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I recently wanted to share some drives from my Mac with my Windows 10 machine. I only wanted to share a couple of folders but couldn't quite figure it out so I simply typed the IP of my Mac in the Run dialog box as explained here. This enabled me full access to all the files on my Mac but this was not exactly what I wanted. I simply wanted to access 2 hard drives on that Mac, not the entire system folders

So my questions are:

1. How do I sever the connection to this computer that was established in the Run prompt window? EDIT: SOLVED

2. How do I share specific directories from the Mac with my Windows 10 machine? (I have followed the instructions of this article but the drives still aren't showing up on my PC. There doesn't seem to be any instructions in that article about what to do on the PC end).

My file permissions are set just like this example: enter image description here

And on the PC: enter image description here

Network Discovery and File Sharing are both enabled in Windows. It should be noted that the PC is discoverable on the Mac, but nothing showing up on the PC.

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  • To delete a share or shares, open cmd.exe , type net use and list the shares. Delete with net use z: /delete. To access specific folders , use the net use command again. net use z: \\ipaddress\folder . That should work the same as the Run command but be more specific.
    – anon
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 2:15
  • thanks. net use yielded 'There are no entries in the list'. I am not sure about your other instructions as I dont know what folders or directories I am connected to. It simply says the ip address.
    – Kalamalka Kid
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 2:18
  • I used IP address instead on NAME for simplicity. If there are no entries, there should be nothing to sever
    – anon
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 2:19
  • was able to disconnect the 1st part. Now I need to figure out the 2nd part about why nothing is showing up on the PC.
    – Kalamalka Kid
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 3:57

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

By default the Mac will share files using a protocol made for Apple systems called AFP. This is what would be used to connect to another Mac. You need to tell it that it needs to make the Share as a SMB protocol that the Windows system will understand.

Under the Mac's sharing screen you need to select Options and select SMB as the type. Windows can't connect to a NFS share without additional software.

On Win10 you need to open the Windows firewall, go into Advanced, and make sure that there are green check marks for the private zone for file and printer sharing in and out. Make sure it is just the private zone. Just because you set the zone to private doesn't mean that the sharing is allowed though the windows firewall. That is only done if you attempt to share from windows system.

Once the share is running, you can do:
net use * \\{IPofMac}\{Sharename} {*} /user:{username@IPofMAC} /persistent:yes

The first * will use the next available drive letter or you can specify it as x: .
The second * will prompt for the password

It is by far easier to create the share on the PC side because the Mac will correctly recognize that it is connecting to a PC and switch itself to be SMB protocol.

Reference: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/share-mac-files-with-windows-users-mchlp1657/mac

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  • So it turns out there was a service that was essential for this to work "Computer Browser service" was missing from services and I had to re-enable it. The Mac is showing up in the Network now, but not the shared drives.
    – Kalamalka Kid
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 5:30
  • That service is not disabled by default. You need to tell the mac to use SMB sharing. I'm guessing you have Win10 home, so that unfortunately blocks you from installing "NFS services for Windows". If you do have pro, you can follow these steps: graspingtech.com/mount-nfs-share-windows-10
    – Rowan Hawkins
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 6:26
  • yes, SMB is enabled in Mac. I have WIn 10 Pro. NFS is enabled in services.
    – Kalamalka Kid
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 9:07
  • So it appears that the MAC doesn't use NFS. Looks like that support was hidden way back in Tiger. It Is still there, but can only be activated from the terminal. I corrected my answer. From a support stand point, you'll want SMB on the Mac, and NFS off on the PC. The other issue that I've just run across is that Win 10 1903 upgraded the SMB dialect to 3.1.1. looking for how that would impact the mac connection, I ran across this when I was doing something for work today.
    – Rowan Hawkins
    Commented Apr 28, 2020 at 4:57

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