How to Share a Folder

Windows

Sharing Specific Folders

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   Ensure that File and Printer Sharing is enabled. In order to share specific folders, you will need to have this feature enabled. The method for enabling it varies slightly depending on which version of Windows you are using. It is highly recommended that you do not enable folder sharing when on a public network such as a school or coffee shop.

   1. Windows 10 - Open control panel and click Network and Internet. Click Network and sharing center. Click Change advanced sharing settings to the left of your network name.
   2. Windows 8 - Right-click on the Network icon in your system Tray in the Desktop view and select "Network and Sharing Center". Click the "Change advanced sharing settings" link. Expand the profile that you want to enable sharing on (Private or Public). Turn on both "Network discovery" and "File and printer sharing". Click the "Save changes" button and enter your administrator password if necessary.^[1]
   3. Windows 7 - Click the Start button, type "control panel", and press ↵ Enter. Double-click the "Network and Sharing Center" icon. Click the "Change advanced sharing settings" link. Expand the profile that you want to enable sharing on (Home/Work or Public). Turn on both "Network discovery" and "File and printer sharing". Click the "Save changes" button and enter your administrator password if necessary.^[2]
   4. Windows Vista - Click the Start menu and select Control Panel. Click Network and Internet, and then select Network and Sharing Center. Expand the "Network discovery" and "File and printer sharing" entries in the "Sharing and Discovery" section. Make sure both are turned on. Click the "Save" button for each entry.
   5. Windows XP - Click the Start button and select Control Panel. Open Network Connections. Right-click on your network connection and select Properties. Check the "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" box.
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   Find the folder you wish to share. Once File and Printer Sharing has been enabled, you can share any folder on your hard drive with other people on your network. Navigate to the folder that you want to share using Explorer. Right-click on it.
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   Select the "Share with" option. This will open the Sharing submenu. You can choose to share it with everyone in your Homegroup or select specific people to share it with.

   1. When choosing a Homegroup option, you can allow other Homegroup members to both read and write to the folder, or limit them to just read from it.
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   Click the "Specific people" option to select which users you want to share with. This will open a new window with a list of all the users that currently have access to the folder. You can add users to this list and give them specific permissions for the folder.

   1. To share the folder with everyone, click the dropdown menu at the top and select "Everyone". Click the Add button.
   2. To share with specific users, click the dropdown menu and select them or type in the name and click Add.
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   Set permissions for users on the list. Find a user on the list that you want to change the permissions for. Look in the Permissions Level column, and click the arrow next to the existing permission. Select the new one from the list.

   1. Read - User can see, copy, and open files from the folder, but cannot change files or add new ones.
   2. Read/Write - Besides Read abilities, users can change files and add new files to the shared folder. Files can be deleted by users with Read/Write permissions.
   3. Remove - Removes permissions for this user, and removes them from the list.
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   Click the Share button. Your permission settings will be saved, and the folder will be available on the network for all allowed users.

Using Public Folders

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   Enable Public folders. Public folders are folders that are always shared with anyone that is connected to the network. Anyone can read and write to Public folders, and there are no special permissions required. Public folders are turned off by default unless you are in a Homegroup.

   1. Windows 8 - Right-click on the Network icon in your system Tray in the Desktop view and select "Network and Sharing Center". Click the "Change advanced sharing settings" link. Expand the "All Networks" section. Look in the "Public folder sharing" section and toggle it on. Click the "Save changes" button.
   2. Windows 7 - Click the Start button, type "control panel", and press ↵ Enter. Double-click the "Network and Sharing Center" icon. Click the "Change advanced sharing settings" link. Expand the profile that you want to enable Public folders on (Home/Work or Public). Look for the "Public folder sharing" section and toggle it on. Click the "Save changes" button and enter your administrator password if necessary.
   3. Windows Vista - Click the Start menu and select Control Panel. Click Network and Internet, and then select Network and Sharing Center. Expand the "Public Folder" entry in the "Sharing and Discovery" section. Toggle it on and then click the "Save" button.
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   Enable or disable Password Protected Sharing. In the same place that you found the Public folder controls, you can find the password protected sharing options. Turning this feature on means that only people who have a user account and password on the same computer can access the Public folder. If this is on, users on other computers will not be able to access the folder.
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   Find your Public folders. Once the folder has been enabled, you can start adding things to it to be shared with everyone on the network. The Public folder is part of the Libraries view, and is accessed slightly differently depending on your version of Windows. There is a Public folder in each of the Libraries (Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos).

   1. Windows 8 - Libraries are not displayed by default in Windows 8. To see them, click This PC to open Explorer. Click the View panel, and then click the "Navigation pane" button on the far left. Click the "Show libraries" option to make the Libraries folder display in the sidebar. Expand the library that you want to add files to, and open the corresponding Public folder that appears.^[3]
   2. Windows 7 - Click Start and select Documents. In the left pane, expand the Libraries and Documents folders, and then select Public Documents. You can also choose Public folders in the other libraries as well.
   3. Windows Vista - Click Start and select Documents. In the left pane, click the Public link in the "Favorite Links" section. If you don't see it, click More and then select Public. Choose the Public folder that you want to add files to.
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   Add files. You can add and move files in Public folders just like you would in any other folder. You can copy and paste from other locations, or drag and drop files.