Share mouse, keyboard between Windows machine with Linux and Mac

Many people often need to use two computers at the same time, and it's difficult to share mice and keyboards with two computers. So what to do in this situation? The good news is that you can share your mouse and keyboard with two computers at the same time. Let's find out through the following article!

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the mouse and keyboard with two computers to do the job quickly.

People often use Ubuntu or Linux Mint on a computer and Windows on another computer. So, in this tutorial, we will use Linux keyboard and mouse with a Windows PC or laptop.

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Synergy installation 1.7.1

Synergy is software to share mice and keyboards between multiple computers, allowing seamless movement of the mouse pointer from one screen to another (works on Linux, Windows and Mac OS X).

For 64-bit systems

 $ wget https://synergy-project.org/files/nightly/synergy-1.7.1-master-3dcd36b-Linux-x86_64.deb $ sudo dpkg -i synergy-1.7.1-master-3dcd36b-Linux-x86_64.deb $ sudo apt-get -f install 

For 32-bit systems

 $ wget https://synergy-project.org/files/nightly/synergy-1.7.1-master-3dcd36b-Linux-i686.deb $ sudo dpkg -i synergy-1.7.1-master-3dcd36b-Linux-i686.deb $ sudo apt-get -f install 

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After you have installed Synergy, open it and follow the following simple installation instructions:

1. Choose language.
2. Complete activation or skip activation.
3. Select Server or Client - Remember, whether you choose Server or Client depends on whether you are sharing the mouse and keyboard of this machine (choose Server) or use the mouse and keyboard of another computer (choose Client).

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1. Click Next and you will get the main window where you can choose how to connect to the client computer. There are two options, the first option is 'Configure interactively' and the second option is 'Use existing configuration'. The first option will list the computers that are connected to your network. In the second option, you will need to create a configuration file (don't worry it is very simple).

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For example, today select the second option and switch to the terminal to configure the Synergy file.

Synergy configuration 1.7.1

To use Synergy for connecting to Windows clients (you can use the same way to connect to any Mac OS X client, Linux installs any distribution) with Ubuntu / Linux Mint.

Open the terminal and type the following command:

 $ sudo gedit /home/username/.synergy.conf 

1. sudo - To perform the task as root.
2. gedit - To use gedit to create a file.
3. username - User name on your computer.

This command will open the gedit text editor. Paste the following information in gedit.

Note : To find your hostname in Ubuntu, enter the server name in Terminal. In Windows, enter the server name in the Command line. To find your IP address in Ubuntu, enter ifconfig into Terminal. In Windows, enter ipconfig into the Command line.

 section: links hostnameOfServer: hostnameOfClient: end section: aliases hostnameOfServer: IPAddressOfServer hostnameOfClient: IPAddressOfServer end 

Now, add the following information at the end of the file, depending on which case you are applying. If your server is on the left and your client is on the right, use the following code.

 section: links hostnameOfServer: right = hostnameOfClient hostnameOfClient: left = hostnameOfServer end 

After you've done the configuration process, save the file. If you encounter any problems, leave comments in the comment section below.

Download, install and configure Synergy on Windows

Visit the Synergy website and download the appropriate version of Windows for your computer.

1. Run the installer and then run Synergy.
2. Select Share this computer's mouse and keyboard to access the configuration screen.
3. Then, add your computer name to the hostnames section and then set up the settings on the left and right just like before.
4. After configuring, select Use another computer's shared keyboard and mouse .

Run Synergy server on Ubuntu

Open a terminal window and enter the following code to run the server:

 synergys -f -conf /home/username/.synergy.conf 

Connect the Windows client to the server

1. With the option Use another shared keyboard and mouse computer has been integrated, enter the server's IP address (Ubuntu) and click Start.
2. Now you can use Ubuntu desktop keyboard and mouse with your Windows laptop.

Shortcuts to start and stop Ubuntu server

To start the server quickly, right-click on the top panel and create a new launcher. In the command section, enter:

 synergys -f --conf /home/username/.synergy.conf 

To stop the server quickly, right-click on the top panel and create a new launcher. In the command section, enter:

 killall synergys 

You can also start Synergy from the menu or dash. After you open Synergy from the menu, it will run in the system. You can click and select Start or Stop.

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See more:

1. How to share keyboard and mouse between two computers on Windows 10
2. Use multiple computers with just one set of keyboard and mouse
3. How to synchronize Clipboard between Windows and macOS?