Keyboard shortcuts

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Quick answer

Double-tap Ctrl returns control to the computer you're at; Ctrl+Alt+1 to 5 jump between machines by position; Ctrl+Alt+L locks input to the current screen. All chords are on by default and can be turned off in Settings.

EasySwitch is built to run from the keyboard — you rarely need to drag the cursor across three screens to switch. Here’s every shortcut.

The shortcuts

Shortcut	What it does
Double-tap `Ctrl`	Instantly return control to the computer you’re sitting at. Works even if the network stalls.
`Ctrl+Alt+1`	Take control of this computer (the one you’re at).
`Ctrl+Alt+2` … `Ctrl+Alt+5`	Jump to another computer by position.
`Ctrl+Alt+L`	Lock input to the screen that currently has the cursor.

The number keys work on both the top row and the numpad. Pressing the number of the machine you’re already controlling toggles control back to your own computer.

How the numbers are assigned

Machines are numbered by where they sit around your desk — ordered right, then left, then top, then bottom — so Ctrl+Alt+2 is the first machine to your right. Rearranging computers in Settings renumbers them the same way, so the chord for a given screen stays predictable.

Reclaiming a keyboard

If a computer is sharing its keyboard with whichever screen holds the cursor (the follow-focus feature), you can pull the keyboard back to it locally by double-tapping Ctrl or pressing Ctrl+Alt+1 on that machine. Moving that computer’s own mouse also reclaims its keyboard.

Cmd and Ctrl translate automatically

When one of your machines is a Mac, EasySwitch can keep copy/paste muscle memory intact across the whole desk: Cmd+C on a Mac keyboard arrives as Ctrl+C on Windows and Linux, and the reverse. Turn on Swap Cmd and Ctrl shortcuts for that device in its per-device settings (it applies only when exactly one side is macOS).

Typing itself is layout-aware too: text-producing keys travel as the characters your layout actually produced, so AZERTY, QWERTZ and non-Latin layouts type correctly on macOS and Windows targets, while shortcuts stay positional.

Turning the chords off

All switch and lock chords are governed by Switch and lock hotkeys in Settings (on by default). Turn it off if a chord clashes with something else you use.

On a Wayland Linux session, the switch chords only work while that machine is the one in control (a current platform limitation). On an Xorg session they work anytime. See Install on Linux.