Sharing a single keyboard and mouse on two Macs

[Stephen Fortner]

So I got this beefy new-to-me iMac. It's on my desk next to my older one, which has become the office-business-writing machine while the new beast is the studio-DAW-video-editing machine. I would like to share a single keyboard and mouse between the two, especially being able to cursor off one screen and have the pointer show up on the other, as if I had two displays hooked up to a single computer. Screen sharing and remote login don't quite do what I'm looking for. UPDATE: I found a solution, and I gave it a mini-review in the next post.

[MoodyBluesKeys]

There are a number of ways to accomplish this.

One way (for non-commercial users, commercial costs $) is to use TeamViewer. Install on each Mac, remember the "partner ID" for whichever you don't have a keyboard/mouse on, change the access password from the default if desired (this is a separate password from the Apple ID), and access the second from the first. When you finish, shut down the connection. This works well for intermittent access (such as accessing my Macbook Air located in the shop from either a PC or Mac inside the house, but is not ideal for full time use on two machines side-by-side. However, it is cheap and works well. Every machine I have can be accessed with this, because TeamViewer is available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.

 

The second (and the way that I have setup my shop, which has three PCs and the Macbook Air; 2 of the PCs are Windows 10, one is Linux Mint Cinnamon 20) is to connect an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse to a good all HDMI KVM switch. Then you connect the video output from each Mac using an adapter to HDMI. I am using this four position KVM switch Amazon link to switch

Two position switches are also available. Nice things about this: I have only one monitor (a 32" Samsung HDTV) on the desktop, a single keyboard, and single mouse. I am using a PC keyboard, which works fine for almost all Apple purposes (with the exception of screen print, which it can't duplicate), but a USB wired Apple keyboard would likely be better for your purpose. Not that this particular Mac has a broken screen, so I have to keep it in clamshell mode (closed) for the external monitor to work. HDMI connections can also pass audio. BTW a Bluetooth Mac keyboard works for almost everything on a PC that has Bluetooth also.

 

My primary computer in the home has a small desk, with a 32" Samsung HDTV monitor and PC keyboard. The HDTV has two HDMI inputs. One is fed from the PC, the other is fed from the Macbook Pro, which is sitting on top of the PC, where its own screen is not really that usable. I DO use a separate Apple wireless keyboard and a (Dell, doesn't matter as long as it is Bluetooth) mouse. That still means two keyboards, I don't use a KVM switch there, because my primary need is for one big display instead of one keyboard/mouse; but I could use a KVM switch just like in my shop.

 

A third way is to Mac's built in remote control facility. If you turn on the remote operation, you can use any computer that has the freeware VNC viewer available to control the Mac, screen, keyboard, and mouse. This is kind of a different way of the first option using a different software package. The VNC server is built in to the Mac by Apple. If you are controlling just from another Mac, it has the capability of doing this without using added VNC software.

 

The second of the options seems most likely to me to be optimum for your usage. The only problem I see is that it doesn't use the internal displays of each Mac (which may not be optimum for you, because it is difficult to use two separate displays and have each in the optimum position (one 32" display is better than side by side 19" displays)

 

Moving files from one computer to another is also rather simple to do, especially between two Macs, you just make sure that Apple sharing is enabled, and use Finder to access the second one. It is also possible between PC and Mac, if you turn on SMB sharing in the Mac. I have Microsoft Office on PC, Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Using iCloud (which has a client for all), I can start a document on any, move to another, edit as needed (one has to have Office 365 to edit on the phone/iPad app, but you can see the document and AirPrint it with the free app).

 

My business specialty is "Making Apple and Windows PLAY NICE."

