Learn How To… Use A Network To Share Files And Resources

Your guide Mark Wyciślik-Wilson says… “Learn about some of the many benefits to networking your computers at home, including sharing files and hardware between machines”

- Mark Wyciślik-Wilson

There are many reasons for wanting to create a network for your home computers. For starters, it makes it possible to easily share files between computers, eliminating the need to copy them onto a USB drive or send them via email. You can also share a printer or scanner between computers so there is no need to switch cables. Perhaps the most common reason is to share an internet connection.

With a network in place you can store your music and video collection on one computer, and stream to another.

When it comes to sharing files, you have a great deal of control over the process. You can restrict access to a limited number of files and folders, and even give different computers different levels of access by adjusting permission settings.

Read on to find out how to get started with networking and sharing.

Step-by-step Sharing files, folders and printers in Windows 10

1 Enable network discovery

For your computer to see other machines and devices on your network – and vice versa – you need to have the Network Discovery feature enabled. Open File Explorer with [Win] + [E] and click the Network link in the left-hand pane. You get a warning if Network Discovery is disabled. Click OK, then click the yellow info bar before selecting ‘Turn on network discovery and file sharing’.

2 Sharing files on a network