How To Use Chromecast To Cast Your Entire Desktop To TV

Say bye bye to the HDMI

Casting is a method of projecting or sending content wirelessly to a different screen such as your television or second monitor. Once youset up your Google Chromecast device, you can play any content from your mobile device or desktop on your TV or remote monitor, with the device becoming a remote control.

It saves you the painful hassles of hooking up your PC to your TV using an HDMI cable, which largely depends on the length of the cable. Plus, it allows you to mirror your entire screen or any browser tab on Google Chrome wirelessly with a few clicks so you can view static files like photos, display a presentation or view a website on a larger scale.

To create the Chromecast desktop connection, you’ll need a Google Chromecast device, your PC, an internet connection and the TV you’re casting to.

How Chromecast Casting Works

The main difference betweenusing an HDMI cableto display your desktop screen on your TV and casting is that the former is wired, while the latter is a wireless process. However, with casting, the content is casted to your TV from a supported service such as Netflix or YouTube and others.

Essentially, what you’re doing is telling your Chromecast device to go to the service, for instance Netflix, fetch a particular video, and play it on your TV. Your device, for exampleyour smartphone, becomes the remote controlfrom where you play, pause, skip to the next episode, or pick a different video altogether.

Unlike smartphones, which rely on the cloud tostream content from Netflixor YouTube, your desktop relies on your PC’s computing power to cast content from your desktop to a TV or remote monitor.

Chromecast Desktop Casting

Tools you’ll need

The first step is tocheck the WiFi networkof your Chromecast desktop device to ensure it’s on the same WiFi network as your PC. Chromecast can only remember one WiFi network at a time, so if you changed yours, set up Chromecast on the new network or connect to a new one if you prefer.

Cast Your Entire Desktop Screen

You can cast your entire computer screen using Windows, Chrome on Mac, and Chromebooks.

Cast a Tab On Chrome

Note: If this process sounds lengthy, it’s possible to shorten it in Chrome by adding a Cast button. You can pin it to the Chrome toolbar so that it’s easier to access next time you want to use it from any web page.

To pin the Cast button, clickMore>Cast…on Chrome. The button will appear temporarily on the browser toolbar, but you can right-click the Cast button and selectAlways show iconto keep it there permanently.

Cast Media (Photos & Videos)

You can view photos or videos on your TV from your PC by clickingCaston the Chrome browser. The images or videos will show on both the PC and TV, but the sound will play on your TV, except for apps and other tabs, whose sounds will also play on your computer.

Expand Your Screen Real Estate

There are so manycool things you can do with Chromecast, and Chromecast desktop casting is just one of them. How well this will work depends on the strength and reliability of your WiFi signal, and your PC’s computing power. It’s not as perfect as casting using an HDMI cable, but it’s the easiest and inexpensive wireless method to mirror your entire desktop to your TV.

Let us know whether any of these steps worked for you, and if you have any challenges, share with us by dropping your comment in the section below.

Elsie is a technology writer and editor with a special focus on Windows, Android and iOS. She writes about software, electronics and other tech subjects, her ultimate goal being to help people out with useful solutions to their daily tech issues in a simple, straightforward and unbiased style. She has a BCom degree in Marketing and currently pursuing her Masters in Communications and New Media.Read Elsie’s Full Bio

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How To Use Chromecast To Cast Your Entire Desktop To TV#

How Chromecast Casting Works#

Chromecast Desktop Casting#

Cast Your Entire Desktop Screen#

Cast a Tab On Chrome#

Cast Media (Photos & Videos)#

Expand Your Screen Real Estate#