ShareMouse

ShareMouse Mouse and Keyboard Sharing lets you control network computers with one keyboard and mouse, and share files, too. Rolling your mouse to the edge of one PC’s desktop moves control to the next PC and dims the first PC’s screen. Moving the cursor back restores control to the first PC. There’s a QuickJump hot key combo, too, and there’s a Panic key that also reverts to the main system and even a password option. This free tool works fine, though it takes practice.

We installed ShareMouse on two networked Windows PCs. The installer can configure Windows Firewall and applicable services, but be sure to enable ShareMouse in your other antivirus and security software. The app’s settings include hot keys, scroll speed, and choice of network adapters and ports as well as some Demo features. Under Data Exchange, we could enable Drag and Drop (A Demo feature) and Clipboard Synchronization, including a customizable hot key for pasting shared clipboard data. The Monitor Manager displays available monitors in a desktop window and also identifies each display with a large letter: A, B, and so on, as required.

We moused to the edge of our main PC’s screen, and the cursor activated in the next PC’s screen while the first screen dimmed. Huge arrows indicate control direction, even across a large room. We could use our mouse and keyboard normally in the active PC. But it takes a steady wrist to keep the mouse from jumping to the next PC (or back to the first) if you get too close to the edge, especially in widescreen displays. But ShareMouse Mouse and Keyboard Sharing actually controls multiple PCs with one mouse, one keyboard, and a little practice — and for free.

ShareMouse allows you to share one mouse and keyboard with multiple Windows and Mac computers. You just need to move the mouse pointer to the computer you wish to control. When you reach the border of the monitor, the mouse cursor magically jumps to the neighboring monitor and you can then control that computer. Any computer can be controlled with the mouse and keyboard of any other computer. Unlike a KVM switch; you don’t need to press any button to switch between computers. All mouse and keyboard input is transmitted over your existing Ethernet or Wireless LAN network connection. No USB switch, KVM switch or any other hardware is required. ShareMouse also allows you to drag and drop files between multiple computers for easy file transfer. ShareMouse additionally shares the clipboard between multiple computers. Whatever you copy into the clipboard of one computer is available in the clipboard of any other computer.