Network Keyboard and Mouse - oh-nyoo/steam-deck-advance GitHub Wiki

Using a keyboard and mouse from one PC on another

There are several programs that allow you to use your mouse and keyboard from your desktop on other devices on your network. Some will even share the screen of the desktop you are connected to (not this guide though). The program I use personally is barrier.

When writing this guide, I was connecting the mouse and keyboard from a Linux desktop to the Steam Deck, so take it with a grain of salt when you use the Windows or MacOS versions of barrier.

This only works in desktop mode. It will not work in gaming mode.

Installing Barrier on your Desktop PC

Windows and MacOS installers can be downloaded here: https://github.com/debauchee/barrier/releases

On Linux you can install the flatpak version of barrier using your distro's flatpak manager or use the following commands in a terminal:

flatpak install flathub com.github.debauchee.barrier

Configuring the Barrier Server on your Desktop PC

Configuring Barrier server on the Desktop PC uses the same process you would use when connecting to normal devices.

  1. Start Barrier on your desktop PC
  2. Select a language and click Next
  3. Click on the radio button next to Server (share this computer's mouse and keyboard)
  4. Click on Finish
  5. Click on the Configure interactively radio button
  6. Click on the Configure Server... button
  7. In the Server Configuration window that appears, drag a monitor from the top right to the large open space. Position it as if it were in the direction of a monitor you would want to be able to mouse over to
  8. Double-click the monitor to open its Screen Settings. Change the Screen name to the hostname of your Steam Deck: steamdeck
  9. Click on OK to close the Server Configuration window

Installing Barrier on your Steam Deck

  1. Enter Desktop Mode on the Steam Deck
  2. Open the Applications menu by clicking on the Steam Deck icon in the bottom left of your screen
  3. Select the Discover app
  4. Click on Search and in the Search... input box, type barrier
  5. Click on the Download button to install

If you wish to use a terminal instead, you can run the following command:

flatpak install flathub com.github.debauchee.barrier

Configuring the Barrier Client on your Steam Deck

The first time you open Barrier, you will enter a setup wizard.

  1. Enter Desktop Mode on the Steam Deck
  2. Open the Applications menu by clicking on the Steam Deck icon in the bottom left of your screen
  3. Start Barrier on your Steam Deck. It is categorized under Utilities
  4. Select a language and click Next
  5. Click on the radio button next to Client (use another computer's mouse and keyboard)
  6. Click on Finish
  7. Click on the checkbox to uncheck Auto config
  8. For Server IP input the hostname or IP address of your Barrier server. You can see the IP address in the Barrier window on your desktop PC.
  9. After a few seconds, a pop-up window titled Security question should appear. Verify that the fingerprint matches the SSL Fingerprint in your Barrier window on the desktop PC. Click on Yes if they match.
  10. You should now be able to mouse over from your desktop PC to the Steam Deck!

After you have configured Barrier and gotten it working once, you should now be able to just start the Barrier application on your desktop PC and the Steam Deck and it should connect automatically.