How to Map a Network Drive in Windows 11

Network drives provide you easy access to files and folders that are stored on somebody else’s computer on the same network. However, typing the address for the drive you need to access several times a day can become quite exhausting.

Fortunately, Windows does provide a way to map your network drive location and access the folder just like a regular drive from the explorer. Thus, if you have been looking for a solution to this repetitive and boring task, your search ends here.

Turn On Network Discovery on your Windows 11 PC

Before you can jump and map a network drive, it is essential that you turn on ‘Network Discovery’ to avoid any hiccups along the way of mapping a network drive.

To do so, click on the ‘Search’ icon present on the taskbar and then type Control in the search bar.

Next, click on the ‘Control Panel’ tile from the search results.

Alternatively, you can also press Control+R to bring up the ‘Run Command’ utility and type control, and hit the ‘OK’ button to straightaway head to the control panel on your Windows machine.

After that, click on the ‘Network & Sharing Center’ option from the list of options present on the ‘Control Panel’ screen.

Then, click on the ‘Change advanced sharing settings’ option situated on the left edge of the ‘Network & Sharing Center’ window.

After that, expand your current profile (Private or Public) by clicking on the ‘carat’ icon. Then, click on the radio button preceding the ‘Turn on network discovery’ option under the profile to enable your computer to see all the available devices present on your connected network. Also, as you turn on the network discovery, it will automatically enable the ‘Turn on automatic setup of network connected devices’ option.

If you also wish to share files on the network from the current machine, click on the radio button preceding the ‘Turn on file and printer sharing’ option located under the ‘File and printer sharing’ section. Then, click on the ‘Save changes’ button from the bottom section of the screen to confirm and apply.

And that’s it you will now be able to locate other devices on your network and vice-versa.

Turn on File Sharing on the Resource Computer

One more essential step before you can map a network drive onto your computer is to make sure the computer you wish for has the file-sharing turned on that will enable you to access files via your local network.

To do so, open the ‘Settings’ app from the Start Menu present on the taskbar of your Windows computer. Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+I shortcut on your keyboard to access it.

Then, click on the ‘Search’ tab present on top of the left sidebar on the ‘Settings’ window. Then, type the control panel and click on the ‘Control Panel’ tile from the search results.

Next, locate and click on the ‘Network and Sharing Center’ from the list of options present on your screen.

After that, click on the ‘Change advanced sharing settings’ present on the left edge of the window.

Now, under your current network profile (Private or Public), locate the ‘File and printer sharing’ section. Then, click on the radio button preceding the ‘Turn on file sharing and printer sharing’ option to enable file sharing on that machine.

Also, make sure that the ‘Turn on Network discovery’ option is selected under the ‘Network discovery’ section located right above the ‘File and printer sharing section’.

In case you have a private network and only trusted devices are connected to the network. You can also configure your resource machine to allow access to every device present on the network even without credentials.

Now, scroll down and locate the ‘All networks’ section and click on the ‘carat’ icon to expand it. Then, locate the ‘Password protected sharing’ section and click on the radio button preceding the ‘Turn off password protected sharing’ option. Then, click on the ‘Save changes’ button present on the bottom section of the window to confirm and apply the changes.

Map a Network Location on your Windows 11 PC

Mapping a network drive is really straightforward on a Windows-based computer and will not take much of your time.

First, launch ‘This PC’ from the desktop of your Windows 11 PC. Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+E shortcut on your keyboard to access it.

Then, click on the ‘ellipsis’ icon present on the ribbon menu and then select the ‘Map network drive’ option from the overlay menu. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Now, enter the shared address of the folder you wish to access from your PC. Otherwise, click on the ‘Browse’ button to browse a folder located on your already present network locations. This will open a ‘Browse’ window on your screen.

After clicking on the ‘Browse’ button, click on the network device name to expand the shared location list. Then, click to select the location you wish to map. Finally, click on the ‘OK’ button to confirm and close the window.

Next, click on the checkbox preceding the ‘Reconnect at sign-in’ option to reconnect to the folder every time you sign in to your Windows computer. Then, click on the ‘Finish’ button to map the network drive.

Then, depending on the resource machine’s file-sharing settings, enter administrator credentials or user account credentials using your preferred way of authentication to establish a connection with the resource machine.

Finally, your desired network drive will now be mapped and available in ‘This PC’ which you can access just like your regular drives.

FIX: Windows Can’t Access Network Location

If you are able to see your resource machine on the network but aren’t able to access it, you might need to enable the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol that Windows has disabled from Windows 10 1803 build onwards, which at times might not let you access files or folders on a network location.

To do so, head to the ‘Settings’ app from the Start menu on your Windows computer.

Then, type the control panel in the ‘Search’ bar located on top of the left sidebar present on the ‘Settings’ window. Next, click on the ‘Control Panel’ tile from the search result.

After that, locate and click on the ‘Programs and Features’ option present on your screen.

Now, click on the ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ option located on the left edge of the ‘Programs and features’ window. This will open a separate ‘Windows Features’ window on your screen.

Then, scroll down and locate the ‘SMB 1.0/ CIFS File Sharing Support’ option from the list. After that, click on the checkbox preceding the folder to turn it on. Next, click on the ‘OK’ button to confirm your changes.

Now, Windows will turn on the feature for you; it might take a few minutes to do so.

Once, the feature is turned ‘On’, Windows will ask you to restart your machine to let the changes take effect. Click on the ‘Restart now’ button to restart your machine immediately or click on the ‘Don’t restart’ button to restart your machine manually at a more convenient time.