Accessing files from your system's local hard drive is one of the easiest things you can do on your computer. But what if you want to access files located on other systems' hard drives? This can be done by mapping a network drive , which is of course a bit more complicated than accessing files from your local hard drive.
Mapping a location means that you can create a shortcut to another shared drive or folder on your network. Once mapped successfully, the mapped network drive will appear under This PC in File Explorer on your system.
You can map a network drive using File Explorer or from the control panel . Here's how.
Map a network drive in Windows 10
Before mapping a network drive, we need to enable Network Discovery so that the system can discover other computers operating on the network.
Step 1: Go to the Settings app and navigate to Network & Internet -> Sharing Options.
Step 2: In the Network Discovery section , select the Turn on network discovery option.
Step 3: Click Save Changes to save the changes.
1. Connect the network drive to the router
Most drives will provide some instructions, but the process is generally the same. Plug the drive into the wall using the included power adapter, then connect it via a network cable (hopefully included) to one of the ports on the back of your router.
You can then continue with the process of mapping network drives in Windows 10.
The following steps below will help you map a network drive in Windows 10 using File Explorer .
2. Open This PC in Windows Explorer
Open File Explorer (press Windows key + E ), then look to the sidebar on the left side of the window. Click This PC , then navigate to the Computer tab.
You can also search for This PC using Cortana. In the main window, make a note of the letters assigned to each drive - this will be useful to avoid creating duplicates in the next step.
3. Select Map Network Drive
This will allow you to choose a letter to assign to the drive. Avoid using C (this is usually the computer's local storage), while letters D through F are usually assigned to various removable media, such as discs or USB drives.
Make sure the specified character is not one of these to ensure no problems occur.
4. Search for network drives
Click the Browse button and you will be able to navigate to the drive in the network menu that appears.
If this is your first network drive, you will only have one drive listed.
5. Locate or create a shared folder
Within the drive, you'll find options for shared folders if available, or you can create your own. This will be where you'll eventually drop your files to access them elsewhere.
To create a folder, right-click and select New Folder . You can name it anything, but remember the name in case you need to locate the folder on another PC.
6. Authenticate with username and password
This password will be required when logging into the network drive, so be sure to write it down for any co-workers or family who require access.
Select Reconnect at sign-in so the drive can connect when you power on your PC.
You can skip this step, but that means anyone who can log into your WiFi network can access your folder, so we recommend setting a password.
If you have set a password and username for your NAS device, you may need to enter them here to access the drive.
7. Access the drive
Click Finish and you will see a new window for the drive, labeled with the letter you specified in step 3.
You will also see that it contains the shared folders you defined in step 4. You can now view and open files on the network drive as if they were on a hard drive physically connected to your PC.
8. Move files to network drive
The drive will now be listed in the sidebar on the left of any File Explorer window, and you can open it in a new window to drag documents, photos, or anything else into it.
This is done just like any other folder, so you can copy, cut, and paste as normal.
Regarding how to use Command Prompt to map a network drive in Windows 10, we have a separate article with specific step-by-step instructions. You can refer to the article “ How to map a network drive using Command Prompt in Windows ” to understand how to proceed.
Mapping a network drive in Windows 10 is a basic, easy task that comes in handy when you want to share files on your network. What do you think about these methods? Leave us a comment in the comment section below. We hope the information in this article is useful to you!
When you tell Windows to delete a file, you usually want it gone forever. However, some data recovery applications and services can restore those files even if you think they've been completely deleted.
You may encounter an issue where Windows tells you your PIN is incorrect even though you entered it correctly.
Back in July 2024, Mozilla expressed its desire to extend Firefox support to Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, while other browsers like Chrome and Edge have abandoned versions of Microsoft's outdated operating system.
Modern versions of Windows still contain a lot of old code, and Microsoft generally tries to hide outdated parts, like the Control Panel, in favor of more modern components. However, there are some interesting exceptions.
According to Microsoft, Copilot is the future of Windows. But what if you want to try it but can't find Copilot? The following article will show you some tricks if Copilot doesn't appear on your Windows 11.
Over time, the files on your hard drive become fragmented and your computer slows down because it has to check multiple locations on the drive. To help your computer run more efficiently, you can use the built-in tools in Windows to defragment those files.
If you're wondering how well your Windows PC is performing, run the Windows Experience Index (WEI).
Today, Microsoft officially launched another version of the Windows 11 operating system.
On your PC, a lot of your personal information can be accessed without permission. That's because Windows data is stored publicly on the drive and is not encrypted or protected by encryption software, so anyone can access your confidential and private information.
Android Studio is the official IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for Android app development and it is based on JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA software. Android Studio offers many great features that help improve productivity when building Android apps.
Windows 11 is officially leaked and you can even install it right now.
Phone Link lets you access your mobile device from your PC instantly. And users have the option to enable or disable the display of linked device names in Windows Share.
Since Windows Terminal Preview version 1.23.10353.0, Microsoft has added color customization so you can change the color according to your needs.
Accessing the Control Panel will help you adjust many system settings, because the Control Panel in Windows is a collection of applets, which are like small programs, each of which is used to configure different aspects of the operating system.
Setting up multiple monitors on Windows is quite simple and only takes a few minutes to do. After setting up multi-monitor mode (multiple screens), you can set up separate wallpapers for each screen. To do this, please refer to the article below from WebTech360.
