Two PCs, one desk, one keyboard and mouse.

Option 1: a hardware KVM switch

A box with one set of keyboard, mouse and monitor inputs and a button to switch. It works with any operating system and even in the BIOS, but it needs a cable from every PC to every monitor, a 4K-capable switch costs from about 100 EUR upwards, and switching takes a second while the monitors re-sync. Clipboard does not cross.

Option 2: switch monitor inputs, share the keyboard by software

Most monitors have two inputs. Plug the desktop into one, the laptop into the other, and press the monitor’s input button when you need the other PC. Add a software KVM so that the mouse and keyboard follow the cursor. This is the cheapest setup for people who only occasionally use the second PC.

Option 3: every PC on its own screens, a software KVM across them

Give each PC its own monitors, laptop screen included, and let a software KVM move the cursor across the edge. No switching, no re-sync, clipboard shared, and both PCs visible at once. This is the setup DeskStitch is built for. The catch with pixel-based tools is mixed resolutions: see why the cursor jumps between a 4K and a 1440p monitor.

What you need for the software way

• Both PCs on the same local network, Wi-Fi or cable. Client isolation on guest networks blocks it.
• Administrator rights on both PCs: a KVM installs a keyboard hook. On a company-managed laptop, ask IT or make the laptop the client, which only receives input.
• If a VPN runs on one PC, let it allow LAN traffic.
• The same keyboard layout on both PCs.

Setting it up with DeskStitch

1. Install DeskStitch on both PCs. On first start pick host on the PC with the keyboard and mouse, client on the laptop.
2. Type the pairing code the laptop shows into Settings on the host. The two find each other.
3. Look at the desk map: the laptop screen appears where Windows thinks it is. Drag it to where it really stands.
4. Push the cursor off the edge. Keyboard, clipboard and held keys follow.

The client never needs a license, so the work laptop is the natural client: nothing to buy for it, nothing to explain to IT beyond the install.