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<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
<topic xml:lang="en-us" id="keyb_mouse_normal">
<title>Capturing and Releasing Keyboard and Mouse</title>
<body>
<p><ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> provides a virtual USB tablet device to new virtual
machines through which mouse events are communicated to the guest OS. If you are running a modern guest OS that
can handle such devices, mouse support may work out of the box without the mouse being <i>captured</i> as
described below. See <xref href="settings-motherboard.dita#settings-motherboard"/>. </p>
<p>Otherwise, if the virtual machine detects only standard PS/2 mouse and keyboard devices, since the OS in the
virtual machine does not know that it is not running on a real computer, it expects to have exclusive control over
your keyboard and mouse. But unless you are running the VM in full screen mode, your VM needs to share keyboard
and mouse with other applications and possibly other VMs on your host. </p>
<p>After installing a guest OS and before you install the Guest Additions, described in <xref
href="guestadditions.dita#guestadditions"/>, either your VM or the rest of your computer can <i>own</i> the
keyboard and the mouse. Both cannot own the keyboard and mouse at the same time. You will see a <i>second</i>
mouse pointer which is always confined to the limits of the VM window. You activate the VM by clicking inside it. </p>
<p>To return ownership of keyboard and mouse to your host OS, <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/>
reserves a special key on your keyboard: the <i>Host key</i>. By default, this is the <i>right Ctrl key</i> on
your keyboard. On a Mac host, the default Host key is the left Command key. You can change this default using the
Preferences window. See <xref href="preferences.dita#preferences"/>. The current setting for the Host key is
always displayed at the bottom right of your VM window. </p>
<fig id="fig-host-key">
<title>Host Key Setting on the Virtual Machine Status Bar</title>
<xref href="images/vm-hostkey.png" format="png" platform="htmlhelp">
<image href="images/vm-hostkey.png" width="7cm" placement="break">
<alt>Host Key Setting on the Virtual Machine Status Bar</alt>
</image>
</xref>
<image platform="ohc" href="images/vm-hostkey.png" width="7cm" placement="break">
<alt>Host Key Setting on the Virtual Machine Status Bar</alt>
</image>
</fig>
<p>
This means the following:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Your <b outputclass="bold">keyboard</b> is owned by the VM if the VM window on your host desktop has the
keyboard focus. If you have many windows open in your guest OS, the window that has the focus in your VM is
used. This means that if you want to enter text within your VM, click the title bar of your VM window first. </p>
<p>To release keyboard ownership, press the Host key. As explained above, this is typically the right Ctrl key. </p>
<p>Note that while the VM owns the keyboard, some key sequences, such as Alt+Tab, will no longer be seen by the
host, but will go to the guest instead. After you press the Host key to reenable the host keyboard, all key
presses will go through the host again, so that sequences such as Alt+Tab will no longer reach the guest. For
technical reasons it may not be possible for the VM to get all keyboard input even when it does own the
keyboard. Examples of this are the Ctrl+Alt+Del sequence on Windows hosts or single keys grabbed by other
applications on X11 hosts such as the GNOME desktop Locate Pointer feature. </p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Your <b outputclass="bold">mouse</b> is owned by the VM only after you have clicked in the VM window. The
host mouse pointer will disappear, and your mouse will drive the guest's pointer instead of your normal mouse
pointer. </p>
<p>Note that mouse ownership is independent of that of the keyboard. Even after you have clicked on a titlebar
to be able to enter text into the VM window, your mouse is not necessarily owned by the VM yet. </p>
<p>To release ownership of your mouse by the VM, press the Host key. </p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>As this behavior is inconvenient, <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> provides a set of tools
and device drivers for guest systems called the <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> Guest
Additions. These tools make VM keyboard and mouse operations much more seamless. Most importantly, the Guest
Additions suppress the second "guest" mouse pointer and make your host mouse pointer work directly in the guest.
See <xref href="guestadditions.dita#guestadditions"/>. </p>
</body>
</topic>
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