How to Share a Folder on Mac

macOS lets you share a single folder over your network rather than opening up the whole machine. It takes a couple of minutes, and the part people get wrong is permissions, so here is the whole thing in order.

Turn on File Sharing and pick the folder

1. Open System Settings › General › Sharing.
2. Turn on File Sharing.
3. Click the i button next to it.
4. Under Shared Folders, click + and choose the folder you want to share.

Set who can see it

With the folder selected, use the Users list on the right:

• Read & Write lets them add and change files.
• Read Only lets them open and copy, but not modify.
• Everyone is the catch-all for anyone not listed. Set this to No Access unless you genuinely want the folder open to the network.

Click + under Users to add a specific macOS account, which is safer than relying on Everyone.

Connecting from another Mac

1. In Finder, press Cmd K.
2. Type smb:// followed by the sharing Mac's name or IP address.
3. Sign in with the account you granted access to.

The Mac should also just appear under Network in the Finder sidebar. More detail in connecting to an SMB share.

Connecting from Windows

macOS shares over SMB, which Windows speaks natively. In File Explorer, type \\ followed by the Mac's IP address in the address bar and sign in with the Mac account's name and password.

If it will not connect

• Both machines must be on the same network, and guest Wi-Fi usually blocks this.
• Check the Mac's firewall is not set to block all incoming connections.
• Use the IP address rather than the name if discovery is unreliable.
• Sleep interrupts sharing, so stop the Mac sleeping if it is acting as a small server.

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