Maybe you have a server in your office with a connected network drive and want all your employees to be able to connect to it so they can collaborate on shared documents. Automatically connect to a network drive on Mac You can now access the relevant drive either via your desktop or the sidebar in Finder windows.

Enter your login details and password then click OK to mount the network drive.

Enter the path of the network drive you’re trying to map (e.g.

In Finder, either hit Command+K to bring up “Connect to Server” or click Go > Connect to Server.

Network drive access can be obtained in three simple steps, provided you don’t mind having to repeat those steps if the connection drops, you restart your Mac, or the device is disconnected: Time to make a quick edit from your wife’s laptop before you forget about it! Let’s say that you’ve been working on a document in your home office but have just remembered a key fact that you want to include. Nowadays, most NAS devices are seriously easy to map.

Being used by multiple users across multiple devices.

Flexibility without compromising on privacy.

More security features than cloud services.

Some of network drive’s key advantages include: It may be easy to drag and drop files to something like Google Drive or Dropbox, but just a bit of drive mapping can make using a network drive a fantastic cloud alternative. Whether it’s populated or diskless, has one bay or more than five, a network drive is typically used as an alternative to cloud storage.

Try free ✕ What is a network drive used for?

Mac network drive indexing disabled