diff --git a/src/lib/platform/ImmuneKeysReader.cpp b/src/lib/platform/ImmuneKeysReader.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..72baed3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/platform/ImmuneKeysReader.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+* barrier -- mouse and keyboard sharing utility
+* Copyright (C) 2018 Deuauche Open Source Group
+*
+* This package is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+* modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+* found in the file LICENSE that should have accompanied this file.
+*
+* This package is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+* GNU General Public License for more details.
+*
+* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+* along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#include "ImmuneKeysReader.h"
+
+#include <fstream>
+
+const std::size_t AllocatedLineSize = 1024;
+const char CommentChar = '#';
+
+static void add_key(const char * const buffer, std::vector<DWORD> &keys)
+{
+    const char *first;
+    // skip spaces. ignore blank lines and comment lines
+    for (first = buffer; *first == ' '; ++first);
+    if (*first != 0 && *first != CommentChar)
+        keys.emplace_back(std::stoul(first, 0, 0));
+}
+
+/*static*/ bool ImmuneKeysReader::get_list(const char * const path, std::vector<DWORD> &keys, std::string &badline)
+{
+    // default values for return params
+    keys.clear();
+    badline.clear();
+    std::ifstream stream(path, std::ios::in);
+    if (stream.is_open()) {
+        // size includes the null-terminator
+        char buffer[AllocatedLineSize];
+        while (stream.getline(&buffer[0], AllocatedLineSize)) {
+            try {
+                add_key(buffer, keys);
+            } catch (...) {
+                badline = buffer;
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return true;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/lib/platform/ImmuneKeysReader.h b/src/lib/platform/ImmuneKeysReader.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b46cbbe8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/platform/ImmuneKeysReader.h
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+* barrier -- mouse and keyboard sharing utility
+* Copyright (C) 2018 Deuauche Open Source Group
+*
+* This package is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+* modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+* found in the file LICENSE that should have accompanied this file.
+*
+* This package is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+* GNU General Public License for more details.
+*
+* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+* along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <vector>
+#include <string>
+
+// let's not import all of Windows just to get this typedef
+typedef unsigned long DWORD;
+
+class ImmuneKeysReader
+{
+public:
+    static bool get_list(const char * const path, std::vector<DWORD> &keys, std::string &badLine);
+
+private:
+    // static class
+    explicit ImmuneKeysReader() {}
+};
diff --git a/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsDesks.cpp b/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsDesks.cpp
index 5d4d90af..c5b427ac 100644
--- a/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsDesks.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsDesks.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 #include "synwinhk/synwinhk.h"
 #include "platform/MSWindowsScreen.h"
+#include "platform/ImmuneKeysReader.h"
 #include "barrier/IScreenSaver.h"
 #include "barrier/XScreen.h"
 #include "mt/Lock.h"
@@ -88,6 +89,17 @@
 // enable; <unused>
 #define BARRIER_MSG_FAKE_INPUT        BARRIER_HOOK_LAST_MSG + 12
 
+static const std::string ImmuneKeysPath = ArchFileWindows().getProfileDirectory() + "\\ImmuneKeys.txt";
+
+static std::vector<DWORD> immune_keys_list()
+{
+    std::vector<DWORD> keys;
+    std::string badLine;
+    if (!ImmuneKeysReader::get_list(ImmuneKeysPath.c_str(), keys, badLine))
+        LOG((CLOG_ERR "Reading immune keys stopped at: %s", badLine.c_str()));
+    return keys;
+}
+
 //
 // MSWindowsDesks
 //
@@ -114,6 +126,8 @@ MSWindowsDesks::MSWindowsDesks(
     m_events(events),
     m_stopOnDeskSwitch(stopOnDeskSwitch)
 {
+    LOG((CLOG_DEBUG "Immune Keys Path: %s", ImmuneKeysPath));
+
     if (hookLibrary != NULL)
         queryHookLibrary(hookLibrary);
 
