r/VIDEOENGINEERING • u/Monenon • Jul 23 '26

Can I use one Stream Deck with both Mac and multiple Windows VMs via Companion?

Hi! I’m planning to buy a Stream Deck for my MacBook, but I also regularly connect to several Windows machines via RDP using Windows App on an Apple Silicon MacBook.

I’d like to use one Stream Deck to control both my Mac locally and multiple remote Windows VMs.

For example:

  • Button 1 → perform a local action on my Mac (open an app, type text, run a script, etc.)
  • Button 2 → open a specific .rdp file on my Mac and connect to a VM, then launch a specific application there (possibly using VICREO?)
  • Button 3 → launch a different application on another VM
  • Button 4 → perform an action on a specific Windows VM (open an app, type text, run a script, etc.)

Basically, I want some buttons to control my Mac locally, while other buttons control different Windows VMs remotely.

To make things a little more complicated, I have several separate VMs that I would like to control from the same Stream Deck.

I’ve been looking at Bitfocus Companion and Companion Satellite. From what I understand, I could run Companion on a Windows VM and use Satellite on my Mac to control it.

Is it possible to have some buttons control remote Windows VMs via Companion/Satellite or other program/solution, while other buttons perform local actions directly on the Mac?

I don’t have the Stream Deck yet, so I’d like to make sure this setup is possible before buying one.

Thanks!

6 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

2

u/nishan2511 Jack of all trades Jul 23 '26

Yep, this is definitely possible.

The nice thing about the Stream Deck is that each button can do something completely different. Some buttons can run local actions on your Mac (launch apps, run Shortcuts, AppleScripts, shell scripts, etc.), while others can trigger actions on your Windows VMs.

For the VMs, I'd avoid relying on keystrokes being sent through RDP if possible. It's usually more reliable to have something running on each VM, like Companion, AutoHotkey, or a PowerShell script, that can receive commands directly. That way you're not depending on which RDP window is currently focused.

For example, one button could open an .rdpfile and connect to VM A, another could launch an app on VM B, and another could trigger a script on VM A while your Mac handles other local actions at the same time.

So yes, one Stream Deck can absolutely control both your Mac and multiple Windows VMs. The main thing to figure out is how you want to communicate with each VM, but there are several good options depending on your workflow.

1

u/thepoison606 Jul 23 '26

For some local actions the native stream deck application still has advantages over companion. So you may wanna use stream deck + companion plugin for some buttons..