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International keyboards and keyboard language sync in Synergy 1 and Synergy 3

Updated

Written for Synergy 3 (v3.7.2) and Synergy 1 (v1.21.4), checked 3 October 2026.

If characters come out wrong on another computer, install the same keyboard languages on every computer and turn on keyboard language sync. Turn the sync on for each computer that receives the keyboard, not for the one the keyboard is plugged into.

Install the same keyboard languages on every computer

The selected language doesn't need to match, but for Synergy 1 or Synergy 3 to decode the characters, the same keyboard languages have to be installed on all computers. A computer can only switch to a keyboard language it has installed. Synergy 1 shows a Missing Keyboard Layouts message naming any that are missing; add them in your operating system's keyboard or language settings and the sync picks them up.

Turn on keyboard language sync

This makes the computer you control switch to the keyboard language of the computer you're typing on (the server or primary computer), which resolves most character mismatches.

Synergy 3

  1. Open Synergy 3.
  2. Go to Screen layout (or Manage computers).
  3. Click the ⋯ menu on a secondary computer.
  4. Click Computer preferences.
  5. Go to the Miscellaneous tab.
  6. Switch on Use the primary computer's keyboard layout.
  7. Click Save.
  8. Repeat for any other secondary computers.

Synergy 1

This option is on by default in Synergy 1. To check it:

  1. Open Synergy 1 on the client computer.
  2. Select Use another computer’s mouse and keyboard.
  3. Click Configure Client.
  4. In Client Configuration, tick Use server's keyboard language on this computer.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Repeat for any other client computers.

On a Linux client using X11, Synergy 1 ignores this option.

Which keyboards work

Synergy 1 and Synergy 3 support most common keyboards:

  • US and UK keyboards are fully supported.
  • In most cases, Latin-based keyboards (for example French, Spanish or Italian) work as expected.
  • Non-Latin alphabets (for example Arabic, Cyrillic or Asian scripts) generally work, but some keys might not appear as expected on the client computer, especially with input method layouts.

Even with the sync on, special characters (such as á é í ó ú or ä ë ï ö ü) may not always appear correctly on the client computer, and input can mismatch when you switch between keyboard layouts. We are actively working on broader support for international keyboards, including full compatibility for major language layouts.

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