At a Glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

Easy to install and set up
share input devices on more than one machine

Cons

Default configuration top to bottom, problems with waking from sleep

Our Verdict

ShareMouse is still in beta and there are glitches, but at zero pence, it’s much cheaper and more convenient than a KVM switch.

ShareMouse is an easy-to-use virtual keyboard and mouse sharing program. Simply plug a keyboard and mouse into one computer on your network, and you’ll be able to use them on any other local machine that has the program installed.

The 5 best Mac mice: Which is the best mouse for a Mac?

Little in the way of configuration is required. Install the software on the target machines and it just works. One computer acts as host, and the others as clients. To switch between machines and begin using your mouse and keyboard on another screen, simply drag the cursor to the edge of your monitor. An arrow overlay shows you the direction to drag.

By default the ‘hot’ edges of our screens were at the bottom and top. However, ShareMouse comes with a monitor manager feature that enables you to virtually position displays. We were mousing back and forth between our set-up in no time. It also lets you drag and drop between machines. You can even select multiple files and drag them from any folder on one machine to any folder on another. You can cut and paste content from one computer to another, too.

We’ve tried similar tools before; the open-source Synergy is loved by the Linux community, and there is Mac version, but setting it up is truly torturous.

Install ShareMouse on all your network computers and it just works