How can I use a single monitor when connecting to a multi monitor machine using Screen Sharing, VNC or RDP?

I have a mac desktop and laptop at work, and I keep the desktop up to date with tools, code, etc, so it's my main machine.

When I'm working from home, I like to connect to my desktop since it's all setup - but it has 3 monitors, and when I connect using a single monitor, some of the apps I was running are on other monitors and can't be seen.

Even when I try and CMD+TAB to apps that are on other monitors, they dont show up.

How can I manage this better?

A simple solution that works for me is to

• turn on "Display Mirroring" as soon as I connect
• view my remote connection on a single monitor.

You can do this:

• manually by going to "System Preferences | Displays", and toggling it
• or you can use this free opensource command line app to toggle it super easy from the command line.