Last Updated on June 14, 2026
Networking with Microsoft Windows has been a popular way to share files and folders at the office and even at home since the early days of Windows itself. When you share a folder on your computer, you can grant other users on the network access to your files and folders so they can do things such as work on them or even add their own files to your shared folder.
When Windows 11 came out, Microsoft improved the security features which can make it a bit more difficult to set up basic peer to peer sharing using Windows 11. In this article, we will be showing you how to create a shared network folder and connect to it in Windows 11. Knowing how to share folders in Windows 11 is an essential skill for effective Windows file and folder management.
Configuring Share Permissions
1. Open the Folder Properties
In order to share folders on your network with other users, you will need to configure your share permissions for the folder you want to share on the network. To do so, you can right click the folder you wish to share and select Properties. From there you will want to go to the Sharing tab.
2. Choose the Simple Share Method
In Windows 11, there are two ways to configure your shared folder. You can use the simple share method or the advanced sharing method. To use the simple share method, you can click on the Share button under Network File and Folder Sharing.
3. Add Users via Simple Share
From here, you can add a user account from the computer sharing the folder. You can assign that user read access or read and write access. You do not have any options for full control using this specific method.
4. Use the Advanced Sharing Option
If you were to click the Advanced Sharing button, you will see that you have additional sharing options. This includes being able to change the share name which will not affect the name of the folder but only the name of the share itself. You can also change the default value of 20 for the simultaneous users to something higher or lower and add comments to the share if needed.
5. Assign Advanced Share Permissions
Clicking on the Permissions button will allow you to view who has access to this shared folder over the network. In most cases, you will find that the Everyone group has read access by default. You can change or remove this account if desired.
6. Add Specific Users or Groups
To add another user or group, you can click the Add button and type in the name of a user account on the computer that is hosting the shared folder. You can click the Check Names button to make sure you have typed it correctly. You can also click the Advanced button to do a search for the user account you want to add.
7. Set the Access Level
Once you have added the user account to the shared folder, you can then decide if you want to grant them read, change or full control access. These permissions can be fine tuned with the NTFS permissions discussed in the next section. If you use the deny permission that will take precedence over any other type of access, so be careful when using this.
Checking and Changing NTFS Permissions
1. Access the Security Tab
Since share permissions only grant user access to a shared folder, you will also need to review your NTFS permissions. This ensures you have properly configured access to your shared folder. Windows uses a combination of share and NTFS permissions to determine the final access to a shared folder. You can find out more about NFTS permissions here.
2. View Current NTFS Permissions
To view the NTFS permissions for a folder, you can once again right click on a folder and select Properties. This time you will click on the Security tab to view the permissions for any user account that has access to this folder. This applies whether it is over the network or locally.
3. Identify Inherited Permissions
If the check marks are greyed out for your user accounts, that means that the folder is inheriting permissions from its parent folder. You will need to change the permission level at the parent or disable inheritance for that folder. When you click the Edit button, you will see that the permission checkboxes are greyed out as well.
4. Disable Folder Inheritance
To disable inheritance, you will need to click the Advanced button from the first screen of the Security tab. Then click the Disable inheritance button. This stops the folder from pulling rules from the drive above it.
5. Handle the Inheritance Prompt
When you do this, you will be prompted to choose between Convert inherited permissions into explicit permissions on the object or Remove all inherited permissions from this object. Read these options carefully. Picking the wrong one will lock you out of your own files.
6. Convert Inherited Permissions
The convert option keeps all the existing inherited permissions but makes them directly assigned to the folder. The folder will no longer inherit permissions from its parent, but the current permissions remain unchanged. This is highly useful if you want to stop inheritance but keep the exact same access settings.
7. Remove All Inherited Permissions
The remove option strips away all inherited permissions entirely. This leaves only explicitly assigned permissions active on the folder. If no explicit permissions are set, the folder may become completely inaccessible until new permissions are manually assigned. This is useful if you want a clean slate and need to set permissions from scratch. For the most part, you will want to use the convert option.
Configuring the Windows Settings and Firewall for Shared Folder Access
1. Change the Network Profile Type
By default, your computer should be configured to use the Public Network type rather than the Private Network type. This is because the Public Network type offers stronger security and limited device discovery so people on shared networks cannot gain access to your computer. Microsoft recommends setting your network type to Private to make things easier to access. This can be done by going to the Windows settings and then to the Network & internet options and choosing the Private network profile for your connection.
2. Open Advanced Network Settings
You can then go back to the main Network & internet section. Then click on Advanced network settings. This reveals the deeper configuration menus for your network adapters.
3. Locate Advanced Sharing Settings
Within this section, you should see an option for Advanced sharing settings. Click this menu to expand it. This is where the core sharing toggles are located.
4. Enable Network Discovery and Sharing
Here you will be able to see the sharing settings for the Private network. You can make sure Network discovery and File and printer sharing are enabled. Toggle both switches to the on position.
5. Allow Sharing Through the Firewall
One other place you should check the settings for is the Windows firewall under the Allow apps to communicate through Windows Defender Firewall menu. Make sure that File and Printer Sharing is enabled for the Private network. If it is not checked, you will need to click on the Change settings button to make the checkboxes active so you can click on them.
Accessing your Shared Folder Over the Network
1. Use the Universal Naming Convention
Once you have your shared folder configured correctly, you can then try to access this folder over the network from a different computer. To do so, you can open File Explorer and type in the name or IP address of the remote computer. This lets you see what folders and even printers are being shared.
2. Enter the Network Path
In our example, we will type in the name of the remote computer after typing in \ at the beginning of the name so it will look like \win11-home. The \ at the beginning of a share name is part of the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) used in Windows to specify network resources. It tells Windows that you are referring to a network location rather than a local file path.
3. Input Your Network Credentials
When we try to connect to this shared folder, we are then prompted to enter the name and password for a user account on the computer that is sharing the folder. If you are using a Microsoft account, you will need to type it in the following format: MicrosoftAccount\MSaccountEmailAddress.
4. Save Your Credentials
You will then need to type in the password associated with the Microsoft account email address. You can also check the box that says Remember my credentials. Doing this ensures you do not need to type in the password again next time you access the share.
5. View the Shared Resources
As you can see in the image below, we can see the shared folder from the previous step. We can also see a shared printer that happens to be configured on the computer. Double click the folder to open it.
6. Edit the Shared Files
We can then open the Confidential Files folder to see its contents. Since our user account has full control, we can do things such as edit files. We can also create folders and delete files and folders as needed.
For additional training resources, check out our online IT training courses.
Check out our extensive IT book series.
