RoboDodd
Contents

RoboMouse lets you share a single mouse and keyboard across two or more Windows PCs sitting side by side. Move the pointer to the edge of one screen and it carries on to the next machine, keyboard and clipboard along with it. There is nothing to plug in and no server to run: RoboMouse finds the other computers on your network and connects to them directly, encrypted end to end.

It is free and open source.

The RoboMouse settings window

Features

  • Move between PCs like one desktop. Drag each computer onto the edge where it sits and the cursor crosses automatically. Your own pointer speed and acceleration apply on every machine, so it always feels native.
  • Shared clipboard. Copy text or an image on one PC and paste it on another.
  • Copy files across. Copy files on one machine and paste them in Explorer on the other. They stream directly between the two and only when you paste, so nothing transfers until you use it.
  • Private by design. Every connection is authenticated with a pairing code you choose and encrypted end to end. Nothing is sent to the internet and there is no account to create.
  • Wrap-around edges. Optionally let two screens form a loop, so pushing off one side comes back on the far side of the other machine.
  • Stays out of the way. Runs from the system tray; the icon colour shows what it is doing, and a hotkey turns sharing on or off or brings the mouse back if you get stuck on another screen.
  • Native, compact build. Compiled ahead of time, so it starts instantly and needs no .NET runtime installed.

Screenshots

Pair machines with a shared code

Peers found on the network

Arrange screens by dragging

Add a peer

Getting started

  1. Install it on each PC. Download the latest release, unzip it anywhere and run RoboMouse.App.exe. It lives in the system tray.
  2. Set the same pairing code on every machine. Open Settings from the tray icon, go to Network, and enter one shared code on each PC. This code authenticates the machines and encrypts everything between them.
  3. Add the other PC. On the Peers page, machines running RoboMouse on the same network appear under Found on this network. Select one and click Add selected. For a machine on another subnet, add it by IP address (each PC lists its own addresses on the Network page).
  4. Arrange your screens. On the Layout page, drag each computer to the edge of your screen where it actually sits.
  5. Use it. Move the mouse off that edge and you are controlling the other PC. Copy and paste works across machines straight away.

The toggle hotkey (Ctrl+Alt+M by default) turns sharing on or off, and always brings control back to the machine in front of you if a pointer gets stuck.

How it works

The machine whose physical mouse you are using reads the raw hardware motion and forwards it to the other PC, which injects it through its own input pipeline. That is why the remote pointer respects its own speed and acceleration settings. When you push the cursor back through the edge it came in on, control returns to you. All of it travels over an authenticated, AES-encrypted channel keyed from your pairing code.

Privacy

RoboMouse is designed so your data never leaves the computers you pair.

  • Input and clipboard content (mouse movement, key presses, copied text, images and files) is sent only to the machines you have paired, over your local network, and only while you are controlling that machine or have copied something to share. It is encrypted in transit.
  • Discovery broadcasts on your local network contain the computer’s name, its screen size and the port RoboMouse listens on, so other instances on the same network can list it.
  • Settings (the pairing code and peer list) are stored in a file on your own computer. A diagnostic log of connection events is kept alongside it; it never contains keystrokes or clipboard content.
  • RoboMouse does not send any data to the developer, to Microsoft, or to any server on the internet. It has no analytics, telemetry, accounts or advertising.

Questions can be raised on the GitHub issues page.

Known limitations

  • Elevated windows and UAC prompts. RoboMouse runs as a normal user, so Windows drops input aimed at a program running as administrator on the controlled machine, and UAC prompts, the lock screen and the sign-in screen are on a secure desktop no ordinary app can drive. When that happens the tray status says so and the hotkey always brings control back. A helper service to cover these cases is planned.
  • Keyboard layouts. Keys are forwarded as virtual key codes, so machines with different layouts may map some symbol keys differently.
  • Different subnets. Automatic discovery uses network broadcast and does not cross subnets; add such machines by IP address.