Deskflow
FreeOne keyboard and mouse across every computer on your desk
A keyboard and mouse sharing tool — a software KVM without the video. Move the pointer off one screen's edge and it lands on the next computer, with the clipboard following. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux including Wayland, with TLS encryption on by default. It is the open-source upstream of Synergy.
Why we picked it
GPL-2.0, 29,090 stars.
A Windows work machine, a Mac and a Linux box on one desk means three keyboards and three mice. Deskflow turns that into one setup: the main machine is the server, the rest are clients, you arrange the screens' relative positions in the interface, and the pointer glides across them. Typing follows the cursor, and text copied on one computer pastes on another.
Deskflow is the open-source upstream and Synergy is the commercial product built on it; the Synergy company funds Deskflow and contributes code. Forks like Barrier and Input Leap are no longer developed; Deskflow stays network-compatible with them and with Synergy 1, though not yet with Synergy 3.
Wayland is supported on Linux, requiring libei 1.3+ and libportal 0.8+; systems with older libraries can use the Flathub build. Traffic stays on the local network, with no account and no internet connection needed.
To be clear about:
- The macOS build is not notarized by Apple, so a direct download is reported as "damaged".
Run
xattr -c /Applications/Deskflow.app, or install from the official Homebrew tap. You also need to grant Accessibility permission, and after upgrading remove the old entries and grant it again. - Windows requires Windows 10 1809 or later and the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable.
- It shares keyboard, mouse and clipboard only, not the screen. Every computer still needs its own display.
- deskflow.org currently redirects straight to the GitHub project page.