How to set up a file server on Windows Server
Want to create a file share on your Windows Server so that users on your network can transfer to it? Don’t know how to set it up? Don’t worry; we’ve got your back! Follow this guide and learn how to set up a file server on Windows Server.
Before we begin
This guide focuses on Windows Server 2022 in GUI mode. If you are using an older release of Windows Server, we highly recommend upgrading to 2022. This tutorial should still work if you do not wish to upgrade, but the UI may differ.
How to create a shared folder on Windows Server
Creating shared folders in Windows Server via the GUI is incredibly easy and similar to how it works on Windows Desktop. To start, launch the Explorer application.
Once the Explorer app is open, find the “This PC” section, and click on it with the mouse. After selecting “This PC,” choose either your “Local Disk” (C:) or another drive.
When selecting the hard drive you wish to use for sharing, right-click on an empty space and create a new folder. In this example, we’ll create a folder named “Sharing.” on the C:/ root directory.
After creating the new “Sharing” folder, right-click on it with the mouse. Then, select the “Properties” option. Selecting “Properties” will open up the “Sharing” folder options.
In the “Properties” window for the “Sharing” folder, select the “Sharing” tab to access the Windows Server share settings for this particular folder. Then, choose the “Advanced Sharing” button.
After clicking on the “Advanced Sharing” button, find the “Share this folder” box, and click on it. Selecting this box will allow the folder to be shared.
Find the “Comments” section, and enter a brief description of your share. Then, click the “Permissions” button to access the permissions.
Inside the “Permissions” area for the “Sharing” folder, there’s a “Share Permissions” tab. Select “Everyone” and change permissions so that “Everyone” has all three boxes checked.
Setting the folder so that “Everyone” can access it means that any user on the Windows Server can read, write, and change things in the shared folder. If you do not want this, you can change it to just “read.” Users can only modify files if they log in with an approved account.
Should you add individual accounts to shared folders?
For a home server, it is generally best not to create friction between those trying to access the folder. If you know your server is not pointing to the internet, allowing everyone access to the share without configuring special passwords is safe.
However, if you want your files to be secure, consider only allowing Administrator accounts or accounts you specify in the “Share Permissions” section.
How to share an entire hard drive with Windows Server
It is possible if you’d like to open up a whole hard drive on your Windows Server to the network. To do it, start by opening up the Windows Explorer app. When the Explorer app is open, select “This PC.”
In the “This PC” area, locate the hard drive you wish to share and right-click on it with the mouse. After right-clicking on it, select the “Properties” option to open up the settings for the hard drive.
Inside the “Properties” window, choose “Sharing” with the mouse to load up the sharing settings for the drive. Then, select “Share” and configure your sharing settings, permissions, etc. Or, select “Advanced Sharing” if you want more granular control.
How to access the files over the network
Modern operating systems all support the Windows file-sharing protocol (CIFS/Samba). Because of this, it is incredibly easy for anyone on Mac OS, Linux, or Windows to access your server shares.
To access your server shares over the network, do the following. Please note that you must be connected to the same network as the server to access Windows Server shares.
Windows
On a Windows computer, launch Windows Explorer. Then, click on the address bar. Once in the address bar, type in the file server location. In this example, the location is:
\\WINDOWS-SERVER\Files
After entering the address, press the Enter key on the keyboard. It should load up the share. If your share requires special permissions, enter it when prompted.
Mac OS/Linux
On Mac OS and Linux, open up the file manager. Once it is open, type the network address with smb:// in front. For example, to access the Windows server, do the following:
smb://windows-server/Files
