How to Map Network Drive in Windows 10 

With the mapped drive, users can use the storage on other devices on the network. Instead of downloading or copying the same data to all of your devices, you can save the data in a single folder, share that folder, and share it with other devices. As soon as you have released the location of this data via a UNC path, you can map the network drive in windows 10 in a few simple steps.

What is Drive Mapping

With drive mapping, operating systems such as Microsoft Windows map a local drive letter (A over a shared storage area) to another computer (often referred to as a file server) on a network.

When a drive is mapped, a software application on a client computer can read and write files from the shared memory area by accessing that drive as if the drive was a local physical disk.

What is a Mapped Drive?

With a mapped drive, users can use the storage on other devices on the network. Assigned units are very common in the corporate environment, but can also be configured in your home if you have multiple devices that need access to the same information.

Instead of downloading or copying the same data to all of your devices, you should save that data in a single folder, share that folder, and share it with other devices. As soon as you have released the location of this data via a UNC path, you can map the network drive to all your devices in a few simple steps.

How to Map a Network Drive in Windows 10

You can simply link to another drive or shared folder on your network by assigning that location. After you map the network drive, it then shows as a new drive in File Explorer on that PC, so you can quickly access the shared files you need, just like on your local hard drive.

How Best to Map a Network Drive in Windows 10

Here’s how best to map a Network drive in your Windows 10 OS.

• Open File Explorer and click on This PC.
• Click the Map Network Drive drop-down menu at the top of the ribbon, then choose Map Network Drive. (You can find it on the Computer tab, which should open automatically when you access this PC.

• Choose the drive letter you want to use for the network folder, and then press Browse.
• If you receive an error message, you must activate network detection. To do this, open the Control Panel, select Network and Sharing Center, and then Change advanced sharing settings in the upper left corner. Select Activate network detection there. Save Changes.

• Select your network folder.
• Move to the folder you want to assign and press OK after selection.

• Confirm your selection and click Finish. You can choose to connect to the folder each time you connect so that it is always available. If necessary, you can even log into the folder with another user account.
• When you are done, the new drive letter should appear on this PC, and you can access its contents like in any other folder. If you want to disconnect the network drive, right-click on it, and select Disconnect.

How to Map the Windows 10 Network Drive using CMD

An advanced way to work with a mapped drive in Windows is to use the net use command in Windows or PowerShell if you wish.

1. Click on the Start option and type CMD in the search bar.
2. At the command prompt, click Open.
3. In the command prompt window, paste or write net use DRIVE: PATH and press Enter. (DRIVE represents the drive letter to be used, and the PATH represents the UNC path to be shared. It would, therefore, look something like this: “net use g: \\ Tower \Entertainment” with no space.
4. You can input your username and your password to the order if the share you are connecting to is password protected or otherwise authenticated, and you do not want to re-enter your credentials every time you access the network drive.
5. For example, if our username is OTT and the password is this backspace, the command looks like this: net use g: \\ tower \ entertainment/user: OTT bringthatbeatback, with no space.
6. When you restart your PC, the mapped drive might disappear because it is not permanent by default. In this case, you can add the / persistent switch to ensure that they are preserved.
7. To establish a permanent connection, enter / persistent: Yes, so that future connections established with this command remain until you deactivate them with / persistent: without switching.
8. It will look like this: net usage g: \\ tower \ entertainment/user: OTT brings this heart rate / persistent: yes.

To delete the network drive assigned to the command prompt, enter the drive letter and add or remove the switch as follows: net use DRIVE: / delete. For example, we use the drive letter g, so you have to type the net use g: / delete command.