How To Add Shared Drive On Mac

If yous frequently access a file server from a Mac it's pretty helpful to map the network drive to your desktop. There's ii ways to exercise this, i method is just mapped for one time utilize and will reset afterward a reboot, and another method is a more permanent route that allows the mapped network bulldoze to always appear and mount on your desktop after system reboots and user logins. We will cover how to do set up both, and then that if you just want to temporarily connect to a network share, or always connect to a network drive, you'll exist able to do either in OS Ten.

These techniques work the same in all versions of OS X, including Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion, Snow Leopard, you name it. This also works on all common network share types, though AFP and SMB / Windows are the well-nigh mutual for well-nigh Mac users.

How to Map a Network Bulldoze / Server to Mac OS 10

This method connects to and maps a network bulldoze or network share that will disappear if the network connectedness drops, is disconnected, or if you lot reboot your Mac:

From the Mac OS Ten Finder, hit Control+K to bring upwardly the 'Connect to Server' window
Enter the path to the network bulldoze you lot want to map, ie: smb://networkcomputer/networkshare and click 'Connect'
Enter your login/password and click "OK" to mountain the network bulldoze
The drive will at present announced on your desktop and in the Finder window sidebar

map network drive mac

You can admission the network share like whatever other folder at this indicate, so long as it'southward maintained on the same network.

Connected Mac network share

Map a network drive to Mac OS X that re-mounts after system reboot

This method allows you lot to reboot your Mac and take the mapped network drive / network share automatically connect and remount, appearing on the desktop of OS Ten or in the Finder sidebar. This is more persistent than the above method and is helpful for network shares y'all connect to frequently:

From the Finder, hit Control+K
Enter the path to the network drive you lot want to map, ie: smb://networkcomputer/networkshare and click 'Connect'
Enter your login credentials and click "OK"
The drive is now mounted, but continue on to map for arrangement reboot persistence
Now enter into Arrangement Preferences, from the Apple bill of fare
Click on 'Accounts'
Click on "Login Items"
Click on the + button to add another login item
Locate the network drive you previously mounted and click "Add"
Get out out of System Preferences

Your network drive will now exist mapped and automatically remounted when yous reboot your Mac. Proceed in mind that if yous leave the network where the mapped share is located, the drive/share will not automatically reconnect until that network is joined over again, and the Mac is either rebooted or manually reconnected to the desired network share.

Yet, the actual mounted network share works the same every bit usual, visible through Finder equally a folder. You lot tin can also go to the Network window to see the connected shares.

Browsing network mapped shares from a Mac

Allow'southward go a footstep further and brand the network share visible on the Bone 10 Desktop, and learn an easy way to remap a drive with an allonym.

How to Make the Mapped Network Drive Visible on the Mac Desktop

It's possible that the mounted bulldoze will not appear on the desktop due to a organisation setting. If you want the mapped drive icon to be visible on the Desktop, exist sure to do the following boosted steps:

From the Finder, open up Finder Preferences past hitting Control+,
Click the Full general tab
Select the checkbox side by side to 'Connected Servers'
Close Finder Preferences

Selecting the checkbox next to Connected Servers ensures that you'll see the icon on your Mac Desktop, otherwise information technology volition but be visible in the Finder window sidebars and Open/Relieve dialogues.

Remount a mapped network bulldoze with a click in OS 10

A great additional step for either method is to create an alias of the mapped network drive. This allows you to reconnect to the share with but a click. Here's how to practise this:

Right-click on the mapped network drive on the Mac OS desktop
Select "Make Allonym"

Now y'all tin double-click that allonym to reconnect to the network drive instantly.

If you're having issues identifying a network item, sometimes refreshing the Network Finder window can help, or using Network Utility in Bone X.

Network Utility in OS X

As you may have guessed, shared network volumes are treated differently past the Os than external drives and disk images, which is why this a different technique than what you utilise to mountain an ISO in Mac Bone 10.

You lot can also admission and mount smb shares via the command line which allows for scripting possibilities, if you're interested in a more technical approach.