@@ -355,14 +369,17 @@ MSWindowsDesks::queryHookLibrary(HINSTANCE hookLibrary)
     if (m_isPrimary && !m_noHooks) {
         m_install   = (InstallFunc)GetProcAddress(hookLibrary, "install");
         m_uninstall = (UninstallFunc)GetProcAddress(hookLibrary, "uninstall");
+        m_setImmuneKeys = (SetImmuneKeysFunc)GetProcAddress(hookLibrary, "setImmuneKeys");
         m_installScreensaver   =
                   (InstallScreenSaverFunc)GetProcAddress(
                                 hookLibrary, "installScreenSaver");
         m_uninstallScreensaver =
                   (UninstallScreenSaverFunc)GetProcAddress(
                                 hookLibrary, "uninstallScreenSaver");
+
         if (m_install              == NULL ||
             m_uninstall            == NULL ||
+            m_setImmuneKeys        == NULL ||
             m_installScreensaver   == NULL ||
             m_uninstallScreensaver == NULL) {
             LOG((CLOG_ERR "Invalid hook library"));
@@ -372,6 +389,7 @@ MSWindowsDesks::queryHookLibrary(HINSTANCE hookLibrary)
     else {
         m_install              = NULL;
         m_uninstall            = NULL;
+        m_setImmuneKeys        = NULL;
         m_installScreensaver   = NULL;
         m_uninstallScreensaver = NULL;
     }
@@ -696,6 +714,10 @@ MSWindowsDesks::deskThread(void* vdesk)
                     m_uninstallScreensaver();
                     m_installScreensaver();
                 }
+                // populate immune keys list in the DLL's shared memory
+                // before the hooks are activated
+                auto list = immune_keys_list();
+                m_setImmuneKeys(list.data(), list.size());
                 switch (m_install()) {
                 case kHOOK_FAILED:
                     // we won't work on this desk
diff --git a/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsDesks.h b/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsDesks.h
index 37240f8a..6fde3537 100644
--- a/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsDesks.h
+++ b/src/lib/platform/MSWindowsDesks.h
@@ -286,6 +286,7 @@ private:
     // hook library stuff
     InstallFunc            m_install;
     UninstallFunc        m_uninstall;
+    SetImmuneKeysFunc    m_setImmuneKeys;
     InstallScreenSaverFunc
                         m_installScreensaver;
     UninstallScreenSaverFunc
diff --git a/src/lib/synwinhk/synwinhk.cpp b/src/lib/synwinhk/synwinhk.cpp
index f45cec31..6d7123c5 100644
--- a/src/lib/synwinhk/synwinhk.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/synwinhk/synwinhk.cpp
@@ -85,6 +85,18 @@ typedef struct tagMOUSEHOOKSTRUCTWin2000 {
 #define XBUTTON2            0x0002
 #endif
 
+// because all of our global data is shared between processes,
+// allocating shared data on-the-fly is tricky. therefore let's
+// store all of our immune keys in a pre-allocated array. the
+// downside here is that we have to pick a maximum number of
+// immune keys to store. who would ever want barrier to ignore
+// more than 32 keys on their keyboard??
+struct ImmuneKeys
+{
+    static const std::size_t MaxKeys = 32;
+    DWORD list[MaxKeys];
+    std::size_t count;
+};
 
 //
 // globals
@@ -121,6 +133,7 @@ static BYTE                g_deadKeyState[256] = { 0 };
 static BYTE                g_keyState[256]   = { 0 };
 static DWORD            g_hookThread      = 0;
 static bool                g_fakeInput       = false;
+static ImmuneKeys          g_immuneKeys{ {0}, 0 };
 
 #if defined(_MSC_VER)
 #pragma data_seg()
@@ -445,10 +458,23 @@ doKeyboardHookHandler(WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
     return false;
 }
 
+inline static
+bool is_immune_key(DWORD target)
+{
+    for (std::size_t idx = 0; idx < g_immuneKeys.count; ++idx) {
+        if (g_immuneKeys.list[idx] == target)
+            return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
 static
 bool
 keyboardHookHandler(WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
 {
+    // allow all immune keys to pass without filtering
+    if (is_immune_key(static_cast<DWORD>(wParam)))
+        return false;
     return doKeyboardHookHandler(wParam, lParam);
 }
 #endif
@@ -1123,4 +1149,17 @@ setMode(EHookMode mode)
     g_mode = mode;
 }
 
+// do not call this while the hooks are active!
+void
+setImmuneKeys(const DWORD *list, std::size_t size)
+{
+    if (size > ImmuneKeys::MaxKeys)
+        size = ImmuneKeys::MaxKeys;
+    g_immuneKeys.count = size;
+    if (size > 0) {
+        for (std::size_t idx = 0; idx < size; ++idx)
+            g_immuneKeys.list[idx] = list[idx];
+    }
+}
+
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/synwinhk/synwinhk.h b/src/lib/synwinhk/synwinhk.h
index 45f34daf..32d1068c 100644
--- a/src/lib/synwinhk/synwinhk.h
+++ b/src/lib/synwinhk/synwinhk.h
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ typedef int                (*UninstallScreenSaverFunc)(void);
 typedef void            (*SetSidesFunc)(UInt32);
 typedef void            (*SetZoneFunc)(SInt32, SInt32, SInt32, SInt32, SInt32);
 typedef void            (*SetModeFunc)(int);
+typedef void            (*SetImmuneKeysFunc)(const DWORD*, std::size_t);
 
 CBARRIERHOOK_API int    init(DWORD);
 CBARRIERHOOK_API int    cleanup(void);
@@ -88,4 +89,7 @@ CBARRIERHOOK_API void    setZone(SInt32 x, SInt32 y, SInt32 w, SInt32 h,
                             SInt32 jumpZoneSize);
 CBARRIERHOOK_API void    setMode(EHookMode mode);
 
+// do not call setImmuneKeys() while the hooks are active!
+CBARRIERHOOK_API void    setImmuneKeys(const DWORD *list, std::size_t size);
+
 }