USB switch - technical definition

A device that allows one or more USB peripherals to connect to multiple computers, one computer at a time. Such a device is often used to share a scanner, printer or external hard drive with two or more computers. The computer is selected manually by pressing buttons on the device or via software.

In order to allow more peripherals to be connected than there are ports on the switch, a USB hub can be connected to one of the switch ports. See USB hub.