• Input Director icon
  • Mouse without Borders icon
  • Barrier icon

Finding my best mouse keyboard sharer

JiaChen ZENG3 appsUpdated
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After using laptops for years, I finally bought a desktop PC for my study and work. My desk space is too small to place a keyboard. And to fully utilize both computers, I feel the need to do something to connect between them. When using only one PC, I can use Windows built-in Miracast or Spacedesk to share the display. However, when using both PC simultaneously, I need something to just share the mouse, keyboard, and hopefully audio.

My setup is like below. If possible, I'd use the laptop for control completely as I prefer the trackpad to the mouse. Desktop's mouse is used for gaming and 3D software.

  • Desktop: Windows 10. A wireless mouse. No keyboard.
  • Laptop: Windows 10. Builtin keyboard and trackpad.
  1. Input Director icon

    Input Director

     Like

    Input Director is a Windows application that lets you control multiple Windows systems using the keyboard/mouse attached to one computer. It is designed for folks who have two (or more) computers set up at home and find themselves regularly sliding from one system to the other.

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Input Director screenshot 1
    Input Director screenshot 1
    Input Director screenshot 2
    +6
    Input Director screenshot 3
    JiaChen ZENG’s note

    Pro

    • No lag over Ethernet.
    • Has advanced settings like macros.

    Con

    • Trackpad movement response and speed are strange. I can't move the mouse properly.
    • Doesn't support 2-way control.
  2. Mouse without Borders icon

    Mouse without Borders

     Like

    Control up to four computers from a single mouse and keyboard with no extra hardware. Enjoy seamless file drag-and-drop and login control.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Mouse without Borders screenshot 1
    Mouse without Borders screenshot 1
    Mouse without Borders screenshot 2
    +1
    Mouse without Borders screenshot 3
    JiaChen ZENG’s note

    Pro

    • No lag over Ethernet.
    • Support two-way control. I can use my desktop PC's mouse to control my laptop's mouse cursor, and can also use my laptop's trackpad to control my desktop PC. But, to make the keyboard works on another PC, you need to move the mouse onto it first, or press Ctrl + Alt + F1. I can understand why it's designed like this, but in my use case, it just adds an extra step.

    Con

    • When switching between mice, the mouse cursor will take a jump. This may be because my laptop display is 4K.
    • Supports trackpads but not Windows precision touchpad fully. Pinch to zoom is supported partially. Doesn't work very well with multi-finger gesture software, GestureSign. It sometimes works and sometimes does unexpected things. I found the issue ticket in GitHub.
  3. Barrier icon

    Barrier

     Like

    Barrier is a cross-platform software utility for sharing your mouse and keyboard between multiple computers on your desk. It was forked from Synergy icon Synergy version 1.9's codebase.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • FreeBSD
    • OpenBSD
    Barrier screenshot 1
    Barrier screenshot 1
    Barrier screenshot 2
    +1
    Barrier screenshot 3
    JiaChen ZENG’s note

    Con

    • Just can't make it work. Didn't know why but because the con below, it doesn't fit for my use case so I didn't continue to try.
    • Doesn't support two-way control.

Finally, I settled with Mouse without Borders, mainly for its 2-way control support. Also, I hacked GestureSign to make it work with Mouse without Borders, so now I could use some of gestures from my laptop, which keeps my workflow.

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