Forum Discussion
Remote assistance with Quick Assist is changing
Hi Insiders! Russell Mosier and Bianca Taylor, from the Experiences + Devices team are excited to share an upcoming change to their remote assistance app, Quick Assist.
Remote assistance with Quick Assist
Quick Assist is an app in Windows 10 and Windows 11 that enables you to receive or provide assistance with your PC over a remote connection. The current built-in Quick Assist app is reaching end of service.
To keep your remote assistance sessions secure, you will need to download the new Quick Assist from the Microsoft Store.
How it works
- Select Start > Microsoft Store.
- In the Microsoft Store window, type Quick Assist in the Search box.
- Click Quick Assist in the list, and then click the Get button.
Find out the rest here in the blog post!
Cheers,
Nathan
Office Insider Community Manager
Become an Office Insider and gaining exclusive access to new features and help shape the future of Office. Join Now: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android
143 Replies
- It is possible to install Quick Assist without annoying UAC popup, when it is installed as offline installer with Endpoint. Choose offline licensing in the Business store, then go to Endpoint and choose the offline Installer. Only catch is, this will only work as Required with device license. Then, it is installed in system context and will not ask for admin credentials. And, this will also not auto-update.
Further more to my previous post.
Windows Store presents a security threat by the following:
1. Leaving additional ports open on a secure network.2. Windows Store does not provide a secure GPO Policy for QuickAssist to be included within Windows Remote Desktop.
3. Windows Store does not include any admin/GPO policies for deployment, update and rollback policies.
We work in Hospital setting where we need secure information, Windows Store does not include this facility.
It is better for QuickAssist Updates to be included in Windows Updates, SCCM for Deployment.
- I tried using the instructions at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-store/distribute-apps-to-your-employees-microsoft-store-for-business to get an Offline download of QuickAssist for deployment using a Powershell Script to all our domain PCs. However, both Chrome and Edge refuse to download the package because it is being sent over a HTTP link when we click the Download button in the Business Store.
Please provide an easy way to deploy this app using a GPO and make it possible for us to leave a shortcut to it on all our user's desktops. We cannot ask our users to install Apps from the Store themselves to get support from our IT team. Nathan_PfeiferThis is a terrible terrible change; "exciting" but for all the wrong reasons. Finally after 30 years MS had a built-in, simple-to-use tool that was a few clicks and/or words over the phone away from helping an ad-hoc user.
Moving the app to the Store, and requiring admin permissions to install it -- please remove the word "Quick" from the title. Half the battle with end-users is just getting to the point you can see their screen. 80 year old grandmas can use quick assist in its current form. Once its in the Store? That's it for the tool. Might as well stop development on it as everyone will move back to other soon-to-be-quicker-than-quick-assist-again tools.
Question: are you trying to kill it off? If so... this will do it.
We have updated the blog post with a FAQ of some of the most asked questions thus far: Remote assistance with Quick Assist is changing (office.com)
Of course these are not answering all of your questions but this thread is being looked at and your feedback is helping (so thank you for sending!).
Nathan
- Thank you for addressing the issues. My last remaining pain point is it not being installed by default on Win10. I do not plan on switching to win10 since there was just too much regression in the UI. If you could solve that, I'd be completely sold. Thank you.
- a few things tho:
1) why would the store be needed for making sure the performance and security of quickassist, what happened to windows update, oh right you are forcing users to betatest your preview updates, totally forgot about that one. The days when these previews were optional? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
2) would it really have hurt to just add more numbers than to make the code alnum? especially over phone having just 10 possible characters is a lot nicer compared to 36.
3) why are you only pre-installing it on win11 and not maybe with w10 22H1 too?
Nathan_Pfeifer this is another enormous fail for Microsoft. The Experiences + Devices team needs to learn how the customers are using the tools before they make changes that remove all the benefits.
