It is now increasingly common for people to own both PCs and Macs, and in many types of work it is necessary to work with both types of machine at the same time. Ordinarily this would mean having to make use of a keyboard and mouse for the PC and another for the Mac. But with Synergy installed you can shared a keyboard and mouse connected to one computer with another on the network. As an added bonus, the program will also create a shared clipboard that can be used to copy and paste data from one machine to the other.
Once Synergy has been configured, it acts like a KVM switch, but operates like a multi-monitor setup. This means that after you have configured keyboard and mouse sharing, you can move the cursor to the edge of your PC monitor and it will re-appear on the screen of your Mac. The layout of monitors can be configured to reflect how the screens are actually positioned and this quickly turns into a great time saving tool.
In this example, we’ll assume that you have a keyboard and mouse connected to your PC and you would like to share them with a Mac – the process can be easily reversed if required. On your PC you will need to install a copy of Synergy, while on your Mac a copy of SynergyKM is needed.
Run through the installation on your PC, launch Synergy from the Start menu and click the Info button at the bottom of the dialog, making a note of the Hostname that is listed. Select the option labelled ‘Share this computer’s keyboard and mouse (server)’ before clicking the Configure button. Click the + button at the top of the dialog and enter the Hostname you noted previously and then click OK.
At this stage, SynergyKM should be installed and run on your Mac. Launch the program and ensure that the ‘Connect to a shared keyboard and mouse’ setting is selected on the General tab and then move to the Client Configuration tab. In the ‘Server IP or hostname’ box, enter the IP address or hostname of your PC and make a note of your Mac’s Screen Name before clicking Apply Now.
Return to your computer and click the + button in the Screens section again, this time enter the Screen Name of your Mac before clicking OK. Now that the two screens have been added to Synergy, they need to be configured. Highlight the New Link option in the Links section and use the first drop down menu below to indicate which side of your PC your Mac is located. From the second drop down menu select the name of your PC, and from the third, the name of your Mac.
Click the + button at the bottom of the dialog and then select the opposite side from the first drop down menu before select your Mac and then your PC from the second and third drop down menus. This process ensures that when the mouse cursor reaches the edge of your PC monitor, it will re-appear on your Mac and when the cursor is moved across the Mac screen it will make its way back to the PC.
Click OK followed by Start in Synergy on your PC and then turn to your Mac. Move to the General tab of SynergyKM and click the Turn Synergy On button. You should now be able to use your mouse to move between the screens of your two computers. Whichever screen the cursor is on can also be controlled by the keyboard.