If you’ve ever found yourself juggling multiple computers on one desk, you know the struggle of physical "desk Tetris." Swapping between different keyboards and mice is a productivity killer. Enter , the open-source software that lets you share a single mouse and keyboard across multiple machines—even if they run different operating systems.
Barrier is available in the official repositories for most Debian-based systems. sudo apt update && sudo apt install barrier 3. Fedora / RHEL Fedora users can find it in the standard DNF repos. Command: sudo dnf install barrier 4. Arch Linux Arch users can grab it from the Community repository. Command: sudo pacman -S barrier Initial Setup Guide
flatpak install flathub com.github.debauchee.barrier 2. Ubuntu / Debian / Linux Mint download barrier linux
Linux firewalls (like UFW) often block the port Barrier uses (usually 24800 ). Make sure to allow this port on both machines.
Give it a try today and experience the magic of sliding your mouse from a Linux desktop straight onto a laptop screen without lifting a finger! If you’ve ever found yourself juggling multiple computers
Barrier works best on X11. If you are using a modern distro with Wayland (like Ubuntu 22.04+ or Fedora), you may need to switch to an Xorg session at login for the smoothest experience.
On your second computer, open Barrier and select "Client (use another computer's mouse and keyboard)." sudo apt update && sudo apt install barrier 3
Barrier is a fork of the famous Synergy software. While Synergy moved toward a paid model, Barrier remained free and open-source, maintained by a community that values simplicity and cross-platform compatibility.
Master Your Workspace: How to Download and Set Up Barrier for Linux
Once you’ve finished the , follow these steps to get connected:
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