How to manage and share folders in windows 10

Simple File Sharing

Simple File Sharing, as its name implies, is a simplified sharing model that allows users to easily share folders and files with other local users on the same computer or with users in a workgroup without configuring NTFS permissions and standard shared folders. On computers running Windows 10 that are members of a workgroup, you can use Simple File Sharing or you can disable Simple File Sharing and use shared folder permissions. On computers running Windows  that are members of a domain, Simple File Sharing is not available.

If you are not able to access the Security tab of a file or folder’s Properties dialog box or if you cannot assign shared folder permissions to a folder, Simple File Sharing is probably enabled.

When Simple File Sharing is enabled, users have only one choice to make-whethera folder is shared or not. When a user shares a folder, that folder is accessible to all nel' work users. Also, with Simple File Sharing, the user cannot assign shared folder permissions. To enable or disable Simple File Sharing, in any open folder, click Tools and then click Folder Options. In the Folder Options dialog box, on the View tab, in thd Advanced Settings list, select or clear the Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended) check box.

How to Share a Folder

When you share a folder, you can give it a share name, provide comments to describe the folder and its content, control the number of users who have access to the folder, assign permissions, and create multiple share names for the folder.

To share a folder, complete the following steps:

•   Log on with a user account that is able to share folders..
• Right-click the folder that you want to share, and then click Properties,
• On the Sharing tab of the Properties dialog box, click Share This Folder and Configure the options showning next

Share/Name The name that users from remote locations use to connect to the shared folder. You must enter a share name. By default, this is the same name as the folder. You can type in a different name up to 80 characters long.

Comment An optional description for the share name. The comment appears in addition to the share name when users at client computers browse the server for shared folders. This comment can be used to identify contents of the shared folder.
User Limit The number of users who can concurrently connect to the shared folder. If you click Maximum Allowed as the user limit, Windows supports up to 10 connections.

Permissions The shared folder permissions that apply only when the folder is accessed over the network. By default, the Everyone group is assigned Read for all new shared folders.

Caching The settings to configure offline access to this shared folder.
New Share The settings to configure more than one share name and set of permissions for this folder. This button appears only when the folder has already been shared.

Shared Folder Permissions in windows

When Simple File Sharing is disabled, you can control how users gain access to a shared folder by assigning shared folder permissions. Shared folder permissions are simpler than NTFS permissions.


Read Display folder names, file names, file data, and attributes; run program files; and change folders within the shared folder

Change Create folders, add tiles to folders, change data in files, append data to files, change the attributes, and delete folders and files; also allows the user to perform actions that are permitted by the Read permission

Full Control Change file permissions, take ownership of files, and perform all tasks that are permitted by the Change permission

You grant or deny shared folder permissions. Generally, it is best to grant permissions to a group rather than to individual users. You should deny permissions only when it is necessary to override permissions that are otherwise applied, for example, when it is necessary to deny permission to a specific user who belongs to a group to which you have granted the permission. If you deny a shared folder permission to a user, the user will not have that permission. For example, to deny all remote access to a shared folder, deny the Full Control permission.

Requirements for Sharing a Folder

To create shared folders on a computer running Windows , you must be a member of the Administrators or Power Users groups. Also, users who are granted the Create Permanent Shared Objects user right are allowed to share folders. You car share only folders; you cannot share individual files. If you need to provide users net work access to files, you must share the folder that contains the Files.
  Users of the Administrators or Power Users groups can share a folder. Users Who have been assigned the Create Permanent Shared Objects user right can also share folders.

Characteristics of Shared Folder Permissions

You can share any folder on a computer so that network users can access the folder, The following are characteristics of shared folder permissions:

• Shared folder permissions apply to folders, not individual files. Because you can apply shared folder permissions only to the entire shared folder and not to individual files or subfolders in the shared folder, shared folder permissions provide less detailed security than NTFS permissions.

• Shared folder permissions do not restrict users who access the folder locally by logging on to the computer. They apply only to users who connect to the folder over the network.

• Shared folder permissions are the only way to secure network resources on a FAT volume, because NTFS permissions are not available on FAT volumes.

• The default shared folder permission is Read, and it is assigned to the Everyone group when you share the folder.

  If you share a folder and do not change the default shared folder permissions (where the Everyone group is assigned the Read permission), the shared folder is effectively not protected from people reading the contents of the folder across the network. In this case, restriction from reading the folder depends entirely on local NTFS permissions.

