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Finding your way around: window, menus, tray icon and pausing sharing

Updated

Written for Synergy 3 (v3.8.4) and Synergy 1 (v1.22.3), checked 20 October 2026.

This page shows where everything is in the Synergy 3 and Synergy 1 windows, their menus and their tray icons, and how to pause or stop sharing.

To open the window, open the app the way you open any other app, or click its icon in the system tray (the menu bar at the top of the screen on macOS) and open the window from its menu. On Windows and Linux the app's menus are at the top of its window. On macOS they're at the top of the screen while the app is the active app.

The tray icon

To quit, use the tray icon's menu. Closing the window isn't enough: the app keeps running in the background, with its icon in the system tray (the menu bar on macOS), and keeps sharing your keyboard and mouse.

No icon? Open the app the way you open any other app, which starts it if it isn't running. If its window opens but the icon still doesn't show:

  • On Windows, click the arrow in the taskbar that shows hidden icons.
  • On macOS, quit another app that has an icon in the menu bar, since macOS hides icons that don't fit.
  • On Linux with GNOME, install a tray extension such as AppIndicator support, since GNOME shows no tray icons without one.
  • If it's still missing, please send our support team the diagnostic info from this computer: Getting diagnostic info and logs

Can't find what you need? Contact our support team: Contacting our support team

What follows depends on your product: Synergy 3 or Synergy 1

Synergy 3

Every Synergy 3 setting lives in one window.

The settings list

The list down the side of the window, titled Settings, has three sections.

Section Item What it's for
User Screen layout Arrange your computers and choose which one shares its keyboard and mouse (the primary computer).
User Keyboard & mouse Hotkeys, relative mouse moves, Alt Gr and lock to screen.
User Copy & paste Turn clipboard sharing on or off and set its size limit.
User License Apply a new license by logging in or entering a serial key.
Connections Manage computers See every computer Synergy 3 has found, and open each one's menu.
Connections Add computer Add a computer by its IP address or hostname when it doesn't appear on its own.
Advanced Local settings Updates, appearance, the login screen, the config file and resetting your settings.
Advanced Local networking Which network interface Synergy 3 uses, and keep alive.
Advanced Security TLS encryption and verifying your other computers.
Advanced Miscellaneous Switching delays, the meta key, the Core port and, on Windows, the background service and UAC prompts.
Advanced Troubleshooting The log, error reporting and the diagnostic tool.

When a newer version is ready, Update available appears at the bottom of the list. Click it to get the update.

To run Synergy 3 from a text configuration file instead of the Screen layout, click Use external config on the Local settings page. While it's on, the items in the settings list are grayed out; to go back, click Stop external config on the External config page. The steps: Creating and using text config files

The buttons beside the settings list

These buttons are in the bottom-left corner of the window, in the narrow strip to the left of the settings list. From top to bottom:

  • While a clipboard is on its way to or from another computer, an icon shows above the buttons; hover over it to see which computer and how big it is. If a clipboard couldn't be shared, for example because it's over the size limit on the Copy & paste page, a warning icon shows instead; hover over it for the reason, and click it to dismiss it.
  • Pause: stops sharing your keyboard and mouse until you resume it, even after a restart. While sharing is off, the button is highlighted and shows a play symbol, and its tooltip says Paused; click it to resume. While Synergy 3 is busy, for example Activating license or Trying to start, the button shows a spinning icon and its tooltip says what it's doing. If its tooltip says Couldn't start, see: Synergy 3 opens paused?
  • The log button opens the log in its own window. A red dot on it means an error has been logged since you last looked.
  • Switch to light mode or Switch to dark mode: changes the window's colors. To follow your system setting instead, use Appearance in Local settings.
  • The help button opens our help center.

The tray icon

The icon is our logo in a single color, a ring of four curved pieces. It shows whether Synergy 3 is sharing on this computer:

  • The plain ring: sharing is on.
  • The ring faded, with a pause sign (two upright bars) in the middle: sharing is off. To share again, open the window and click the Paused button, the highlighted play symbol in the bottom-left corner. If a message shows instead, follow it. Sharing is off because you paused it, or because something needs your attention first, such as your license or a macOS permission. The pause sign also shows for a moment while Synergy 3 starts.

If the icon shows the pause sign while you can still move your cursor between your computers, see: Tray icon shows paused, but sharing still works?

