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Updating Synergy 1 or Synergy 3

Updated

Written for Synergy 3 (v3.7.2) and Synergy 1 (v1.21.4), checked 7 October 2026.

To update Synergy 1 or Synergy 3, read the release notes on our download page, keep a copy of your settings, then install the newest version over the one you have.

For business and enterprise customers

  • Choosing between Synergy 1 and Synergy 3? Your Synergy Business license includes both, and we recommend Synergy 1: it's our most mature product, so it has the most bug fixes. Synergy 3 is easier to configure, with more features to help you set it up, but anything Synergy 3 can do to share a keyboard and mouse, Synergy 1 can do too.
  • Put each update through your change control, and try it on one person's computers before you roll it out. Record the version you deploy on each computer, so you can check our security advisories against it. More controls for managed computers: Business & Enterprise Hardening Guide
  • Security fixes ship in ordinary releases. Each advisory names the versions it affects and the version that fixed it: Security advisories
  • Using TLS certificates of your own? Keep a copy of each one before you update. An update can replace a certificate with a new one that Synergy 1 or Synergy 3 makes itself, and the computers that trusted yours then won't connect until someone accepts the new one on each of them. Where the certificates are kept: Before you update
  • On Windows, deploy the newer MSI with the same msiexec /i command you installed with; it replaces the installed version. Synergy 1 (v1.21.0 to v1.21.2) is the exception: remove it first with msiexec /x and the MSI you installed it from. The commands are in: Deploy Synergy 1 or Synergy 3 across your organization, including silent install on Windows
  • To see the newest Synergy 1 Enterprise version and its release notes, log in to our download page with the email address your license is on. Synergy 1 Enterprise is built for zero telemetry, with its phone-home features removed, so it doesn't check for updates and never shows Update available.

Release notes and the download

  1. Click Update available in Synergy 1 or Synergy 3, or open the download page on our website: Download page
  2. If you see Choose your Synergy product, choose your License edition under the product you run. If you don't, skip to step 4.
  3. Click Download Synergy 3 or Download Synergy 1 under it. This opens that product's download page; nothing downloads yet.
  4. If the page says Log in to download, log in with the email address your license is on.
  5. Check the product name at the top of the page. If it isn't the one you run, click Synergy 1 or Synergy 3 below it.
  6. Next to the version number, click Release notes.
  7. Go back to the download page.
  8. Download the newest version for your operating system. Which file to choose is covered in: Download Synergy 1 or Synergy 3, including older versions

The release notes cover that version and the earlier releases that start with the same two numbers: the notes for Synergy 1 (v1.21.4), for example, also cover the earlier Synergy 1 (v1.21) releases and their betas.

To read the notes for older versions, including any series between yours and the newest:

  1. Open the list of older versions on our website: Other versions
  2. Log in when asked.
  3. Under your product, click the version.
  4. Next to the version number, click Release notes.

Updating to fix a problem? Look for it in the release notes. If they don't mention it, contact us before you update, so we can look into the cause with you: Contact us

Before you update

  • An update keeps your settings, so a backup is normally not necessary. If you use a TLS certificate of your own, a copy of the folders listed below is a useful precaution: an update can replace a certificate or forget the computers you trusted, and a certificate of your own can only be put back from a copy.
  • Note the version you have now, so you can roll back to it. Where to find it: Find which version of Synergy 1 or Synergy 3 you're running
  • We recommend updating every computer, since the newest version has the most bug fixes and security fixes. Computers on different versions of Synergy 1 work together, so you can update them one at a time. Synergy 3 can refuse a computer on a different version, with a message that the connection was "rejected due to incompatible version"; if you see it, update your computers so they all run the same version. For the messages about an older Synergy 3 that can't be verified, see: Encryption and verifying your computers in Synergy 3
  • Updating a server from Synergy 1 (v1.20 or earlier)? Update its clients too, or turn off Require client certificates on the Network tab of the server's Preferences. With TLS encryption on, Synergy 1 (v1.21 and later) asks each client for a certificate, which clients on Synergy 1 (v1.20 and earlier) can't send, so it refuses them. Updating the clients is the safer choice, since with that setting off the server accepts clients without checking their certificates.
  • Keep the same product on every computer: Synergy 1 and Synergy 3 aren't guaranteed to work with each other.
  • For each computer that uses another computer's keyboard and mouse, keep its own keyboard and mouse nearby, or set up a remote desktop connection to it. Synergy 1 or Synergy 3 stops while it updates, so the computer can't use the shared keyboard and mouse until the update is done.

Where Synergy 1 keeps its settings

  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Synergy and C:\ProgramData\Synergy
  • macOS: ~/Library/Synergy, and /Library/Synergy if your settings apply to All users
  • Linux: ~/.config/Synergy, and /etc/Synergy if your settings apply to All users
  • Linux, installed from the Flatpak: ~/.var/app/com.symless.synergy/config/Synergy

The certificate is the file shown under Certificate on the Network tab of Preferences. Unless you chose your own, it's synergy.pem in the tls folder, which on Windows is in C:\ProgramData\Synergy. The computers you trust are listed beside it, in trusted-servers and trusted-clients. A certificate of your own kept outside these folders needs copying too.

Updating from Synergy 1 (v1.18 to v1.20)? It normally keeps its certificate (Synergy.pem) and the computers you trust (in the SSL folder) in these folders, so copy them too:

  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Synergy, or C:\ProgramData\Synergy if your settings apply to All users
  • macOS: ~/.config/Synergy, or /Library/Preferences/Synergy if your settings apply to All users
  • Linux: ~/.config/Synergy, or /etc/xdg/Synergy if your settings apply to All users

Where Synergy 3 keeps its settings

  • Windows: C:\ProgramData\Synergy
  • macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/Synergy
  • Linux: ~/.config/Synergy
  • Linux, installed from the Flatpak: ~/.var/app/com.symless.synergy/config/Synergy

The certificate is the file shown under Certificate path in Security (under Advanced), normally synergyCert.pem. The computers you trust are kept beside it, in local.json. On Windows, both are in the config folder inside C:\ProgramData\Synergy.

