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Objectives To explore patients’ experiences with receiving sick leave certificates via remote consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigate whether there were differences among the types of remote consultation (telephone, video or text).Design A nationwide online patient survey consisting of quantitative data supplemented by qualitative opinions conducted in Norway.Setting Primary care.Participants Patients who received a sick leave certificate via remote consultation in the period from 16 November to 15 December 2020.Results Of the 5429 respondents, 3233 (59.6%) received a sick leave certificate via telephone consultation, 657 (12.1%) via video consultation and 1539 (28.3%) via text-based e-consultation. Most respondents (76.8%) were satisfied. Only 10% of the respondents thought that the doctor would have obtained more information through an office appointment. The majority of the respondents (59.6%) found that they had as much time to explain the problem as at an office appointment. Some patients also thought that it was easier to formulate the problem via a remote consultation (18.2%) and agree with the doctor on the sick leave (10.3%).The users of text-based e-consultations were the most satisfied (79.3%, p