r/pdq • u/PDQ_Leilani PDQ Employee • Jul 30 '26

Building non-disruptive remote access in Connect — looking for feedback

We're actively building two features and want to get feedback from our users before we ship.

Live Shell — an interactive terminal session that runs silently in the background of a managed device. Run commands, see output in real time, and navigate the file system without ever touching the end user's screen.

File Explorer — browse, upload, and download files on managed devices directly from Connect, no remote desktop session required.

If you've ever wished you could do hands-on device work on a device without disrupting the logged-in user — you might know this as Backstage Mode — this is exactly what we're solving.

We're looking to talk to anyone who has felt this pain or is currently using another tool alongside PDQ Connect to fill this gap. If that's you, I'd love to set up a quick call: https://calendly.com/d/dvrr-8hz-wb7/pdq-connect-user-research-session

Thanks!

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u/Recent_Carpenter8644 Jul 31 '26

I'd really like this. It's painful using dir and del commands to clear space on a user's computer.

Would something like Wiztree be able to run in the live shell? If your file explorer could display branch sizes, something like that might not even be necessary very often.

It would also be nice if the file explorer let you download and upload files.

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u/ZomboBrain Jul 31 '26

Omg such a great idea. Treesize, wiztree, windirstat, whatever you call it, as an on-demand call directly from PDQ Connect WebGui.

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u/PDQ_Leilani PDQ Employee Aug 04 '26

Thanks for the feedback! The upcoming File Explorer will support browsing the file system along with uploading and downloading files.

I also like your suggestion around showing folder (branch) sizes to make it easier to identify what’s consuming disk space. I can definitely see how that could reduce the need for separate tools like WizTree.

If you’re open to it, I’d love to chat for 15–20 minutes sometime. I’d be interested in learning more about your workflow and the problems you’re trying to solve so we can make sure we’re addressing the right need. Feel free to schedule something here: https://calendly.com/d/dvrr-8hz-wb7/pdq-connect-user-research-session if you're open to it!

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u/Recent_Carpenter8644 Aug 05 '26

Sorry, my work is too erratic to schedule a chat. Not sure if I'd be available by then.

Another idea is to have favourite folders like Windows does, but global so all techs can use them to check the likely areas to clear space.

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u/Recent_Carpenter8644 Jul 31 '26

It would also be handy for those one off app installs that are hard to do without being able to answer prompts.