How to Map a Network Drive on Windows

A mapped drive gives a shared folder on another PC or a NAS its own drive letter under This PC, so you open it like a local disk instead of browsing the network each time.

Open the Map network drive dialog

Press Windows + E to open File Explorer and click This PC in the left pane. Click the three-dot See more button at the right end of the toolbar and choose Map network drive. Right-clicking This PC shows the same option. In Windows 10, use the Computer tab on the ribbon, then Map network drive.

Choose a drive letter

Pick any free letter from the Drive dropdown. Letters near the end of the alphabet, such as Z:, are the usual choice so they never collide with USB drives.

Enter the share path

In the Folder box, type the path in the form \\server\share, for example:

\\OFFICE-PC\Documents

An IP address works too, such as \\192.168.1.20\media. Click Browse instead if you would rather pick the share from the list of devices on the network. To find a share's exact name on another Windows PC, right-click the shared folder there, choose Properties, Sharing, and read Network Path.

Set the options and finish

Tick Reconnect at sign-in so the drive comes back after a restart. If the share needs a different username and password than the account you are signed in with, tick Connect using different credentials. Click Finish. Enter the username and password if asked, and tick Remember my credentials so it does not ask again.

Open the drive

The new letter appears under This PC in the Network locations group. A red X on the icon means the other device is off or unreachable; the drive reconnects when you open it and the device is back.

To remove it. Right-click the drive under This PC and choose Disconnect. Click Show more options first if you do not see it. The See more menu in the toolbar also has Disconnect network drive.

For a NAS. The path is \\NAS-NAME\sharename or \\192.168.x.x\sharename, where the share name is what you created in the NAS admin page, not a folder inside it. If Windows reports that the network path was not found, check that the device is on and that the share name is spelled exactly as the NAS shows it.