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What is Synergy Dragon Alpha and how do I join it?

Updated

Checked 5 October 2026, for Synergy Dragon Alpha (v0.5.0).

Want to try Synergy Dragon Alpha? Existing customers can join the alpha for free, and it installs alongside Synergy 1 and Synergy 3, so you can try it without removing either. Start here: Download Synergy Dragon Alpha

Synergy Dragon is a new desktop app, built from the ground up. It has been in public alpha since August 2026 and does not replace Synergy 1 or Synergy 3, which both keep getting updates. It uses the same core as the Synergy 1 and Synergy 3 betas for keyboard and mouse sharing, the clipboard and encrypted connections. The alpha does not ask you to log in or enter a serial key, because it is an alpha.

Join the alpha

The alpha is an early build that can crash or lose your settings. Do not rely on it for everyday work, and keep Synergy 1 or Synergy 3 on the computers you need every day.

  1. Open the Synergy Dragon Alpha download page: Download Synergy Dragon Alpha
  2. Log in to your Synergy account.
  3. Tick the box that says you understand Synergy Dragon Alpha is an unstable early alpha.
  4. Click Join the alpha.
  5. Download the installer for your operating system.
  6. Install it on every computer you want to share a keyboard and mouse between.

Synergy Dragon Alpha has installers for these systems, all 64-bit:

  • Windows 10 and later
  • macOS, one installer for Apple silicon and Intel Macs
  • Debian 13 and Ubuntu 26.04 (.deb)
  • Fedora 44 (.rpm)
  • Arch Linux

Synergy Dragon installs alongside Synergy 1 and Synergy 3, but only one of the three can run on a computer at a time, because they share a port. Each alpha build stops working 90 days after it was built. Updates install on their own by default and we release every couple of weeks, so most people never reach that limit. If you turned automatic updates off, install a newer build from the download page before then.

Set up your computers

  1. Open Synergy Dragon Alpha on your first computer.
  2. Follow the first-run steps and name the computer.
  3. When asked Is this your first computer?, choose Yes, start here.
  4. On every other computer, choose No, connect to a computer I already set up.
  5. Check that the fingerprint shown is the same on both computers.
  6. Click Accept on both computers.

To add a computer later, click + Add computer. Computers on your network show up on their own while Auto discover is on, or you can connect by IP address.

On a Mac, Synergy Dragon asks for permission to control the keyboard and mouse. If the app shows Waiting for permission, click Open System Settings and allow it.

What is new in Synergy Dragon

Send files between computers

  1. Open the Layout tab.
  2. Drag a file from your file manager onto another computer's card.
  3. On the other computer, choose where to put the file in the Incoming files window.
  4. Click Save, or Save and open.

Someone must be signed in on the computer receiving the file. To stop being asked each time, open Settings, then Input, then Drag and drop, and change Where to save received files.

Switch between setups with profiles

Each profile is its own network, with its own computers and layout, so you can keep one for home and one for work.

  1. Click the profile name in the top bar.
  2. Choose a profile to switch to it, or choose Manage profiles to create or remove one.
  3. To create one, type a name under Create a new profile and click Add.

More that is new

  • See your real screens. In the Layout tab, switch to Display layout to see each computer's monitors drawn to scale.
  • Watch computer stats and resources. The Monitor tab graphs the ping to every computer. Switch on Resources for a computer to graph its CPU and memory too.
  • Share with Synergy 1 computers. Synergy Dragon can connect to Synergy 1 computers. The steps are in the next section.
  • Update without visiting each computer. Updates download and install on their own by default, and the primary can update the other computers. The steps are further down.

What Synergy 3 already does

If you use Synergy 3, these will feel familiar, and Synergy Dragon does them too:

  • Change the settings of any computer from the one in front of you, with the layout shared across all of them.
  • Make any computer the primary.
  • Read live logs from the app, in the Diagnostics tab.
  • Copy and paste up to 128 MB by default, with the status bar showing clipboard transfers. Synergy 1 does this too.
  • Follow your system's light or dark mode, or pin the window to one of them, in Settings under Appearance.
  • Remap modifier keys and set hotkeys that switch computers or lock the pointer. In Synergy Dragon, open Settings, then Input, then Hotkeys, or select a computer in the Layout tab and click Settings for this computer.

Use Synergy 1 computers with Synergy Dragon

Synergy Dragon can share with Synergy 1 computers. A Synergy 1 computer does not get clipboard sharing or monitoring, and it cannot be the primary.

To let Synergy 1 computers connect to a Synergy Dragon computer:

  1. Open Settings, then Advanced, then Compatibility.
  2. Switch on Allow Synergy 1 computers.
  3. Under Synergy 1 computers, add the screen name each Synergy 1 computer is configured with.

The screen name must match exactly, or Synergy 1 will not let that computer connect.

To make a Synergy Dragon computer take input from a Synergy 1 server instead, switch on Run this computer as a Synergy 1 client in the same place.

Keep Synergy Dragon up to date

Updates download and install on their own by default. When one is waiting, an icon appears in the top bar; click it to update other computers from the primary or to Restart to update. Keep every computer on the same build, since newer features are missing on older ones.

Report a problem or ask for a feature

Feedback goes to our developers, so you do not need to collect logs yourself.

  1. Click Send feedback (the speech bubble) in the top bar.
  2. Choose Bug report or Feature request.
  3. Describe what happened or what you would like.
  4. Enter your address under Email for a reply.
  5. Leave Attach diagnostics and Attach a screenshot ticked, or untick them.
  6. Click Send feedback.

Check these first if computers cannot find each other

  1. Update every computer to the newest Synergy Dragon Alpha build.
  2. Connect all the computers to the same local network, and pause any VPN.
  3. Allow ports 24800 and 24801 (TCP) and 5353 (UDP) through the firewall on each computer. The Windows installer does this for you.
  4. Run a ping test between them. For the steps, see: How to do a ping test

Where Synergy Dragon is heading

We are aiming for a beta by March 2027, and the alpha changes with every build, so the newest features and fixes are in the release notes on the download page.

  • Some settings are visible but switched off and marked Coming soon, such as requiring a pairing code and a maximum file size for transfers.
  • If the primary computer is off, the others stay read-only until you make another computer the primary.
  • On Linux with Wayland, clipboard sharing and remembering the input permission between restarts are being fixed, and dropping a file onto a computer may send nothing.