Stians Tech Tips

Barrier

Barrier

Barrier is a software KVM switch that lets you control multiple computers with the same mouse and keyboard.

You can install it on Windows using winget with:

winget install DebaucheeOpenSourceGroup.Barrier

It works on Linux and OSX as well, meaning you can control a Mac from a Windows computer and vice verca.

I use it at home with my keyboard and mouse connected to my desktop computer, with my laptop placed to the left of the desktop monitors. When I move my mouse cursor to the left of the desktop monitor it appears on my laptop, and I can control the laptop with my mouse and keyboard without changing any Bluetooth connections or moving the USB cable.

Since I use a dock to connect my laptop to my two desktop monitors, I can even switch the input on my monitors to the laptop source, extend my laptop desktop and then keep using the keyboard and mouse connected to my desktop computer even though the laptop is now using all three screens.

This works with both my Windows laptop and with my Macbook Air