How do I share files between Macs and PCs over a network?

It is easy to share files between Windows computers and Mac computers using TCP/IP, an industry standard networking protocol.

Before you can connect to a Windows computer from your Mac you must know some information about how your Windows computer is set up. First, you must find out what IP address your Windows computer has been assigned. The easiest way to do this is by going to Start, Run and typing cmd, then ipconfig /all.

This will show the Windows computer’s unique IP address which you will need to know to connect to it from a Mac.

Two other things need to be configured on the Windows computer to make sharing with a Mac possible: file and printer sharing must be enabled, and the account you will use to connect to the Windows computer must have a password set on it. To set a password on a user account in XP, go to the Control Panel (Start, Control Panel) and select the User Accounts applet.

Select the user account you want to use when you connect to the Windows computer, then choose Create a Password.

Once you have configured these two options, you must share a folder on the Windows computer. To share a folder, right click on it, select Properties, then on the Sharing tab check the box next to Share this folder on the network.

To connect to this shared folder from the Mac, make sure you are in a Finder window and choose Go, Connect to Server.

Next, click on the Browse button.

Make sure Network is selected in the Finder window when it opens up. Browse the network to find the computer you want to connect to, then click on the Connect button below its icon.

You will then have to enter the user name for an account on the Windows machine and the password for that account before you can connect by clicking on OK.

A window will pop up where you can select from the shared folders on the Windows computer. Make your selection using the pulldown menu and click on OK.

Once a connection has been made, the shared folder will be mounted on the Mac’s desktop (a shortcut to it will be created on the Mac’s desktop).

To connect to the Mac from a PC, you must know the short version of a user name on the Mac and have Windows Sharing enabled in the System Preferences. To find out the short version of a user name on the Mac, open up the System Preferences window from the Apple menu and select Accounts, then make sure the Password tab is selected. The short version of the user name will be listed on that tab.

To enable Windows sharing, choose System Preferences from the Apple menu, then Sharing and make sure a check mark appears next to Windows Sharing. If Windows Sharing is not already started, click on the Start button to enable it. You will then see the address you need to connect to the Mac from a Windows computer at the bottom of the Sharing window.

To connect to the Mac, you can open up an Explorer window on the Windows computer and type in the address for the Mac share (the address is in the format: \\ipaddressofthemac\shortusername). You will be asked to enter a password for the account you are using to connect to the Mac before you can connect. The home folder for the user name you used will then be displayed in the Explorer window.

Ref:http://etc.usf.edu/techease/mac/files-sharing/how-do-i-share-files-between-macs-and-pcs-over-a-network/

Mac Basics: File Sharing

Learn about File Sharing.

This article has been archived and is no longer updated by Apple.

File Sharing allows your Mac to share files and folders with other Macs and PCs on your network.

Notes

• Your file sharing settings may be overridden by your network router's firewall, the firewalls on other computers, or the firewall in Mac OS X v10.5 or later. Please see this article for details. Refer to your vendor's documentation about firewalls for third-party computers or routers.
• Before you begin, you might want to create all the user and group accounts you will need in Users & Groups preferences (in OS X Mountain Lion and OS X Lion) or Accounts preferences (in Mac OS X v10.5 or Mac OS X v10.6).  See this article for details. You can set up your Mac to allow specific user and group accounts access to certain folders with appropriate access privileges.

Open Sharing preferences

1. Log in with an administrator user account. To enable and configure file sharing you need to know the name and password of an administrator account on your Mac.
2. From the Apple () menu, choose System Preferences.
3. Type File Sharing in the System Preferences search field, and press Enter.

Select folders to share

Below the Shared Folders list, click the Add (+) button. Find the folder you want to share. To select multiple folders, press and hold the Shift key while selecting folders with the mouse.

In the example below, the folders named "Juan Chavez's Public Folder" and "Mac 101" (/Users/Mac 101) have been selected for sharing.

Repeat this process for all folders you wish to share.

Note: You can also directly select a folder in the Finder to share. Select the folder, choose Get Info from the File menu, and enable "Shared Folder" to share it (or deselect "Shared Folder" to stop sharing the folder).

Tip: When you open a shared folder, a "Shared Folder" banner appears in its Finder window, as well as any subfolder windows.

Accessing shared files

To access files that are being shared on a different computer or from an AirPort disk or Time Capsule, follow these steps in Connect to shared computers and file servers on a network.

For more information, please see Servers and shared computers that you can connect to andNetwork address formats for shared computers and servers.
 

Advanced topics

To learn about some more advanced aspects of File Sharing, open a section below.

Collapse All | Expand All

Configure user and group accounts with appropriate access privileges

1. In Sharing preferences, select the folder that's being shared.
2. To add to the default user accounts and groups that were selected when you shared the folder, click the Add (+) button below the Users list.
3. Select an existing user account or group. User accounts can be created in Users & Group preferences (in OS X Mountain Lion and OS X Lion) or Accounts preferences (in Mac OS X v10.5 or later), in System Preferences. Tip: You can create a Sharing Only user account by clicking "New Person" or adding a user from your Contacts (in OS X Mountain Lion) or Address Book (in Mac OS X v10.5 or later).
4. The default privilege for a user account or group you add is "Read Only".  If you want to change this, click the pop-up menu next to the user or group and choose one of the following privilege options:
   • Read & Write - The user can read, copy, edit, and delete the contents of the folder.
   • Read Only - The user can only read and copy (to another location) the contents of the folder.
   • Write Only (Drop Box) - The user can only copy content into the folder.  The user can not see the contents of the drop box folder.
     
     Note: A "Write Only" user can overwrite items in the drop box folder, if what they drop into it has the same name as an item already in the drop box folder.
      
   • No Access (groups only) - User accounts in this group will have no access to the folder.  However, if a user account is added, the privileges assigned to the user account override the group restrictions.
      
5. Repeat this process for other folders being shared for which you want this users to have access.

You can also manage the user or group access of a shared folder via the Finder; select the folder and choose Get Info from the File menu.

Tip: If you need to assign the shared folder user or group account privileges to items contained in the shared folder, select "Apply to enclosed items" from the action pop-up menu. A confirmation sheet appears, click OK to complete the process.

Choose the appropriate network protocol to communicate with the type of computer that's accessing your shared files

You can share files using Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, or File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Note: FTP is only available in Mac OS X v10.5 and Mac OS X v10.6.

Follow these steps to select the appropriate protocols for the type of computer that will log onto your Mac:

1. In Sharing preferences, click Options.
2. Select "Share files and folders using AFP" to enable the Apple Filing Protocol. Use this protocol to file share with other Macs.
3. Select "Share files and folders using FTP" to enable the File Transfer Protocol. Use this protocol to file share with UNIX and LINUX systems. (This option is only available in Mac OS X v10.5 and Mac OS X v10.6)
4. Select "Share files and folders using SMB (Windows)" to enable the Server Message Block protocol and check the user accounts to enable for SMB. Use this protocol to file share with Microsoft Windows-based PCs and Linux computers.
   
   Note: You will have to enter the user's password for a user account that you enable for SMB.
    
5. Once you have selected the desired networking protocols, click Done.

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