To see whether your computers are connected, open the Screen layout on your primary computer and hover over the small icons on each computer in the layout. The icons are explained in: Arranging your computers

The tray icon doesn't show this, only whether this computer is sharing. When your computers lose their connection, their tray icons stay plain, and when you pause your primary computer, only its own tray icon shows the pause sign.

To open the icon's menu, right-click it on Windows; on macOS and Linux, click it.

The icon's menu has:

  • Show config: opens the Synergy 3 window. On Windows, clicking the icon itself does the same.
  • Pause or Resume: pauses or resumes keyboard and mouse sharing, the same as the Pause button in the window. The menu shows Resume while the icon shows the pause sign. If the icon still shows the pause sign after Resume, open the window and click Paused there, since only the window shows what's stopping sharing.
  • Restart: restarts the connection, which often fixes a connection that has stopped responding. It doesn't resume sharing you've paused; choose Resume for that.
  • Exit: quits Synergy 3. Closing the window alone doesn't quit it; it keeps sharing in the background.

The app menu

  • Synergy 3 menu (Synergy on macOS): About (version, license and Change license), License and Exit, which closes only the window. To quit Synergy 3, choose Exit from the tray icon menu.
  • Help menu: Show Log (Ctrl+L, or Cmd+L on macOS), Contact Support and Run Diagnostic Tool.

Pause and resume sharing

To stop sharing your keyboard and mouse, click Pause in the bottom-left corner of the window, or choose Pause from the tray icon menu. To share again, click the same button, now Paused, or choose Resume from the tray icon menu. While sharing is paused, the tray icon shows a pause sign.

Synergy 3 stays paused until you resume it, even when you restart Synergy 3 or your computer. This is also how you choose whether Synergy 3 shares when it starts: leave it paused to start without sharing, or resume it to share every time.

Pause applies only to the computer you pause it on. Pausing the primary computer stops sharing with all your computers; pausing any other computer takes only that one out.

Synergy 3 opens paused?

  1. Open the Synergy 3 window.
  2. Click the Paused button, the highlighted play symbol in the bottom-left corner.

From then on, Synergy 3 shares every time it starts.

If Synergy 3 shows a message instead, follow it. Synergy 3 keeps sharing off by itself while one of these needs your attention:

If it still opens paused after you restart your computer, or clicking Paused doesn't start sharing, and none of these messages explains it, please send our support team a diagnostic report from each of your computers. Synergy 3 should share unless you've paused it, so this is a problem we need to fix. How to create the report and where to send it: Getting diagnostic info and logs

Tray icon shows paused, but sharing still works?

  1. Open the Synergy 3 window.
  2. Click the Paused button, the highlighted play symbol in the bottom-left corner.

Synergy 3 restarts sharing on this computer, and the tray icon goes back to the plain ring.

If an Already running, Legacy core running or Core already running message shows instead, follow it: something else was sharing your keyboard and mouse. What to do for each one: "Already running" message in Synergy 3

If no message showed, please send our support team a diagnostic report from each of your computers. Synergy 3 should show paused only while it isn't sharing, so this is a problem we need to fix. How to create the report and where to send it: Getting diagnostic info and logs

Which settings reach your other computers

Most settings are shared with all your computers as soon as you change them, so you can change them from any computer. These apply only to the computer you change them on:

  • The Local settings page
  • The Troubleshooting page
  • Network interface, on the Local networking page
  • Certificate and the This computer and Other computers lists, on the Security page
  • On Windows, Run in the background service (for UAC prompts and the login screen), Run as system to allow UAC interaction and Take foreground window (more reliable input capture), on the Miscellaneous page

Synergy 1

To connect your computers for the first time, follow: Connecting your computers

Computer name and address

The top of the window shows This computer's name: followed by the name the other computers know this one by. To change it, stop Synergy 1 first, then click the pencil button beside the name (Edit Computer Name), type the new name and press Enter (Esc cancels). A name can use letters, numbers, _, - and ., up to 255 characters, with no spaces. The button is hidden while Synergy 1 is running.

On the server, the line below shows the address clients can connect to: Suggested IP:, or Using IP: when you picked an address in Preferences. Hover over it to see every address the computer has. No IP Detected means the computer has no active network connection.