Our enterprise adopted Quick Assist as our remove support tool, completely replacing a third party product because:
1) It was native to Windows 10, and subsequently Windows 11.
2) NO ADDITIONAL COST or LICENSING required
3) No deployment tools required. Just point the end user to the search bar, type "quick assist" and click on the icon. As simple as falling off a log.
Russell Mosier and Bianca Taylor, from the Experiences + Devices team should not be excited. They should be ashamed that their company ignored the end user experience, in favor of software development ease.
There may be a compromise, but right now you are losing customers for that app. The Enterprise is still your bread and butter Microsoft, if you are going to empower the end user, you have to do so within the enterprise operational security models.
In our eyes, learn from your mistake and put it back into the OS, natively, where it belongs
Just the addition of adding alphanumeric to the code equation makes what was once a ridiculously simple way to connect that much more of a pain. "A as in apple S as in Sam, did you say F? NO S!, P as in Paul, did you say T? OMFG as in ... well never mind...
I didn't even have to tell them to type Quick Assist in the search box, it was TWO KEYTAPS, tap Windows and type the letter Q, in a sea of consumer fails, this was something Microsoft got right, big time. I too who only support regular consumers, was saving a TON OF $$ by not having to subscribe to overpriced remote control solutions.I have so far not done the update, as I am waiting waiting, to make sure my end users who can barely use a mouse let alone deal with the Store can deal with the change, I may be over reacting but the alpha numeric is already a PIA.
- fully agree, just add more numbers if 6 are not enough. teamviewer has 10 numbers by now.
I'm already running into issues with my Win10 PRO machine. Installed quickassist through the store, once I launch it, I receive the following message "The requested operation requires elevation" for "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\MicrosoftCorporationII.QuickAssist_2.0.6.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\QuickAssist.exe"
I've been through all kinds of permission settings (reg keys, files..). Nothing seems to be different than another Win10 Pro or win 11 machine which works fine. Also other store apps work fine.
Also, what about Win LTSC? Currently QuickAssist works and makes our life easier. But moving to the store app makes things difficult, no store within LTSC build. I already tried using the offline installation(Appxbundle), but Quickassist gives the same error, as my normal Win10 Pro machine. I even added the Windows Store on LTSC, just to see if that makes any difference.- I have the same error perpetrating around to different site admins in my organization where they are unable to launch the new version. Please provide an update if you were able to find a resolution to the error.
Thank you,
There is something strange when you try to install the store-app without admin rights. There is a screen asking to enter the account details but when just just close it, it still installs the store app. Same thing happens when you distibute the app with Endpoint. Users get a pop up screen out of nowhere and when they close it the apps installs as jou would expect. So why ask for admin rights if they are not needed?
I also noticed that the warning in the old Quick assist app that there is a new version that should be installed has disappeared. Is this for a reason? Maybe because there was a lot of critic?- In no way is this related news LOL....Microsoft announced a for fee license add on for a new remote assistance tool....
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-endpoint-manager-blog/remote-help-a-new-remote-assistance-tool-from-microsoft/ba-p/2822622 Isn't this a contradiction?
Nathan_Pfeifer wrote:To keep your remote assistance sessions secure, you will need to download the new Quick Assist from the https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/quick-assist/9p7bp5vnwkx5#activetab=pivot:overviewtab.
[...]
it is also available as an offline app for distribution and can be accessed via the Microsoft Store for Business. More details are here: https://nam06.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fmicrosoft-store%2Fdistribute-offline-apps&data=05%7C01%7Cv-npfeifer%40microsoft.com%7Cce77e161ab824f3dbcb908da2fa89ca2%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C637874698537097842%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=j2S%2BAZ4A63iPaGbgokoiiMVBArXoKI9zQQVqJbof1cM%3D&reserved=0
Users need a new secure app from the store, but admins can keep deploying an outdated (therefore unsecure) version as an offline app. Users are unable to update the app without admin rights, and the admin won't update the offline app, because it is working...
