How to Connect Two Computers
This wikiHow teaches you how to connect two computers in order to share an internet connection or files. Connect the two computers with an Ethernet cable. Use an Ethernet cable to connect your two computers to one another.
Method 1 of 5:
Sharing Internet from Windows
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Picture 1 of How to Connect Two Computers Connect the two computers with an Ethernet cable. Use an Ethernet cable to connect your two computers to one another.- You'll need an Ethernet to USB-C adapter to plug into your Mac's Thunderbolt 3 port before you can attach an Ethernet cable to a Mac.
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Picture 2 of How to Connect Two Computers Open StartPicture 3 of How to Connect Two Computers - Make sure that you do this on the computer from which you're sharing Internet, not the one that you just connected.
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Picture 4 of How to Connect Two Computers Open Control Panel. Type in control panel, then click Control Panel when it appears at the top of the Start window. -
Picture 5 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Network and Internet. You'll find this heading on the left side of the Control Panel window.- If your Control Panel page has "Small icons" or "Large icons" written in the top-right corner, skip this step.
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Picture 6 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Network and Sharing Center. It's in the middle of the page. This will open a list of your current connections. -
Picture 7 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Change adapter settings. You'll find this option in the upper-left side of the window. -
Picture 8 of How to Connect Two Computers Select both the Wi-Fi connection and the Ethernet connection. Click the computer icon that has "Wi-Fi" under it, then hold down the Ctrl key and click the computer icon that has "Ethernet" under it. -
Picture 9 of How to Connect Two Computers Right-click the Wi-Fi connection. Doing so prompts a drop-down menu to appear.- If your mouse doesn't have a right-click button, click the right side of the mouse or use two fingers to click the mouse.
- If your computer uses a trackpad instead of a mouse, use two fingers to tap the trackpad or press the bottom-right side of the trackpad.
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Picture 10 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Bridge Connections. It's in the drop-down menu. After a moment, your computer's Wi-Fi will be shared in a "bridged" connection with the other computer.
Method 2 of 5:
Sharing Internet from a Mac
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Picture 11 of How to Connect Two Computers Connect the two computers with an Ethernet cable. Use an Ethernet cable to connect your two Mac computers to one another.- If connecting a Mac to another Mac, you'll need two Ethernet to USB-C adapters to plug into your Macs' Thunderbolt 3 ports before you can connect them via Ethernet.
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Picture 12 of How to Connect Two Computers Open the Apple menuPicture 13 of How to Connect Two Computers -
Picture 14 of How to Connect Two Computers Click System Preferences…. You'll find this option in the drop-down menu. Doing so opens the System Preferences window. -
Picture 15 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Sharing. It's in the System Preferences window. A new window will open. -
Picture 16 of How to Connect Two Computers Check the "Internet Sharing" box. This option is on the left side of the window. -
Picture 17 of How to Connect Two Computers Click the "Share your connection from" drop-down box. It's in the middle of the window. A drop-down menu will appear. -
Picture 18 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Wi-Fi. This option is in the drop-down menu. -
Picture 19 of How to Connect Two Computers Check the "Ethernet" box. Doing so shares your Mac's Internet connection with the computer to which it is currently connected.
Method 3 of 5:
Sharing Files from Windows to Windows
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Picture 20 of How to Connect Two Computers Connect the two computers with an Ethernet cable. Use an Ethernet cable to connect your two computers to one another. -
Picture 21 of How to Connect Two Computers Open StartPicture 22 of How to Connect Two Computers - Make sure that you do this on the computer from which you're sharing files.
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Picture 23 of How to Connect Two Computers Open Control Panel. Type in control panel, then click Control Panel when it appears at the top of the Start window. -
Picture 24 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Network and Internet. You'll find this heading on the left side of the Control Panel window.- If your Control Panel page has "Small icons" or "Large icons" written in the top-right corner, skip this step.
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Picture 25 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Network and Sharing Center. It's in the middle of the page. -
Picture 26 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Advanced sharing settings. This link is in the upper-left corner of the window. -
Picture 27 of How to Connect Two Computers Turn on file sharing. Check the "Turn on file and printer sharing" box below the "File and printer sharing" heading in the middle of the page. -
Picture 28 of How to Connect Two Computers Share a folder. To do so:- Go to the folder's location in File Explorer.
- Select the folder that you want to share.
- Click the Share tab.
- Click Specific people...
- Select Everyone from the drop-down menu at the top of the window.
