detect your local monitors and arrange new windows appropriately. For devices with high DPI monitors, you may see a `Native Resolution` option in the display manager. By default, Kasm will try to adjust the remote display resolution to provide an optimal experience. Users may wish to override this behavior by enabling the `Native Resolution`, which will force the remote resolution of the session to match the physical resolution of local monitors.
```{figure} /images/user_guide/display_manager.webp
:align: center
**Display Manager**
```
## Streaming quality
Kasm Workspaces allows users to control settings that affect streaming quality which have direct impact not only on the image quality but also server performance and network bandwidth usage.
The settings can be found in the `Control Panel` under the `Streaming Quality` section.
### Quality presets
In order to simplify settings Kasm Workspaces provides a range of preset qualities that can be used to easily control the rendering quality.
| Name | Description |
|----------------------|-----------------------------|
| Static | A fixed resolution of 1280x720. The image is scaled client side to fit as much screen as possible while preserving the aspect ratio. The frame rate is limited at 24fps.|
| Low | A dynamic resolution with a maximum width of 1280. The height is scaled accordingly while preserving the aspect ratio. The image is scaled client side to fill the screen. The frame rate is limited at 24fps. |
| Medium | A dynamic resolution matching client's resolution, resized automatically. The frame rate is limited at 60ps. |
| High | Same as the medium quality but with a much higher image quality. The frame rate is limited at 60ps. |
| Extreme | Same as the high quality but with the video mode disabled. The frame rate is limited at 60ps. |
### Advanced settings
Users that require a finer control over streaming quality can use the advanced settings that can be found by toggling the `Advanced` dropdown available when a medium or higher quality is chosen.
```{figure} /images/user_guide/new_advanced.webp
:align: center
**Where to Find Advanced Quality Settings**
```
The following settings can be adjusted:
| Name | Description |
|----------------------|-----------------------------|
| Scaling mode | Controls where the image scaling is applied. |
| Set Resolution | Forces the server to use a given resolution. |
| Max FPS | Limits the frame rate at which the server can stream. |
| Performance Stats | Toggles showing of performance related statistics (CPU, Network, FPS) |
(fullscreen)=
## Fullscreen
Kasm Workspaces allows users to enter into a fullscreen session. When in fullscreen users should enjoy a better experience. Unfortunately this feature is not available on all mobile platforms, most notably on iOS as we use the [requestFullScreen function](https://caniuse.com/?search=requestfullscreen). If you want to use fullscreen on iOS you will need to install our {doc}`PWA <../user_guide/pwa>`.
## Share
The Share option in the control panel allows you to put your session in to sharing mode. The Session Sharing feature in Kasm allows users to place an existing session in “sharing mode”. This generates a unique URL that can be shared with other authenticated users, granting them the ability to view or interact with the session. When session sharing is enabled, the shared session is framed within a user interface that allows participants to see who is also viewing the shared session and to interact with each other using chat communications.
Click here to {doc}`Learn more about session sharing <../guide/session_sharing>`
## Gamepads
Users may pass up to 4 local gamepads into the session. Press any button on the connected Bluetooth or USB gamepad(s). If the browser detects the gamepad(s), an entry will
be listed for each device. A dropdown will be visible next to each device representing the virtual device port/index
( 0 - 3 ) mapped within the session. These can be changed as desired.
```{figure} /images/gamepad/new_connection.webp
:align: center
**Gamepad Connection**
```
Please see {doc}`../guide/gamepad_passthrough` for more details.
## Advanced
### Show Keyboard Controls
This option allows you to show or hide the pop keyboard button, which appears in the lower right of the screen. The pop keyboard button is used on mobile devices to pop open your native on-screen keyboard of your mobile device. Kasm automatically detects if you are on a mobile device with an on-screen keyboard and should display the pop keyboard button, however, there may be some devices where detection fails. This option allows you to forcefully display or hide the button if auto detection fails.
### IME Input Mode
The IME input mode allows for different input methods required for languages with large symbol sets such as Japanese or Hindi.
### Game Mode
Game mode locks the cursor center screen and provides the remote environment relative cursor movements. This is necessary for some games, such as first-person shooters. Press the escape key to break from game mode. You can also use Ctrl+Shift+2 to enable and disable game mode.
### Pointer Lock
Pointer lock keeps your cursor from going outside of your local browser window. This can be used in combination with fullscreen to provide a better user experience that is closer to working on a local system. Press escape to break from pointer lock mode. You can also use Ctrl+Shift+3 to enable or disable pointer lock mode.
```{figure} /images/user_guide/new_advanced_settings.webp
:align: center
**Advanced Settings**
```