How to add network shares to your Chromebook
If you use a Chromebook or Chrome desktop computer daily, you may want to access files on your local network. Thankfully, Chrome OS supports many types of file-sharing protocols. Here’s how to get network shares set up on your Google Chromebook.
What is a network share?
A network share is a shared folder from another computer or server on your home network. For example, if you’ve plugged a hard drive into the USB port on your router, you’ve created a network share.
Network shares handle things like media files, documents, and other important types of files. You’ll need to set up network share access on Chrome OS to access these files remotely.
How to add a network share to your Chromebook
Google’s Chrome OS has come a long way from being “just a web browser.” Now, users can do things like accessing files on the network. To add a network share to your Chromebook, follow the steps below.
- Press the search button on your keyboard, or click on the app menu on the shelf to open it up. Once it is open, type in “Settings.”
- After typing in “Settings,” the app menu search results should show “Best match,” followed by the settings icon. Select it with the mouse to launch Chrome OS settings.
- Find the “Search settings” box inside the Chrome OS settings area. Then, click on it with the mouse, and type in “Network file shares.”
- Click “Network file shares” once it appears in the search results. Once you select “Network file shares,” you will see the “Network file shares” area of the settings.
- Find the “Add file share” button inside the Chrome OS settings app, and click on it with the mouse to add a new share.
- You should see a “File share URL” box after selecting the “Add file share” button. From here, Chrome OS should auto-detect network shares on your local network. Look through the list and select a network file share.
- Once you’ve found a network file share in the list, select the “Add” button. Clicking the “Add” button will give Chrome OS access to this share in the “Files” app.
You can add multiple files to the Chrome OS “Files” app. To add another network share to your Chromebook, follow steps 1-7 to get everything set up. However, be sure to name your shares uniquely, so you will never forget what share goes where.
How to access your network shares on Chromebook
Follow the steps below to access the network shares you’ve added to your Chromebook.
- Open up the Chrome OS Files app. You can launch this app by selecting the folder icon on the Chrome OS shelf (taskbar). Alternatively, search for “Files” in the app menu and launch it.
- Once the Files app is open, find the sidebar. When you’ve located the sidebar, look for the network share you wish to access.
- After locating your network share in the Chrome OS Files app sidebar, click on it with the mouse. If the connection info is correct, the network share should load up.
How to transfer files to the network share on your Chromebook
Transferring files to and from your network share on a Chromebook is easy. To start, launch the Chrome OS Files app. Once it is open, follow the steps below.
- In the Files app, locate the file you wish to transfer and right-click on it with the mouse. Once you’ve right-clicked on it, select the “Copy” option to copy the file (or folder) to your Chrome OS clipboard.
- Locate your network share in the Chrome OS files app when the file is in the Chrome OS clipboard. When you’ve located it, select it to access the network share.
- After loading up the network share in the Chrome OS files app, right-click into an empty space. After right-clicking, select the “Paste” button with the mouse. Selecting the “Paste” button will begin the file transfer from your Chromebook to the remote network share.
Removing network shares from Chrome OS
It is possible to remove network shares from the previously added Chrome OS. Here’s how to remove them from your system.
First, open up the Chrome OS Files app. Once it is open, locate the file share in Chrome OS you wish to remove. Once you’ve found it, right-click on it with the mouse.
Inside the right-click menu in Chrome OS, select the “Close” option. Selecting “Close” will allow you to close the network share so that it is no longer accessible in the Files app.
Want to re-add a network location you’ve previously removed? Go through this guide again to add the network share to Chrome OS. You can remove and add network shares to Chrome OS as often as you wish.
