Windows 10: I've set up a local network and want to access shared files from an Apple Mac on the network

I've seen plenty of people giving quick and easy network file sharing instructions controlling the share from a Mac, but nothing from the PC.


I've got a laptop PC running Windows 10 Pro and a Desktop with same OS. I also have a MacBookPro laptop. The Desktop is connected to my router by Ethernet cable. The router gives out the network IP addresses by DHCP.


The two laptops connect via WiFi. I can open the Windows File Explorer from the Desktop and see the Network. I had originally set those two up in a workgroup. They still have that old WORKGROUP name but I understand Windows quit using that. Anyway, they no longer show up in the File Explorer under workgroup, but they're both visible in Netrwork. Each of them show up when I open the Explorer and on expanding them I see and can access the shared folder from either.


But I never see the Mac or its shared folders on the Windows File Explorer.


From the Mac, I can see both the Windows PCs and their shared folders in the Apple Finder.


Since my Mac has no problem seeing the PC shared folders, I can always take a file I from the Mac that I want to share with a PC and drag it into a shared folder on the PC, but I can't have any control to do that from either PC.


My MacBookPro is running HIgh Sierra version 10.13.6. Since Apple devices are exorbitantly priced, it's not the newest.


Does anyone know of a way to be able to view the MacBookPro in the Network shares in the PCs on the Windows File Explorer?


The file sharing is working in both directions. It's just that I'd like to be able to have control from my PCs to the files on the Mac and not the other way around.

:)

 

I've set up a local network and want to access shared files from an Apple Mac on the network

Thanks a lot. Some of the stuff you mention I had already tried. I had started with that groovypost you link. It wasn't very helpful, basically stating all the easy stuff to try that almost anybody would have done. The Mac setup instructions were not very
good and in fact wrong, guaranteed to confuse, and incomplete. It's drastically wrong about the wireless sharing setup saying "your windows 10 PC 'should automatically' be mounted. It isn't. You have to connect to the remote servers via samba share (or afp
- which is mostly unnecessary). This is done from the Finder "Go" menu option to connect to server.

The Windows explanation is only the basic turn on sharing in "advanced sharing settings" in the Network and Sharing Center. Who can't figure that out? It's just nonsense to say that "automatically your Personal Folders and any other shared folders are mounted."
Sharing folders is a key step that the writer just assumes, and it is more complex than he implies. There are, for example, possibly very relevant settings in the Certificate Manager.

Anyway, as I mentioned, I have no problem accessing files on the networked PCs from the Mac. I don't know about El Capitan, but he's again assuming that the Mac will easily and "automatically" show up in the Network on the Windows File Explorer. It doesn't
using High Sierra. I've found NO article whatsoever on connecting Macs and PCs that makes such a claim. There's a clear absence of anything showing a Mac displaying in the Windows File Explorer.

Some simple research reveals that Windows removed automatic loading of SMB and that you have to select to turn it on from Programs and Features. Also, Microsoft has published information on their new SMB policy, https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...bv1-smbv2-smbv3-in-windows-and-windows-server.
Annoyingly, if its not used for a short period of time, they've set it to automatically uninstall, making you have to go through the whole process again.

I went through that monstrous set of procedures and after some creative additions to their suggested registry edits I was able to solve another problem I was getting that is well documented: One of the PCs could not recognize its own shares on the network.
By the way, Apple doesn't even let you put the Mac in the Network from Finder. It tells you there's no need to do so since you have access to the filed directly. Microsoft has apparently never thought of that.

I also had already found out about the necessary service and had checked all of them, as well as the permissions on the shared folder in their properties windows. I had also already added the IP addresses of the Mac and the two PCs to my hosts file.

So thanks very much for your attention, but I'm still at the same place: Microsoft Windows 10 File Explorer cannot recognize an Apple Mac that is no its local network - effectively making it impossible for one to copy or view the Mac files from a PC on the
same network. If you think about it, that is REALLY STRANGE, since it is not a network connection problem. The Mac and the PCs are on the same local network. The PCs are sharing files with the Mac. You can sit on the Mac and open Finder and there are the PCs.
You can connect using the Windows Security credentials to access the PCs' shared folders. You can copy files from the PCs to the Ma and from the Mac to the PCs just as long as you're doing it from the Mac. You can't do it from either of the PCs. If something
is blocking the PCs from doing this, it's definitely in Windows.

I used to have a couple of Linux computers on the network as well. They did their shares using Samba Server (as does the Mac). I've read a ton of articles of Linux people having the same problem. This used to work. Admittedly it wasn't easy to set it up,
but it worked perfectly to share files and folders across a local network from the different operating systems. Windows did this, and they haven't offered the slightest explanation.

I'm still searching.

 

I've set up a local network and want to access shared files from an Apple Mac on the network

I tried every single step. In the end, my laptop PC could not see the Mac as it did before, but if I typed \\<the mac's ip address> it immediately connected and I could access the files on the mac. The mac appears by its ip address in the navigation pane
but not at all in the network computers in the main Network window of File Explorer. I could live with that as long as I have access to the files.

But on the desktop PC there is no way in hell. I see nothing in the navigation pane and only the two PCs in the File Explorer Network window. Whether I type \\<the mac's share name> or \\<the mac's ip address>, its the same result.

I'm going to try one more time to go through every step in your groovypost article and compare if there's any difference in the laptop to see if there is something I can find. If not, I'm going to try to buy a new NIC card for the desktop and see if that
makes a difference. The NIC hasn't been giving me any problems in any other way except this.

I can't thank you enough for all your patience and suggestions.

 

I've set up a local network and want to access shared files from an Apple Mac on the network

I've seen plenty of people giving quick and easy network file sharing instructions controlling the share from a Mac, but nothing from the PC.

I've got a laptop PC running Windows 10 Pro and a Desktop with same OS. I also have a MacBookPro laptop. The Desktop is connected to my router by Ethernet cable. The router gives out the network IP addresses by DHCP.

The two laptops connect via WiFi. I can open the Windows File Explorer from the Desktop and see the Network. I had originally set those two up in a workgroup. They still have that old WORKGROUP name but I understand Windows quit using that. Anyway, they
no longer show up in the File Explorer under workgroup, but they're both visible in Netrwork. Each of them show up when I open the Explorer and on expanding them I see and can access the shared folder from either.

But I never see the Mac or its shared folders on the Windows File Explorer.

From the Mac, I can see both the Windows PCs and their shared folders in the Apple Finder.

Since my Mac has no problem seeing the PC shared folders, I can always take a file I from the Mac that I want to share with a PC and drag it into a shared folder on the PC, but I can't have any control to do that from either PC.

My MacBookPro is running HIgh Sierra version 10.13.6. Since Apple devices are exorbitantly priced, it's not the newest.

Does anyone know of a way to be able to view the MacBookPro in the Network shares in the PCs on the Windows File Explorer?

The file sharing is working in both directions. It's just that I'd like to be able to have control from my PCs to the files on the Mac and not the other way around.