- Click Share
- Click Done
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Picture 29 of How to Connect Two Computers Open the other computer's File Explorer. Click thePicture 30 of How to Connect Two Computers Picture 31 of How to Connect Two Computers -
Picture 32 of How to Connect Two Computers Click your first computer's name. You'll find it below the Network heading on the left side of the File Explorer window.- You may have to scroll down to find this option.
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Picture 33 of How to Connect Two Computers Copy the shared folder onto your second computer. Click the folder that you want to copy, press Ctrl+C, go to a folder in which you want to store it, and press Ctrl+V.
Method 4 of 5:
Sharing Files from Mac to Mac
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Picture 34 of How to Connect Two Computers Connect the two computers. Use an Ethernet cable to connect your two Mac computers to one another.- Unless one or both of the Macs are iMacs (desktop computers), you'll need two Ethernet to USB-C adapters to plug into your Macs' Thunderbolt 3 ports before you can connect them via Ethernet.
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Picture 35 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Go. It's a menu item at the top of the screen. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu.- If you don't see Go, click the desktop to force it to appear.
- Make sure that you're doing this on the Mac from which you want to transfer files.
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Picture 36 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Connect to Server. You'll find this option near the bottom of the drop-down menu. -
Picture 37 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Browse. It's near the bottom of the Connect to Server window. A pop-up window with nearby computers will appear. -
Picture 38 of How to Connect Two Computers Double-click the second Mac's name. You'll find this in the pop-up window. -
Picture 39 of How to Connect Two Computers Enter the second computer's password when prompted. This will allow you to connect to the second computer.- If this doesn't work, try using the current computer's password.
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Picture 40 of How to Connect Two Computers Click Connect. It's in the lower-right side of the pop-up window. -
Picture 41 of How to Connect Two Computers OpenPicture 42 of How to Connect Two Computers -
Picture 43 of How to Connect Two Computers Move files onto the other Mac. Find a file that you want to move onto the second Mac, copy it by clicking it and pressing ⌘ Command+C, click the other Mac's name in the lower-left side of the Finder window, open your preferred folder, and press ⌘ Command+V.
Method 5 of 5:
Sharing Files between Windows and Mac
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Picture 44 of How to Connect Two Computers Connect the two computers. Use an Ethernet cable to connect your two computers to one another.- You'll need an Ethernet to USB-C adapter to plug into your Mac's Thunderbolt 3 port before you can attach an Ethernet cable to the Mac.
- If both your Mac and your Windows computer are connected to the Internet, you can transfer the files over Wi-Fi; however, doing so will lead to much slower file transfers than if you use a cable.
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Picture 45 of How to Connect Two Computers Enable file sharing on the Windows computer. To do so:- Open Control Panel by typing control panel into Start and then clicking Control Panel.
- Click Network and Sharing (skip this step if you see "Small" or "Large" in the upper-right side of the window).
- Click Network and Sharing Center
- Click Advanced sharing settings
- Check the "Turn on file and printer sharing" box.
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Picture 46 of How to Connect Two Computers Share a folder. Do the following:- Open Start
Picture 47 of How to Connect Two Computers - Click File Explorer
Picture 48 of How to Connect Two Computers - Select the folder that you want to share.
- Click the Share tab.
- Click Specific people...
- Select Everyone from the drop-down menu at the top of the window.
- Click Share
- Click Done
- Open Start
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Picture 49 of How to Connect Two Computers Enable file sharing on the Mac computer. To do so:- Open the Apple menu
Picture 50 of How to Connect Two Computers - Click System Preferences...
- Click Sharing
- Check the "File Sharing" box.
- Change the "Everyone" permissions from "Read Only" to "Read & Write".
- Open the Apple menu
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Picture 51 of How to Connect Two Computers Share a folder from your Mac. Click the + icon below the list of shared folders, then double-click the folder that you want to share.- You may have to click Add to add the folder to the list of shared folders.
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Picture 52 of How to Connect Two Computers Access the Mac's files from the Windows computer. You can do this from within the File Explorer:- Open Start
Picture 53 of How to Connect Two Computers - Click File Explorer
Picture 54 of How to Connect Two Computers - Click the Mac's name below the Network heading on the left side of the File Explorer.
- Open the shared folder.
- Select the files that you want to save, then press Ctrl+C
- Go to a folder on your computer and then press Ctrl+V.
- Open Start
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Picture 55 of How to Connect Two Computers Access the Windows computer's files from the Mac. You can do this from within the Finder:- Open
Picture 56 of How to Connect Two Computers - Click your Windows computer's name in the lower-left side of the window.
- Open the shared folder.
- Select the files that you want to save, then press ⌘ Command+C
- Go to a folder on your Mac and then press ⌘ Command+V.
- Open
Update 24 March 2020
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