How to share a keyboard and mouse with multiple computers

by Ross McKillop on August 2, 2006

Windows

If you have two or more computers on your desk, and each has its own monitor(s), you can use the same keyboard and mouse to control them all - by using Synergy. Imagine moving your cursor to the side of your screen and having it appear on the monitor next to it - and that monitor is connected to a totally different computer. That’s why Synergy allows you to do. This tutorial will guide you in setting up Synergy in Windows ..


(poor) Illustration of the Synergy concept

The first thing you’ll want to do is download and install Synergy on each of the computers that you wish to share a keyboard and mouse with. Synergy runs on Windows, OS X and most versions of Linux - although this tutorial will only outline setting up Synergy in Windows.

Select one of your computers to act as the Synergy server. Each of the other computers will be set up as ‘clients’ that connect to the server. Remember, the computer acting as the server is the one that will share its keyboard and mouse.

Setting up the Synergy server
Setting up Synergy clients


Setting up the Synergy server

  1. Launch Synergy and click the Info button
  2. Synergy

  3. Make note of the Hostname as it will be needed in a few moments. Click OK to return to the main screen.
  4. Synergy

  5. Click the Configure… button
  6. Synergy

  7. You’ll need to add one Screen for each of the computers that you wish to share the same keyboard and mouse. For this tutorial we’ll assume you have 2. Click the + (plus) sign to add your first Screen.
  8. Synergy

  9. Enter the Hostname from step 2 in the Screen Name: field. An alias is not required, but can be helpful. Click OK to continue.
  10. Synergy

  11. Now add a second Screen by selecting the + (plus) sign again
  12. Synergy

  13. This time you’ll need to enter the Hostname of the other computer that will share your keyboard and mouse. You can determine the correct Hostname by running Synergy on the other computer and clicking the Info button. If your other computer is running OS X, you can determine the appropriate Screen name by selecting System Preferences > Sharing > and then look for the Computer Name. It’s usually in the format of firstname-lastname-computer.local
  14. Synergy

  15. Now you need to tell Synergy where each of the Screens is located. This example will assume the two monitors are next to each other, with ross on the right and parallelsxp on the left. In order for your cursor (and the keyboard focus) to move from screen to screen, make sure the right side of the computer on the left goes to the computer on the right. Click the + (plus) sign to save.
  16. Synergy

  17. Now repeat the above step, but make sure the left side of the computer on the right goes to the computer on the left. Click the + (plus) sign to save again.
  18. Synergy

  19. Click OK after the two Links have been created.
  20. Synergy

  21. Click Test to see if Synergy is configured correctly.
  22. Synergy

  23. If you receive any errors, you’ll need to go back and re-check your settings. Otherwise, close the status window.
  24. Synergy

  25. Click Stop to end the test.
  26. Synergy

  27. Click Start to launch Synergy server.
  28. Synergy

Setting up Synergy clients

  1. Launch Synergy and make sure that Use another computer’s shared keyboard and mouse (client) is selected.
  2. Synergy

  3. Enter the Synergy server’s host name in the space provided.
  4. Synergy

  5. You should now be connected to the Synergy server. Use mouse that’s hooked up to the servers computer and move it off-screen in the direction of your other monitor. It should move seamlessly across the screen(s).
Related Posts:
  • Roundup: The Under-appreciated Posts
  • How to draw on your screen in OS X
  • How to launch programs in OS X using mouse gestures
  • Home Networking 101
  • How to quickly open multiple links in multiple tabs
  • Get Simple Help tutorials just like this one in your email inbox every day - for free! Just enter your email address below:

     

    You can always opt out of this email subscription at any time.


    Bookmark and Share

    { 2 trackbacks }

    » Using Synergy - » Blog Archive AyushSaran.com Web Design, Graphic Design, San Diego
    05.25.07 at 11:30 pm
    Using Synergy - DeDestruct - A Multi-Author Web Design Journal
    11.15.07 at 6:38 am

    { 13 comments… read them below or add one }

    1 Ruben 08.15.06 at 8:32 am

    Thank you so much! this is the clearest explanation ever!

    2 Ross 08.15.06 at 10:20 am

    Ruben -

    Excellent, glad it helped :)

    Ross

    3 les 11.24.06 at 9:13 am

    thanks ross,
    i worked for hours trying to figure it out myself.
    kudos !
    i can now tell my friends about this software and your tutorial.
    les

    4 Ross 11.24.06 at 9:34 am

    Les -

    Cool I’m glad it helped. Synergy is such a great program…

    5 Ginger 12.17.06 at 5:46 pm

    Thank you. I stuggled with this until I went on the internet and searched out some help and I clicked on your site and wala I had it going immediately.
    Thank you! Thank you!

    6 Tiago 05.03.07 at 10:20 am

    Thank you so much! This is what I was looking for!

    7 Grid 05.28.07 at 4:26 am

    Well, I use MaxiVista and find it much easier to configure. It does a fancy additional task also:

    http://demo.maxivista.com

    Windows only, though.

    Grid

    8 mauser 06.13.07 at 6:59 pm

    Screenshots for the win! Until your page I never noticed that the plus sign in step 8 was no longer grey. Thanks much!

    9 roger 07.07.07 at 4:17 pm

    excellent explanation. Thanks a lot. We need this kind of collaborating in the web.

    10 Luke 07.26.07 at 5:35 pm

    Very helpful, thanks!

    11 Andy 09.26.07 at 6:08 am

    I get and error message from the client that says the “failed to connect the server: address not found:

    My Server host name is all letters with a - between some letters - any suggestions?

    12 kazaven 10.11.07 at 1:08 pm

    I did axcactly as you are showing but i couldn’t do it.
    Plz help if you can.
    Thnks

    13 Steve 09.01.08 at 9:27 am

    Tried following the instructions step-by-step but I can’t seem to get it to work. The PC setup as server just flashes when I click Test. The client machine times out trying to connect to the server. Both are using XP SP2. Have I done something wrong?

    Leave a Comment

    You can use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>