Share one mouse, keyboard and clipboard between computers on your desk: macOS, Windows and Linux (Wayland on GNOME and KDE Plasma, and X11). Move the pointer over the edge of one screen and keep working on the next computer.
The screenshots show made-up computers (TC_DEMO=1).
Status: first release. Downloads are on the releases page. So far it is tested most on macOS; Windows and Linux may still have rough edges. The test build there is the newest state of development, replaced with every change.
macOS 11 or newer (Apple silicon and Intel):
- Download
TableCross-…-macOS.dmgfrom the releases page, open it and drag TableCross into Applications. - Open TableCross. TableCross does not come through Apple's paid developer program, so macOS refuses it the first time (“Apple could not verify …”). Click Done.
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway next to TableCross, then confirm with your password. On macOS 11 to 14, a right-click on TableCross → Open does the same.
- TableCross guides you through the rest: the Accessibility permission (needed to use mouse and keyboard), possibly access to the local network, and the optional helper for password fields.
This is needed only once. Later versions install from inside the app (Update now on the status page) and keep all permissions.
If TableCross still asks for a permission that is already switched on (possible after updating from an older version), select TableCross in that list, remove it with – and add it again with +; switching it off and on is not enough.
Using Terminal instead: this installs the newest version without the Gatekeeper step
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eckonator/tablecross/main/scripts/install-macos.sh | bashand this lets a copy from the .dmg or .zip start right away:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/TableCross.appWindows 10 and 11 (64-bit): run TableCross-…-Windows-Setup.exe. It installs the app, the optional
service for the sign-in screen and elevated programs, and opens UDP port 24800 for private networks.
Windows may warn about an unknown publisher (“Windows protected your PC”): click More info → Run
anyway. Later versions install from inside the app (Update now). There is also a portable .zip.
On Windows 11 with Smart App Control switched on, Windows blocks programs without a code signature
outright, with no “Run anyway”; TableCross is not signed, the .zip neither. The only way past it is
to switch Smart App Control off (Windows Security → App & browser control → Smart App Control).
Windows cannot switch it on again afterwards without being reset, so decide with care.
Linux (X11, or Wayland on GNOME 45+ / KDE Plasma 6.1+), x86_64, arm64 or 32-bit (i686): unpack the .tar.gz and
run ./install.sh (installs for the current user; ./install.sh --uninstall removes it). GNOME shows
the TableCross symbol and its menu only with the AppIndicator extension (Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator, then log out and in and switch it on in
Extensions). Without it, quit TableCross with pkill -x tablecross in a terminal.
Raspberry Pi 4/5 (64-bit Raspberry Pi OS): use the arm64 archive. The default desktop (labwc or
Wayfire on Wayland) offers no way for programs to read or send input, so switch to X11 in
sudo raspi-config → Advanced Options → Wayland → X11.
TableCross reads the keyboard and mouse to send them to the other computer. Programs that do this look like keyloggers to some antivirus software, so a warning is possible, especially on Windows. TableCross only sends input to computers you paired yourself, encrypted, on your local network; the source code is open for anyone to check.
tablecross opens a window with three setup steps (permissions, pairing with a code, arranging the
computers by dragging) and a status page per computer (connection, round trip, problems with a way
out, recent messages, “copy diagnostics”). Closing the window keeps TableCross running in the menu
bar (macOS) or notification area (Windows). The interface is in English and German.
Any number of computers can share one desk. The arrangement is shared between all paired computers, and the Arrangement page shows the whole desk: drag each computer to where it stands, drawn in the real size of its screens. Computers may stand offset, half beside or below another one, and one side may have several neighbors; the pointer crosses only where the edges touch, at the matching place (shown green, and while dragging also as green bars at the real screen edges of every computer). A computer keeps its size when screens are switched off or on; Take over the current size in its menu adopts the screens it has now. New computers are paired on the Pairing page.
Settings worth knowing: all edges switch at once; for top and bottom, after a moment of pushing or after touching twice protects the Dock and the menu bar instead, and the corners where left and right edges do not switch can be widened or switched off. Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F (or the status icon menu) keeps the pointer on the computer it is on until pressed again. A computer that is off or not connected is skipped: the pointer goes on in the same direction to the next computer behind it (Skip computers that are offline, on by default). Keep this computer from going to sleep (with the screen on as well, if wanted) for a computer in the middle of the desk, so the way over it stays as it is. On macOS, TableCross switches off Universal Control at start, which also takes the pointer at screen edges; the status page warns while it is on. While a Mac shares the pointer, the system helper also pauses AWDL, the radio link of AirDrop, Handoff and AirPlay, which leaves the Wi-Fi channel every few seconds and makes the pointer stutter (Pause AirDrop and Handoff while sharing, on by default); it runs again afterwards. For each computer controlled from here, the wheel can scroll the other way and faster or slower (Pairing page, or the computer's menu on the desk), next to Swap ⌘ and Ctrl. Always show where the pointer crosses keeps thin green bars at those screen edges (off by default; otherwise they appear while the arrangement is changed). Keys travel as positions, so a controlled Mac or Windows PC switches to the keyboard layout of the computer in control (Use the layout of the computer in control, on by default) and back afterwards; if no fitting layout is set up there, the status page says which one to add.