To open a folder, paste its path into the address bar of File Explorer on Windows, or into Go > Go to Folder in the Finder on macOS.

Install the update

Install the newer version over the one you have, and your settings carry over. Then do the same on each other computer you're updating.

Asked to trust your computers again? Compare the fingerprints or codes on both computers and accept them, as you did the first time. An update can give a computer a new certificate or forget the computers it trusted, and updating from Synergy 1 (v1.20 or earlier) to Synergy 1 (v1.21 or later) does both. How to compare them: Encryption and fingerprints in Synergy 1 or Encryption and verifying your computers in Synergy 3

Can't get to a computer to accept, or was a certificate of your own replaced? Contact us, and we'll help you put back the copy you kept: Contact us

Coming from Synergy 1 (v1.20 or earlier)? Synergy 1 (v1.21) carries your settings over the first time it starts. If they look wrong afterward:

Windows

Updating from Synergy 1 (v1.21.0 to v1.21.2)? Uninstall it first in Settings > Apps > Installed apps (on Windows 10, Apps & features), then run the new installer; your settings stay. Those versions were installed under a different upgrade identity, so a newer installer can't replace them.

To install, double-click the .msi file you downloaded and follow the installer. It closes Synergy 1 or Synergy 3 and replaces the version you have.

If the installer can't remove the version you have, for example because Windows says "The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable", remove it with Microsoft's troubleshooter, then run the new installer again: Fix problems that block programs from being installed or removed

macOS

  1. Click the Synergy 1 or Synergy 3 icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Quit (Synergy 1) or Exit (Synergy 3).
  3. Open the .dmg file you downloaded.
  4. Drag Synergy to the Applications folder.
  5. When macOS asks whether to replace the one already there, click Replace.
  6. Open Synergy 1 or Synergy 3 from the Applications folder.

If the Mac doesn't share its keyboard and mouse once Synergy 1 or Synergy 3 is open again, see: Troubleshooting the macOS Device Control and Data Access or Accessibility permission

Linux

On Fedora, if you added exclude=synergy to stop Fedora replacing Synergy 3, remove it first, because it blocks updates too: Prevent Fedora from downgrading Synergy 3

Install the new package with the same command you installed it with. The commands for each distribution are in: Installing Synergy 3 on Linux or Installing Synergy 1 on Linux

Then quit Synergy 1 and open it again, so the new version runs. Synergy 3's background service restarts by itself; if its window is open, close it and open it again. If you installed Synergy 3 from the Flatpak, quit it and open it again.

Roll back to a previously installed version

Older versions are listed on our website, after you log in: Other versions

Before you roll back:

  • Rolling back to Synergy 3 (before v3.5.1)? Ask us first for a serial key those versions can read, since they can't read the ones we issue now: Contact us
  • Rolling back to Synergy 1 (v1.17 and earlier)? Ask us first for a serial key those versions can read, since they can't read the ones we issue now: Contact us
  • Rolling back from Synergy 1 (v1.21) to Synergy 1 (v1.20 or earlier)? Contact us first, and we'll help you put back your serial key and settings from the copy the newer version kept, because the older version starts without your serial key and most of your settings once the newer one has converted them: Contact us
  1. Download the version you're rolling back to. The steps are in: Download Synergy 1 or Synergy 3, including older versions
  2. Uninstall the version you have now, without removing its config files. On Linux, run only the remove command, such as sudo apt remove synergy, and not rm -r ~/.config/Synergy. The steps are in: How to reinstall or uninstall Synergy 3 or How to reinstall or uninstall Synergy 1
  3. Install the version you downloaded.
  4. Do the same on each other computer you're rolling back.

On Windows, uninstall first: the installer won't put an older version over a newer one. Instead, it says "A newer version of Synergy is already installed." or "A later version of Synergy is already installed. Setup will now exit."

Rolled back because the update caused a problem? Please tell us what happened, so we can look into it: Contact us

Update notices in Synergy 1 and Synergy 3

In Synergy 1, Update available appears in the status bar at the bottom of the window when a newer version is out, and clicking it opens our download page in your browser. Hovering over it shows the new version number. Synergy 1 checks each time it starts, while Check for updates on startup is selected on the General tab of Preferences. Below it, Update channel offers Stable versions only, or Beta versions as well. Both settings are explained in: Synergy 1 Preferences: every setting explained

To see the newest Synergy 1 Enterprise version and its release notes, log in to our download page with the email address your license is on. Synergy 1 Enterprise has neither the notice nor these settings: it's built for zero telemetry, so it doesn't check for updates.

In Synergy 3, Update available appears at the bottom of the settings list when a newer version is ready, and clicking it opens our download page in your browser. Synergy 3 checks each time you open its window. It offers stable versions only, unless you turn on Receive beta updates in Local settings: Local settings in Synergy 3: login screen, beta updates, appearance and reset

No Update available? Our download page always shows the newest stable version, marked Latest version, so you can compare it with yours.

Did Update available find a beta? It's on the Other versions list, since our download page shows stable versions only. Open the list and log in when asked: Other versions

Get our release emails

Opt in to Account and product emails on your account page, and you'll usually get an email when we release a bigger update to a product you have a current license for. The steps are in: Change your account email, name, password or email preferences

For smaller fix releases, which usually go out without an email, check our download page or watch for Update available. Each release email links to its release notes. To stop them, opt out the same way, or use the opt-out link at the bottom of the email.

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