[Stephen Fortner]

I think I found a solution, and I'd like to share it for anyone here who wants to do what I'm doing. It's an app called Across, and the website is acrosscenter.com. I have it running right now. It works via Bluetooth. It works like this:

 

You install the Across Center app on both machines. In this app's control panel, you set the one your keyboard and mouse are hooked to as the server and the other as the client. You also have a visual layout for positioning your devices physically. You can combine multiple devices across Mac, Windows, Linux, and Android. Once configured, it works pretty slickly. You can drag the mouse from one computer to the other just as though you were using dual monitors, or restrict it so that you use a hotkey to give the focus to one machine or the other. You cannot drag files across, as this would be a network operation, but I have my two iMacs networked together anyway so I can just drop things into each other's folders. Whichever computer the mouse pointer is on has the keyboard focus.

 

Another cool feature: Clipboard support. You can copy things on one computer and paste them on the other.

 

Now for the caveats. If your two (or more) devices are already Bluetooth paired, you'll need to unpair them first and then let the Across Center program do the work. The company says that other Bluetooth devices in the area won't affect (or be affected by) operations, but if I tried to use my Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse as the server's input devices, the configuration process kept, well, freaking out. Each computer was giving me repeated requests to connect from the other and connections kept failing. I turned them off, replaced them with my wired iMac keyboard and a good ol' Dell wheel mouse, restarted, redid everything, and all was well. My girlfriend's home office with her work iMac seems to be far enough away that my machines aren't picking up on her Magic Mouse and Keyboard â which are already paired to her computer.

 

Perhaps the most annoying thing is that if your client computer has a password on power-up, you won't be able to get to the password entry field because of course Across won't have loaded yet. Good news: This is not a problem if you log out and leave the computer on, or if you have to re-enter your password because the computer went to sleep. I tested this.

 

I don't intend to add my iPhone or iPad to the mix, because why would I interact with touchscreens using a mouse? There's a free demo that limits keyboard input on the client computer (not the server) after 30 minutes, but the license is $22.99 a year â most reasonable. Thereafter, renewals are $19.99 a year with a 15-day grace period. They email you a code, and you enter it in the Across Center app on the server computer. Computers in client mode do not require activation; they just work.

 

I'd love to hear from anyone who tries this out across platforms, with more than two devices, etc. I'm satisfied enough that I just gave them my money. I'm already feeling the ergonomic benefits. For example, I'm working on an instruction manual for a manufacturer right now. (This will also bear fruit for the MPN Gear Lab, as they sent me something really cool.) I can have their thing and my DAW set up on the studio machine with my word processor, browser, and Preview docs with needed info open on the office machine. The two macs are close together at about a 60-degree angle.

 

Before, I had two keyboards and mice. The desk was crowded, and I was constantly turning my chair and needing to reposition my hands, often grabbing the wrong mouse if I was tired. Now, the keyboard is in the center and I just turn my head slightly. Photos of this setup and a screenshot are attached.

[KuruPrionz]

That's really cool, thanks for sharing!!!!

[MoodyBluesKeys]

Sounds like that will work better for you than my suggestions. Also allows using the existing monitors on the iMacs (if they are the big ones, that gives a considerable amount of total monitor). Glad you got a good usable solution.

[Joe Muscara]

Thanks for this. I had no idea this existed and I'm glad to know it does if I ever need it.

 

I don't intend to add my iPhone or iPad to the mix, because why would I interact with touchscreens using a mouse?

 

I've been playing with a mouse with my iPad and the implementation is pretty nice. Most stuff Just Works and apps get the cursor changing over various clickable items for free. I'd actually be happy to see this kind of behavior on macOS, which I suspect it will at some point.

[Stephen Fortner]

It"s funny how a little thing like this can make such a difference. I"ve worked with all kinds of setups: laptop plus desktop, three monitors on a giant swing arm, you name it. Somehow this is the most ergonomically friendly setup I"ve ever used. It"s only been a couple of days but I am working longer with less fatigue and as I do my edit passes, see that I"m making fewer mistakes I need to fix. I think of it like having a really nice second monitor with a bonus CPU and storage built in!

 

Only things I want now are a better chair (not a huge Aeron fan) and a wraparound desk â something like an Argosy Aura â with some rack space in it. That's the next project ...