How to Assign Shared Folder Permissions

After you share a folder, the next step is to specify which users have access to the shared folder by assigning shared folder permissions to selected user accounts and groups. To assign pemtissions to user accounts and groups for a shared folder, use this following steps:

1. On the Sharing tab of the Properties dialog box of the shared folder, click Permissions.

2. In the Permissions dialog box for the folder, ensure that the Everyone group is selected and then click Remove.

3. In the Permissions dialog box, click Add.

4. In the Select Users Or Groups dialog box  in the Enter The Object Names To Select text box, type the name of the user or group to which you want to assign permissions. Repeat this step for all user accounts and groups to which you want to assign permissions.

If you want to enter more than one user account or group at a time, separate the names by a semicolon. If you want to ensure the names are correct, click Check Names.

5. Click OK.

6. In the Permissions dialog box for the shared folder, click the user account or group, and then, under Permissions, select the Allow check box or the Deny check box for the appropriate permissions for the user account or group.

How to Create Multiple Share Names for a Shared Folder

You might want to grant different permissions on a shared folder. You can create multiple share names for the same folder and assign each a different set of permissions. To share a folder with multiple share names, open the folder’s Properties dialog box and then Click New Share. In the New Share dialog box , You assign a new share name, limit the number of connections to the share, and click Permission!) to grant the permissions for the shared folder.

How to Modify a Shared Folder

For existing shared folders you can stop sharing the folder, modify the share name, and modify shared permissions

To modify a shared folder, complete the following steps

1. In the Properties dialog box of the shared folder, click the Sharing tab. 

2, To complete the appropriate task,

Stop sharing a folder Click Do Not Share This Folder.

Modify the share name Click Do Not Share This Folder to stop sharing the folder, and click Apply. Then click Share This Folder, and type the new share name in the Share Name text box.

Modify shared folder permissions Click Permissions. In the Permissions dialog box, click Add to permissions add a user account or group so that you can specify permissions for a specific user or group, or click Remove to remove a user account or group. In the Select Users, Computers, Or Groups dialog box, click the user account or the group whose permissions you want to modify, and then select Allow or Deny for the appropriate permissions.

  If you stop sharing a folder while a user has a file open, the user might lose data. L If you click Do Not Share This Folder and a user has an open connection to the shared folder, Windows displays a dialog box notifying you of that fact.

How to Connect to a Shared Folder

You can access a shared folder on another computer by using Homegroup, or the Run command.

To connect to a shared folder using the Run command, complete the following steps:

1, Click Start, windows logo button + R, type \computer_name in the Open text box, and then Click OK.

Windows  displays shared folders for the computer.

2. Double-click the shared folder to which you want to connect.

what Are Administrative Shares?

Windows automatically shares some folders for administrative purposes. These administrative shares are marked with a dollar sign ($) at the end of the share name. Administrative shares are hidden from users who browse the computer. The root of each volume, the system root folder, and the location of the printer drivers are hidden shared folders that you can access across the network by typing in the exact name of the share.


C$, D$, E$, and so on The root of each volume on a hard disk is automatically shared, and the share name is the drive letter with a dollar sign (50. When you connect to this folder, you have access to the entire volume. You use the administrative shares to remotely connect to the computer to perform administrative tasks. Windows assigns the Full Control permission to the Administrators group.

Admin$ The system root folder, which is C:Windows by default, is shared as AdminS. Administrators can access this shared folder to administer Windows without knowing in which folder it is installed. Only members of the Administrators group have access to this share. Windows 10 assigns the Full Control permission to the Administrators group.

Print$ When you install the first shared printer, the %systemroot%System52 SpoolDrivers folder is shared as Print$. This folder provides access to printer driver files for clients. Only members of the Administrators and Power Users groups have the Full Control permission. The Everyone group has the Read permission.


Hidden shared folders are not limited to those that the system automatically um You can share an additional hidden share by simple adding a dollar sign to the end of the share name. Only users who know the folder name can access it if they also posess the proper permissions.

You often can use the built-in administrative shares to access resources on a computer when you cannot otherwise gain access. In particular, the Admin$ share is useful because it allows you to access the system root folder of a computer. You can also type the drive letter followed by a dollar sign (for example, 035) to access a particular drive.

