If you happen to ceaselessly use a networked drive (or “share”) with Home windows 11, you’ll be able to map it to a drive letter in File Explorer to make it seem extra like a neighborhood drive and rapidly entry it sooner or later. Right here’s how one can do it.
First, open File Explorer. If you happen to don’t have a shortcut to File Explorer in your taskbar, right-click the Begin button and choose “File Explorer.”
In a File Explorer window, click on the ellipses button (three dots) within the toolbar, then choose “Map Community Drive” within the menu that seems.
Within the “Map Community Drive” window, click on the “Drive” drop-down menu and choose a drive letter that you’ll assign to the community drive. It may be any letter within the listing, relying in your private choice.
Within the “Folder” discipline, enter the community gadget and share identify. If you happen to don’t keep in mind it, click on “Browse” to see obtainable gadgets in your native community.
If you would like Home windows to all the time reconnect to this drive each time you register, test the field beside “Reconnect at sign-in.” And if you wish to join with credentials (username and password) apart from those linked to your present Home windows account, test “Join Utilizing Totally different Credentials.”
While you’re carried out, click on “End.”
After clicking “End,” Home windows 11 will try to hook up with the community drive. In case your default credentials fail, or in the event you checked “Join Utilizing Totally different Credentials” within the final step, you’ll see a “Home windows Safety” window the place you’ll be able to enter the person identify and password required to entry the drive.
If you would like Home windows to all the time keep in mind this person identify and password for the drive (so that you don’t need to enter them once more), test “Keep in mind My Credentials.” While you’re carried out, click on “OK.”
Home windows 11 will hook up with the drive and map it to the drive letter you chose. If you happen to open File Explorer and take a look at “This PC,” you’ll see the mapped drive listed below “Community Places.”
The mapped drive can even seem within the File Explorer sidebar below “Community.”
Everytime you open the mapped drive (you probably have learn and write entry), you should utilize it virtually precisely like a neighborhood drive linked to your machine. However understand that it’s going to in all probability be slower than your native drives as a result of information is being transferred to and from a community as an alternative of by means of a neighborhood connection like USB or SATA.
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Disconnect a Mapped Community Drive
To disconnect a mapped community drive, first open File Explorer. Within the toolbar of any File Explorer window, click on the ellipses button (three dots) and choose “Disconnect Community Drive.”
Within the “Disconnect Community Drives” window that seems, choose the drive you’d prefer to disconnect, then click on “OK.”
Alternately, you’ll be able to find the mapped drive in File Explorer, then right-click it. Choose “Present Extra Choices” within the first menu that seems, then “Disconnect” within the second menu.
After that, the drive can be disconnected and now not mapped. It’ll additionally release the beforehand reserved drive letter utilized by the mapped drive. Blissful networking!