Server or client

  • Use this computer's keyboard and mouse (make this computer the server): pick this on the computer whose keyboard and mouse you want to share. It shows Configure Server, where you arrange your computers and add hotkeys, and a small button beside it, Export server configuration, that saves your layout as a text configuration file.
  • Use another computer’s mouse and keyboard (make this computer the client): pick this on every other computer. Type the server's name or IP address in Connect to:. You can list several, separated by commas, and the client tries each one. Configure Client holds the options for this client.

Changing the mode stops Synergy 1 if it's running.

Start, stop and restart

On the server, click Start to begin sharing; the button then reads Stop. On a client the same button reads Connect and Disconnect. Restart restarts Synergy 1 while it's running, which applies changes such as a new layout. Keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+S starts or restarts, Ctrl+T stops (Command instead of Ctrl on macOS).

The first time a server starts, Synergy 1 activates your license. How that works: How license activation works

Status bar

  • The status text says what Synergy 1 is doing, for example Synergy is waiting for clients on a server, or Synergy is connected as client of followed by the server's address on a client. On a server with clients connected it lists them.
  • The shield shows whether the connection is encrypted. Hover over it to read Encryption Enabled (after the TLS version) or Encryption Disabled.
  • The fingerprint button (View local fingerprint) opens Local Fingerprints, which shows this computer's fingerprint so you can compare it when another computer asks you to trust it. It only appears while TLS encryption is on. More about this: Encryption and verifying your computers
  • While a clipboard is on its way to or from another computer, an icon shows; hover over it to see which computer and how big it is. A warning icon means a clipboard wasn't shared because it's over the size limit; hover over it for the sizes.
  • Update available appears when a newer version is out. Click it to open the download page.
  • Settings migrated appears after an upgrade from an older version of Synergy 1 moved your settings to a new format, until you click it. Click it to see where your old settings were backed up. If your settings look wrong after that upgrade, see: Re-run the settings migration after upgrading from Synergy 1.20 to 1.21

Log

Choose View > Log to show or hide the log under the window. The buttons in the log's title bar detach it into a window of its own (Detach from window, then Attach to window to put it back) or close it (Close Log). The search button (Search) opens a Find... box with Find next and Find previous. To send the log to our support team, see: Getting diagnostic info and logs

Menus

  • File menu: Start (Connect on a client), Restart and Stop (Disconnect on a client), the same as the buttons in the window, and Quit, the same as Quit in the tray icon menu.
  • Edit menu: Preferences, all the app's settings. Each one is explained in: Synergy 1 Preferences: every setting explained
  • View menu: Log, which shows or hides the log.
  • Help menu: About Synergy... (your version, edition and serial key, with Copy version info for support requests and Change to enter a different serial key), Get help, which opens our help page in your browser, and Clear settings, which deletes all settings and restarts Synergy 1. Read the warnings first: Resetting your settings and finding the settings files
  • License menu: Change serial key, to enter a new serial key, for example after an upgrade. The steps: Entering or changing your serial key

On macOS, Preferences, About and Quit are in the Synergy menu instead of the Edit, Help and File menus. There, Quit (Command-Q) only hides the window while When the main window is closed is set to Send to background, the default; to quit Synergy 1, choose Quit from the tray icon menu.

The tray icon

To make closing the window quit Synergy 1 instead, set When the main window is closed to Exit in Preferences, on the Window tab.

To see whether Synergy 1 is sharing, check the status bar at the bottom of its window: the icon looks the same whatever Synergy 1 is doing. To change the icon's look, set Tray icon style to Colorful or Monocolor in Preferences, on the General tab.

To open the icon's menu, right-click it on Windows or Linux, or click it on macOS. On Windows and Linux, clicking the icon shows or hides the window.

The icon's menu has:

  • Start (Connect on a client), or Restart while Synergy 1 is running, and Stop (Disconnect on a client): the same as the buttons in the window.
  • Minimize to tray or Open Synergy: hides or shows the window.
  • Quit: closes Synergy 1 and its icon. On macOS and Linux this stops sharing. On Windows, while Use background service (daemon) is on (the default), the daemon keeps sharing; to stop sharing, choose Stop first. To restart Synergy 1 completely, see: Restarting the app

Pause and resume sharing

Stop sharing with Stop (Disconnect on a client), in the window or the tray icon menu, and share again with Start (Connect). Synergy 1 starts sharing when it opens if it was sharing when you last quit it.

Which settings reach your other computers

Each computer keeps its own Preferences, and the layout and hotkeys you set in Configure Server are kept on the server alone.

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