Sharing a Folder to Other PCs on the Network

[avatar user="Jamie Poindexter" size="thumbnail" align="left" link="attachment" /]by Jamie Poindexter | Jan 21, 2021 | Jamie's Tech Corner, Our blogIf you need to access folders or files on multiple PCs on the same network this can be easily accomplished by sharing it out and accessing using SMB (server message block). There are many reasons to share a file or folder. Maybe you have media files or documents that you want to access from other PCs or even mobile devices. This can be accomplished by cloud services such as One Drive but if this only needs to be shared on the same network a shared folder is sometimes the easiest route.You can share a new folder or existing one and name it however you want while keeping the original folder name. Locate the folder and right click on it, then choose properties.

Choose the “Sharing” tab then choose “Advanced Sharing”.

Check the box to share the folder and give it a name.

Click on permissions, by default you can enable full read/write control for everyone. If you need further security, you can add specific users to have access. Note that on a workgroup environment if you add a user, they must have the same username and password on both devices. Or if you are accessing it from a mobile device you will usually have the option to specify an account to login as.

Click ok and then ok again to go back to the folder properties. Click on security and match the permissions you entered for the share permissions section.

Again, adding everyone and setting to full control will let anyone access the folder and read/write/delete anything in the share. Once you are done hit apply and then OK to finish.To access the folder from the other device open file explorer and type the UNC path of the PC using its name or ip address. In my case the path is \192.168.1.186 so I will enter that into the address bar and hit enter.

As you can see the share is displayed, you can then right click on it and map the share to a drive letter so you can access it easier next time. Mapped drives show up under the “My Computer” or on the left side of file explorer.

This process of sharing can be done for as many folders as you like.

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