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How to Access Shared Folders on a Network

This wikiHow teaches you how to open a folder that's being shared by another computer on your Internet network. You can do this on both Windows and Mac computers. Make sure you're on the correct network. In order to open a shared folder...

Table of Contents
Method 1 of 2:

On Windows

  1. images 1 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 1 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Make sure you're on the correct network. In order to open a shared folder from a different computer, you must be using the same Internet network as the computer which is sharing the file.
    1. Skip this step if your PC is wired to the computer which is sharing the folder(s) via an Ethernet cable.
  2. images 2 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 2 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Open Start
    images 3 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 3 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    . Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen. The Start menu will pop up.
  3. images 4 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 4 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Open Settings
    images 5 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 5 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    . Click the Settings gear in the lower-left corner of the Start menu. This will open the Settings window.
  4. images 6 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 6 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Click
    images 7 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 7 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Network & Internet. This is in the middle of the Settings window.
  5. images 8 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 8 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Click the Network and Sharing Center. It's a link toward the bottom of the page.
    1. You may need to scroll down to see this link. If you still can't find the link after scrolling down, click the Status tab in the upper-left corner of the window and look again.
  6. images 9 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 9 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Click Change advanced sharing settings. This is in the upper-left side of the window. A new window will open.
  7. images 10 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 10 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Turn on network discovery and file sharing. Check both the "Turn on network discovery" box and the "Turn on file and printer sharing" box.
  8. images 11 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 11 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Click Save changes. It's at the bottom of the window. Doing so saves your settings.
  9. images 12 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 12 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Open File Explorer
    images 13 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 13 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    . Click the File Explorer app icon at the bottom of the screen, or right-click the Start icon and then click File Explorer in the resulting pop-up menu.
    1. You can also press ⊞ Win+E to open the File Explorer.
  10. images 14 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 14 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Click Network. It's near the bottom of the sidebar that's on the left of the File Explorer window.
    1. You may have to scroll down in the File Explorer's left-hand sidebar to see this option.
  11. images 15 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 15 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Select a computer. Double-click the name of the computer from which the folder you want to open is being shared.
  12. images 16 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 16 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Select a folder. Double-click the folder you want to open.
  13. images 17 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 17 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Enter a username and password if prompted. This will usually be the username and password used to log into the computer which is sharing the folder. Doing so correctly will cause the folder to open.
    1. If the folder isn't protected, double-clicking it will open it immediately.
Method 2 of 2:

On Mac

  1. images 18 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 18 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Make sure you're on the correct network. In order to open a shared folder from a different computer, you must be using the same Internet network as the computer which is sharing the file.
    1. Skip this step if your Mac is wired to the computer which is sharing the folder(s) via an Ethernet cable.
  2. images 19 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 19 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Open the Apple menu
    images 20 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 20 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    . Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
  3. images 21 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 21 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Click System Preferences…. It's in the drop-down menu. The System Preferences window will open.
  4. images 22 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 22 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Click Sharing. It's in the System Preferences window. This will open the Sharing window.
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    Images 23 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Check the "File Sharing" box. You'll find this on the left side of the Sharing window.
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    Images 24 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Open
    images 25 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 25 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Finder. Click the Finder app icon, which resembles a blue face, in the Dock.
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    Images 26 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Find the "Shared" section. The "Shared" heading is on the left side of the Finder window. You should see the name of the computer which is sharing the folder you want to access listed there.
  8. images 27 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 27 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Select a computer. Below the "Shared" heading, click the name of the computer from which the folder you want to open is being shared. Doing so will open a list of the computer's shared folders in the middle of the Finder window.
  9. images 28 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 28 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Select a folder. Double-click the folder that you want to open.
  10. images 29 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Images 29 of How to Access Shared Folders on a Network
    Enter a username and password if prompted. This will usually be the username and password used to log into the computer which is sharing the folder. Doing so correctly will cause the folder to open.
    1. If the folder isn't protected, double-clicking it will open it immediately.
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