How to Manage Shared Folders by Using Computer Management

You can also manage shared folders by using the Computer Management utility. Available shared folder management options are as follows:

• View a list of all folders that are currently shared  
• Create additional shared folders
• View and edit the properties of shared folders
• Stop sharing a folder
• Manage users that are connected to shared folders
• Remotely manage shared folders on other computers

How to View a List of Shared Folders in Computer Management

You can view all folders that are currently shared in a single location within Computer Management. To view shared folders, follow these steps:

Start Computer Management, either by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Manage, or from the Administrative Tools folder in Settings.
Expand the System Tools node.
Under the System Tools node, expand the Shared Folders node, and then select the Shares folder. Shared folders are displayed in the details pane,

How to Create Additional Shared Folders by Using Computer Management

You can easily share folders by using Computer Management. To share a folder, complete the following steps;

  In Computer Management right-click the Shares folder  and select New File Share. 0 er (m the Shared Folders

The Create A Shared Folder Wizard appears.

  Click Next.

On the Set Up A Shared Folder page, type the path to be shared, the share name, and the share description. Click Next to continue.

If the folder to be shared does not exist, Windows opens a dialog box asking whether or not you want to create the folder. Click Yes to create the folder and continue.

On the Shared Folder Permissions page, select the appropriate permissions option and click Next.

Finally, click Finish to create the shared folder.

View and Edit the Properties of Shared Folders by Using Computer Management

You can view and edit the properties of any shared folder through Computer Management by right-clicking the shared folder and selecting Properties.

How to Stop Sharing a Folder

You can also use Computer Management to stop sharing a folder  To stop sharing a folder in Computer Management, use the following steps:
 1. Start Computer Management, either by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Manage, or from the Administrative Tools folder in Control Panel.

2. Expand the System Tools node.
3. Under the System Tools node, expand the Shared Folders node, and then select the Shares folder. 4. In the Details pane, right-click the share that you want to stop, and then click Stop Sharing. This action does not delete the folder; it merely stops sharing the folder under the particular share name.

Manage Users That Are Connected to Shared Folders

  to view the users that are connected to the sewer. expand the Shared Folders node in computer Management and then select the Sessions folder. Occasionally, you might {Iced to disconnect users from the computer so that you can perform maintenance (asks on hardware or software. To disconnect users from the server, do one of the following:

• To disconnect a single user, right-click the user name in the Sessions folder, and then select the Close Session option from the action menu.

• To disconnect all users from the sewer, right-click the Sessions folder, and then select the Disconnect All Sessions option from the action menu.

To view users that have shared files and folders open, under Shared Files, select the Open Files option. The details pane displays the files and folders that are currently in use on the server. This information is valuable if you are trying to work with a shared folder or file and need to know who is currently accessing the resource so that you can ask that person to disconnect.

Guidelines for Shared Folder Permissions

The following list provides some general guidelines for managing your shared folders and assigning shared folder permissions:

• Determine which groups need access to each resource and the level of access that they require. Document the groups and their permissions for each resource.

• Assign permissions to groups instead of user accounts to simplify access administration.

• Assign to a resource the most restrictive permissions that still allow users to perform required tasks. This practice is known as the principle of least privilege. For example, if users only need to read information in a folder and they will never delete or create files, assign the Read permission.

• Organize resources so that folders with the same security requirements are located within a folder. For example, if users require Read permission for several application folders, store those folders within the same folder. Then share this folder instead of sharing each individual application folder.

• Use intuitive share names so that users can easily recognize and locate resources. For example, for the Application folder, use Apps for the share name. You should also use share names that all client operating systems can use.

  Shared Folder Permissions on Large Networks On small networks, you are likely to find that either Simple File Sharing or shared folder permissions are used to control access to files and folders on the network. Even when drives are formatted With the NTFS file system, most people on small networks just do not use NTFS permissions.

On large company networks, you find just the opposite. Administrators typically rely on NTFS permissions and leave the default shared folder permissions (or remove the Everyone group and provide the Users group full access) in place because NTFS permissions do a much better job of'securing data. Because of the way that shared folder permissions and NTFS permissions interact, NTFS permissions secure data for both local and network access. Adding shared folder permissions is really unnecessary and in fact complicates the permissions that administrators must work with. The exception to this is on computers running older versions of Windows that do not support the NTFS file system; these systems must use shared folder permissions if their data is to be shared on the network.