Connect to Devices and Storage on Your Network in Windows 10

If you want to share files and documents between different PCs in your home, you can do it in one of three ways.  You can set up cloud backup and sync on each device, though this is less practical on PCs with small amounts of storage, you can use a USB Flash Drive to transfer files, which can again be impractical if you are transferring very large files, or transferring them from or to a laptop or tablet that doesn’t have a full-size USB port. The third option is to transfer the files across your home network.

You can do this in Windows by opening File Explorer and clicking the Network link in the left side panel.  This will display a list of all the “discoverable” PCs connected to your home or work network.  The first time you do this you will also see a yellow alert bar informing you that File sharing is turned off.  Some network computers and devices might now be visible…  Click the yellow banner to change this. If you still can’t see the PC you want to transfer files and documents from or too, it could be that File Sharing is turned off on that PC too, you should open the Network view in File Explorer on that PC to check. Note that with many PCs on your network you won’t automatically get access to files and documents.

You will be prompted to sign into the remote PC with a username and password used on that device, such as the Microsoft Account you use when you sign into it to use it.  Alternatively you can Share folders on any PC by right-clicking them, and choosing Share from the context menu that appears.

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