How to share files and folders on the local network and the Internet (shared folders)

Hello!

To quickly exchange files or collaborate on some documents, you often need to make a certain folder (or drive) publicly available. Those. so that it can be opened from any computer on the local network.

By the way, this operation is often called sharing (from the English word "Share" - to share).

In this small note, I wanted to show how you can make such a folder not only for your home PCs / laptops, but also one of the options for how to share a folder via the Internet (i.e., any computer from outside can connect to your local network and become part of it, including using shared folders).

👉 Help!

How to transfer a large file or folder over the Internet (even if the size is more than 1000 GB!) - step by step instructions

Creating a shared folder (sharing)

Local network folder

And so, let's say we have some folder on the desktop (in my case "Test_ocomp"). To share it, right-click on it and open it properties .

Then go to the tab "Access" and click on the button "General access" ... After you need to add a new line "Everything" (users) and give it the rights:

or "Reading" (on other PCs in the local network, the files can only be viewed);
or "Read and write" (full access: you can both view files and delete them).

Shared for everyone!

Then in the same tab "Access" go to advanced settings, share the folder and click on the button "Permissions" .

Advanced customization

In it, check the boxes for the permissions that you give other users (for example, full access or read-only ...).

Full access

Actually, after that, going into the explorer and opening the tab "Net" - you should see the name of your PC and the folder we shared. If this did not happen - see 👉 paragraph 3 of this article ...

File Explorer - Network Tab

Internet folder

Option 1

If you need a folder that will be available 24 hours a day, and any user could enter it and upload a file (or edit a document), then the сервис Google Drive service can be a good choice.

How to work with this: first, create a folder on Google-drive, then right-click on it and select the item "To open access" .

To open access

Next, allow access to it to those users who have the link, and set the access mode "Editor" (i.e. they can do whatever they want in this folder ...).

Actually, after that you just need to copy the link to the folder and send it to the people for whom it was intended ...

Available to anyone who has a link (rights: editor)

Problem solved ?! 👍

Option 2

This method is more "confused", but it allows you to access not only files, but even a printer. In addition, you can more "point" to configure access rights ...

1) I will assume that you already have a folder shared for the local network (how to do it is described just above).

2) Next, you need to install the special. utility - Hamachi (link to official site). It will allow you to combine computers located in different parts of the country / World into one local network!

Note: you need to install the utility on all PCs on which you plan to access the shared folder.

3) Then, on the PC where the folder is shared, start Hamachi and click on the button "Create a new network ..." , give her a name and password. See the screenshot below, I had a network created "my_local_ocomp" .

Network created

4) Now on other computers you need to enter this created network: for this, in Hamachi, click on the button "Network / Connect" , enter its name and password.

Having connected to the network, you will see the PC on which the folder is shared: just right-click on it and select "Overview" .

Overview

5) Then you can work with all public folders on it. See screenshot below.

Shared folder

6) In my example, I just copied a few files into a folder - everything works 👇 ...

Copying files!

What to do if a shared folder is not visible

As a rule, in the vast majority of cases this happens due to Windows security settings (in Windows 8/10, by default, the system blocks network discovery, printer and file sharing).

To change these settings, you need to open 👉 Windows Control Panel - section "Network and Sharing Center" ... After go to add. sharing settings.

Change sharing options

Next, you need to alternately open three tabs "Private", "Guest", "All networks" and enable file and printer sharing, network discovery, disable password protection.

Enable Sharing

After the entered settings, restart your PC and try again to access the shared folder.

Second momentthat you should pay attention to is name computer and working group ... All PCs on the local network must have the same workgroup name (for example, on all "WorkGroup"), and different computer names.

To check these parameters: press the key combination Win + R, enter the command control system and press Enter. Further, if necessary, you should clarify them on all PCs ...

Computer and workgroup name

Third a fairly popular reason is the work of antiviruses and firewalls. Disable them for the duration of the diagnosis (so that any modern antivirus, usually, easily allows you to do this ... See the screen below).