USING CROSSPOINT
Everyday use
Push the cursor past the edge and keep working. Here is everything that comes along, and the keys that help.
Crossing over
Move the cursor past an edge where two screens touch in Layout. It appears on the other computer, and your keyboard types there.
Control comes back to this computer when:
- you move the cursor back across the edge;
- you use the other computer’s own mouse or trackpad, which takes control there straight away;
- you press the release hotkey (below);
- the other computer stops answering for a second, or the network drops.
When control comes home, any keys still held down on the other computer are let go, so nothing gets stuck.
If the cursor crosses by accident while you work near an edge, set an Edge delay in Settings (0 to 500 ms). The cursor then has to rest at the edge that long before it crosses.
Hotkeys
| WHAT IT DOES | WINDOWS | MAC |
|---|---|---|
| Bring control back to this computer | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Esc | ⌃⌥⇧+Esc |
| Cursor Lock: keep the cursor on the computer it’s on | Scroll Lock | Scroll Lock |
| Jump to screen 1 to 9 | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+1…9 | ⌃⌥⇧+1…9 |
| Game Mode, while controlling another computer | Ctrl+Alt+G | ⌃⌥+G |
- Hotkeys use the physical keys: on a Mac keyboard, Ctrl is Control (⌃) and Alt is Option (⌥).
- Change any of them in Settings → Shortcuts → Edit shortcuts. Many Mac keyboards have no Scroll Lock key, so pick another Cursor Lock key there.
- Game Mode sends raw mouse movement for games that turn the camera with the mouse. The cursor never crosses an edge while it’s on, and it switches off when control comes home.
- Pause sharing in the menu bar or tray menu stops crossing until you click Resume sharing.
The shared clipboard
Copy on one computer, cross, and paste on the other. Text, formatted text and images come along. The clipboard is sent at the moment you cross.
- Passwords are never shared. Anything a password manager marks as sensitive when you copy it stays on that computer.
- Apps that copy only RTF, like TextEdit, Pages and WordPad, arrive as plain text.
- Copied files travel as a file transfer and are then ready to paste. See Share files.
- Turn it off with Share the clipboard in Settings. It must be on on both computers.
Shortcut translation
Mac and Windows put common shortcuts on different keys. With Translate shortcuts on (the default), Crosspoint fixes that on the computer you type on, so your hands do what they’re used to:
| MAC KEYBOARD ON A PC | PC KEYBOARD ON A MAC |
|---|---|
| ⌘C, ⌘V, ⌘Z… → Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+Z… | Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+Z… → ⌘C, ⌘V, ⌘Z… |
| ⌘Tab → Alt+Tab | Alt+Tab → ⌘Tab |
| ⌘Q → Alt+F4 | Alt+F4 → ⌘Q |
| ⌘← / ⌘→ → Home / End | Home / End → ⌘← / ⌘→ |
| ⌘↑ / ⌘↓ → Ctrl+Home / Ctrl+End | Ctrl+Home / Ctrl+End → ⌘↑ / ⌘↓ |
| ⌥← / ⌥→ and ⌥ with the delete keys → the same with Ctrl (word jumps, word delete) | Ctrl+← / Ctrl+→ and Ctrl with the delete keys → the same with ⌥ |
Change it on the Keyboard & mouse page:
- Keys: remap single keys. Click Record a key, press the key you want to change, then the key it should become. Defaults puts the map back.
- Shortcuts: turn each built-in rule on or off, or Add rule with the keys you press and the keys to send. Your own rules show a “Yours” badge.
- Turn translation off and every key is sent exactly as pressed.
Mouse buttons on a Mac
On a PC that controls a Mac, the Mouse buttons tab lets buttons 3, 4 and 5 (middle and side buttons) do Mac gestures instead of a normal click: Mission Control, App windows, Show desktop, Launchpad, or move a Space left or right.
Speed per computer
Screens with different sizes and resolutions can make the cursor feel faster on one computer. In Settings → Speed per computer, set mouse and scroll speed for each paired computer (0.1× to 5×).
Screen dimming
Turn on Dim this computer’s screens in Settings and this computer’s screens dim while you control another one, so you always see where the cursor is. Brightness sets how dark they get (10% to 90%). The menu bar or taskbar can stay bright.