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This is apparently a common problem but I have not found a solution. With the deprecation of HomeGroup after the release of Windows 10 version 1803, I cannot get two computers to maintain network sharing after reboot.

Based upon Microsoft's tutorial, I did the following:

  • Setup a WorkGroup and then right- clicked on folder to be shared.
  • Select "Give Access To" ==> Specific People
  • Specify the group to share with and privileges for same.
  • I get the link and hit "Share."

The first time I open the other computer, the sharing works. Once I restart, the "guest" computer cannot access files on "host" computer.

I have checked firewall settings and have tried turning off and on network sharing (which seemed to work once but not a second time). I did notice that the "Give Access To" settings on the host computer seem to change upon reboot.

Is there a script I should be running as a *.bat file that executes upon startup? Any help appreciated.

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    Is your question how to get HomeGroup back, or how to share now that it's gone? Editing your title to clarify what you are actually asking may help improve the chances you'll get a good answer.
    – music2myear
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 23:44
  • Also, just searching "homegroup" brought this Microsoft document and includes sections on how you should now share files and devices: support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4091368/…
    – music2myear
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 23:45
  • Finally, is this a business or a home environment?
    – music2myear
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 23:45
  • I do not need HG just to share files. Is in a small business environment. Too small to justify a dedicated server. Just need to share one data file and some Word doc's. . You would think that link would do it, but it leads down a rat maze of links which do not resolve the problem.
    – PhillipOReilly
    Commented Jun 6, 2018 at 2:24
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    Not at all! I like to tell my employees that "none of us were born with a keyboard in our hands," and we all started learning about computers from the very beginning. As a result, every question is a good one! Yes, if you are using local accounts (versus Microsoft or Domain accounts), you would potentially create create a user "Run5K" with the password "runfast" on the host and every client machine, while also ensuring that every computer was a member of the same workgroup. Create more local accounts as necessary. And honestly, I simply utilize the built-in WORKGROUP nomenclature.
    – Run5k
    Commented Jun 6, 2018 at 15:16

2 Answers 2

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Although the HomeGroup capability has been removed, sharing between Windows 10 machines is still relatively simple. It works perfectly on my home network utilizing Microsoft accounts, but the same configuration will also work with local accounts as well provided that they exist on every machine with the same user ID/password combination.

I am utilizing a generic WORKGROUP on my home network with Windows 10 Pro machines, and the key is to configure your settings within the Network and Sharing Center in the Change advanced sharing settings interface. I have included three screenshots (below) of the Advanced sharing settings interface from a Windows 10 Professional machine on my home network. If you configure your home workgroup in a similar fashion to mine, it should work the same way. Notice that both network discovery as well as file and printer sharing are turned on within the Private network profile, but they are turned off for the Public network profile. I also configured Turn on password protected sharing for all networks. Ultimately, everything works together quite well.

For your specific needs, you could easily setup your "host" system and then create a shortcut on each "client" machine to a share such as this: 

\\Dell-Desktop\Public\Documents

Private Network profile
Public Network profile
All Networks profile

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Setting up identical users on each PC does work, but you should really be working with the Credential Manager in the Control Panel. First of all, a warning - if any of your PCs still think that they are connect to a HomeGroup, then you should get them to leave the HomeGroup, otherwise you will find that any changes that you make in the Credential Manager on that PC will be overwritten after a reboot, and set back to the HomeGroup settings. When you open the Credential Manager, you need to select the Windows Credentials tab. Basically in the Credential Manager, you get to provide one user code and password for each PC on your network that you would like to connect to. Note that it must be a user code that has a password, but it doesn't need to be a user code that actually logs on to that PC. Once you have done this, that will give your PC access to the other PC, and I am assuming that you have already setup the rest of the file sharing. If you have any problems with this, then please don't hesitate to get back to me.

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  • I will investigate these options, @user8068006, thanks.
    – PhillipOReilly
    Commented Jun 15, 2018 at 1:20

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