Resolved Mac shared folders suddenly not showing up in Windows map network

[RiversideRepeat]

Just like the subject says, but here's a bit of background:

I have a folder on an old High Sierra system that I've been accessing for YEARS on an old Windows laptop running version 10. Never had any issues before UNTIL I removed the folder from my windows desktop. NO other changes were made to EITHER system. Now, when I try to remap the same folder, the High Sierra system doesn't show up at all in the Windows 10 mapping windows. A number of things I've tried include the following:

Tried renaming the workgroups on both computers.
Tried verifying that all IP's match in the Ethernet connection on the Mac and in the network settings on Windows.
Reset all of the above and tried again.

Mac system refuses to display in Windows map network location settings at all.

Mac OS is ethernet to router. Windows is on wifi.

 

[RiversideRepeat]

So I don't know why there are virtually NO decent tutorials about how to perform this simple task. I personally can't remember every detail of a task so infrequently needed so for whomever might need this in the future, especially ME, here is what the likely most common issue is with this problem:

This is specifically to map a MAC shared folder into Windows Explorer:

In Windows 10 and probably other Windows versions, you can either right click or select "Map Network Location" in the Computer tab of This PC. Click next in the first two windows that appear. In the third window, it is very likely NO mac locations will appear, however you can simply type the address into the address bar next to the browse button.

The reason it can be confusing as to exactly WHAT to type into that bar is due to so much conflicting information, most egregiously that provided in the Mac share settings. Some of those windows say "computername.local" and some say "smb://ipaddress/"

Neither of those are correct for Windows.

The correct address is indeed quite simple but is hard to find online in tutorials. THIS is the one that works:

\\ipaddress\sharenameoffolder

OR

\\computername.local\sharenameoffolder

Hope this helps others trying to figure this out. More importantly I hope this becomes easy to find on Google next time I need it. 🙃

BTW, thanks for all the help.

 

[emmeleia]

So I don't know why there are virtually NO decent tutorials about how to perform this simple task. I personally can't remember every detail of a task so infrequently needed so for whomever might need this in the future, especially ME, here is what the likely most common issue is with this problem:

This is specifically to map a MAC shared folder into Windows Explorer:

In Windows 10 and probably other Windows versions, you can either right click or select "Map Network Location" in the Computer tab of This PC. Click next in the first two windows that appear. In the third window, it is very likely NO mac locations will appear, however you can simply type the address into the address bar next to the browse button.

The reason it can be confusing as to exactly WHAT to type into that bar is due to so much conflicting information, most egregiously that provided in the Mac share settings. Some of those windows say "computername.local" and some say "smb://ipaddress/"

Neither of those are correct for Windows.

The correct address is indeed quite simple but is hard to find online in tutorials. THIS is the one that works:

\\ipaddress\sharenameoffolder

OR

\\computername.local\sharenameoffolder

Hope this helps others trying to figure this out. More importantly I hope this becomes easy to find on Google next time I need it. 🙃

BTW, thanks for all the help.

Thank you so much! I had a connection between my PC and Mac before, but then it disappeared and I couldn't get it to work again. It's been irrititating me for weeks -- who knew the answer was so simple? Bookmarking this nice clear explanation, and passing it along. Thanks again.

 

[RiversideRepeat]

Thank you so much! I had a connection between my PC and Mac before, but then it disappeared and I couldn't get it to work again. It's been irrititating me for weeks -- who knew the answer was so simple? Bookmarking this nice clear explanation, and passing it along. Thanks again.

Ha! The irony is that I put this up for myself to find via Google but I no longer need it since I recently ditched Windows completely due to inability to upgrade to 11 because MS doesn't support ANY of the hardware on EITHER of my laptops and there is no way to upgrade either of them. Thus I am now a Linux Mint user and, other than a few issues with external drives, I'm very happy with my decision. Linux has come a long way!

That said, I'm glad this helped you out.

If you ever get sick of being a slave to the big two however, give Linux a try. It's well worth it now and very user friendly if you're even just a semi-power user. I'd recommend installing dual boot to see what you're getting into before wiping Windows though. Remember, Windows 10 will lose support fairly soon, and most Linux distributions work on almost anything.