Removing it: Settings → Remove TableCross takes away everything TableCross set up (system helper, permissions, starting with the system, the program; optionally settings and pairings).
- Reliable first. Automatic reconnect after sleep, network changes and restarts; no stuck keys (all keys are released when the pointer leaves or a connection drops); a status page that says plainly what is wrong (missing permission, no connection, latency).
- Works while password fields are active on macOS. A small system helper reads the keyboard below the window server, so typing on the other computer keeps working when an app holds Secure Input.
- Layout-independent keys. Keys travel as USB HID codes, not characters, so German, US and other layouts behave like a real keyboard plugged into the other computer.
- Simple setup. Computers find each other on the local network and pair with a short code. Traffic is always encrypted.
- Clipboard and files. Text, rich text and images. Files copied on one computer are pasted with
⌘V in the Finder of a Mac, wherever you want them, and travel only then; on Windows and Linux
they are saved through the menu of the TableCross symbol. Files dragged from a Mac over the edge
keep being dragged on another Mac and land where you drop them; elsewhere they land in
Downloads, which opens. - Sign-in screens. An optional Windows service keeps control on the login and UAC screens. On a Mac with the system helper, Can be controlled on the login screen lets the other computers use it before anyone logs in (for example to type the password).
Local network only, no cloud, no account, no telemetry. If you allow it, the app asks GitHub now and then whether a newer version exists.
On Linux, X11 sessions work directly. Wayland sessions use the desktop portals (GNOME 45 or newer, KDE Plasma 6.1 or newer): the system asks once for permission to control this computer, and again when TableCross starts capturing. While a Wayland computer is controlled from elsewhere, its own mouse cannot take control back (the system does not tell programs about input); use the keyboard shortcut on the controlling computer instead.
Requires Rust 1.99 or newer.
cargo test --workspace
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warningstablecross-cli connects computers without the app, for development and testing:
tablecross-cli pair # on the first computer: shows a 6-digit code
tablecross-cli pair 123456 # on the second computer: finds the first one and pairs
tablecross-cli ping # on both: keeps the connection, prints round trip, losses and reconnects
tablecross-cli peers # paired computers and the ones found on the networkSharing mouse and keyboard (both computers paired):
tablecross-cli place office-pc right # on the Mac: the PC stands right of it
tablecross-cli run # on bothThe arrangement is shared between all paired computers, so placing a computer once is enough. With three or more computers, pair each one with every other one; then every keyboard reaches every screen, for example from the Linux computer through the Mac on to the Windows PC. Computers used in turn at the same place (two laptops on the same monitors, say) share a tile in the arrangement; the edge leads to the one that is connected.
Move the pointer over the edge to control the other computer; moving a computer's own mouse takes
control back. All edges switch at once (optionally top and bottom only after pushing or touching
twice, see the settings). Its own keyboard simply keeps typing there, so the mouse of one computer and the
keyboard of another work together. Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Esc releases everything at once. --swap-cmd-ctrl on
place swaps ⌘ and Ctrl while controlling that computer. On macOS the terminal (later the app) needs
the Accessibility permission.
On macOS, typing on the other computer stops working while a program holds Secure Input (password fields, some terminals and password managers). The system helper reads the keyboard below that barrier and takes it away from the Mac only while the pointer is on the other computer:
tablecross-cli helper install # asks for the administrator password
tablecross-cli helper status # then allow it under Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring
tablecross-cli helper update # after an update of TableCross (the app does this by itself)If TableCross stops or crashes, the helper gives the keyboard back within a second.
The helper also sets up the login screen if you switch that on: it copies this Mac's identity and
pairings into a folder only the system can read (/Library/Application Support/TableCross/LoginWindow)
and a launch agent starts tablecross-loginwindow there while no one is logged in. It only receives
input, it captures nothing. Its log is /Library/Logs/TableCross/loginwindow.log; computers that
collect logs receive it too.
tablecross-loginwindow needs the Accessibility permission of its own (in newer macOS versions
Device control and data access). macOS cannot ask for it on the login screen, so the status page
shows when it is missing; its button opens the settings and a Finder window with the file to drag
into the list.
If a network filter app runs on that Mac (one that asks per program whether a connection is allowed),
add a rule that allows /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/tablecross-loginwindow in the local network,
incoming and outgoing. On the login screen no one can answer its question, so the filter blocks the
program silently and the other computers cannot reach the Mac there. Some filters also ignore clicks and
keys that do not come from a real device (against malware); allow that in their settings (often called
GUI Scripting access), or neither their questions nor the login screen can be operated from another
computer. TableCross shows these hints in its settings when it recognizes such a filter.
On Windows, the optional service lets TableCross operate the sign-in screen, UAC prompts and programs started as administrator (run once in an administrator prompt):
tablecross-service installWithout network discovery (--no-discovery) pass the address of the other computer with --addr IP:PORT.
Traffic uses UDP port 24800; allow it in the firewall for private networks.
GPL-3.0-or-later, see LICENSE.