--- title: Your Laptop Keyboard, On Another Device | daily.dev description: A DIY project uses two RP2040 boards to turn a laptop's built-in keyboard into a USB HID keyboard for a headless machine like a Raspberry Pi. One RP2040 acts... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/your-laptop-keyboard-on-another-device-iks8sodls twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Your Laptop Keyboard, On Another Device | daily.dev og:description: A DIY project uses two RP2040 boards to turn a laptop's built-in keyboard into a USB HID keyboard for a headless machine like a Raspberry Pi. One RP2040 acts... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/your-laptop-keyboard-on-another-device-iks8sodls og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/IKS8sOdLs.png og:image:alt: Your Laptop Keyboard, On Another Device og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Your Laptop Keyboard, On Another Device **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A DIY project uses two RP2040 boards to turn a laptop's built-in keyboard into a USB HID keyboard for a headless machine like a Raspberry Pi. One RP2040 acts as a USB-to-serial bridge on the laptop side, and a second RP2040 receives that serial data and emits USB HID keystrokes, letting you type on the target device without a spare keyboard. Once initial setup is done, you can switch to SSH or another remote access method. Source code is provided for anyone with two RP2040 boards to replicate it. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How can I use my laptop's keyboard to set up a headless Raspberry Pi without a spare keyboard? You can build a two-board relay using RP2040 microcontrollers: one RP2040 acts as a USB-to-serial adapter connected to the laptop, and a second RP2040 takes that serial data and outputs it as a USB HID keyboard to the Raspberry Pi. Keystrokes typed on the laptop appear on the Pi as if typed locally, letting you complete initial setup before switching to SSH. _daily.dev surfaces maker projects like this for developers solving headless device setup problems._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [A Keyboard For Anything, Without A Keyboard](https://daily.dev/posts/a-keyboard-for-anything-without-a-keyboard-2pzydjh45) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Raspberry Pi 500\+ Works as a Standalone Keyboard \(Well, Kinda\)](https://daily.dev/posts/the-raspberry-pi-500-works-as-a-standalone-keyboard-well-kinda--vp4qmmsxa) · omg\! ubuntu\! · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [This Tiny USB Device Turns Your Phone Into a Keyboard, Mouse, and SSH Terminal](https://daily.dev/posts/this-tiny-usb-device-turns-your-phone-into-a-keyboard-mouse-and-ssh-terminal-gcmljxb1j) · It's Foss · 5 upvotes · 0 comments - [PICOTTY project enables multi-target serial remote management through Raspberry Pi Pico boards and Pi Zero 2 W SBC](https://daily.dev/posts/picotty-project-enables-multi-target-serial-remote-management-through-raspberry-pi-pico-boards-and-p-rcor7ceva) · CNX Software · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Nintendo’s Family BASIC Keyboard Gets USB Upgrade](https://daily.dev/posts/nintendo-s-family-basic-keyboard-gets-usb-upgrade-2nrwqsgkr) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#embedded](https://daily.dev/tags/embedded), [#raspberry-pi](https://daily.dev/tags/raspberry-pi) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/your-laptop-keyboard-on-another-device-iks8sodls) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Your Laptop Keyboard, On Another Device","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/your-laptop-keyboard-on-another-device-iks8sodls","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/your-laptop-keyboard-on-another-device-iks8sodls"},"datePublished":"2026-08-12T23:06:17.003Z","dateModified":"2026-08-12T23:06:36.414Z","description":"A DIY project uses two RP2040 boards to turn a laptop's built-in keyboard into a USB HID keyboard for a headless machine like a Raspberry Pi. 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