People that are accustomed to working in Windows environments often cringe when having to work with Mac computers. But, sharing folders from OS X with Windows computers is not the pain that it used to be. OS X has native support for the Microsoft Server Message Block. This means you can configure a share with Windows computers with just a few steps inside of System Preferences.
There are alternatives you can use to get files from the Mac to Windows like using Dropbox, SugarSync or other cloud storage providers. But, connecting the two devices is a task that most people can accomplish now.
The first thing that you have to do is to ensure that the Mac and the Windows computers are part of the same workgroup. This is required in order to share folders between the computers. Once you have verified that, you can use the steps below to set up a share between a Mac and Windows computer.
Step 1.
Open up System Preferences inside the OS X computer. Once there, you can open up the sharing pane which is found in the Internet and Wireless section.
Step 2
Click the box by the File Sharing option. This will show the IP address of your MAC computer.
Step 3.
Inside the Options pane, click the box next to the area labeled “Share files and folders using SMB (Windows)” and “Share files and folders using AFP”. You will then want to select the user account that will have sharing enabled. These are the accounts that you will need to use on your Windows computer when connecting to the share inside the Mac.
Step 4.
Select which folders to share if you are using the user-based file sharing option. You can do t his by clicking on the “+” in the file browser. By default, the Mac will only share the Public folder. But, you can select more folders to share inside this area.
Step 5.
Click the Options button. To see the files from the Windows machine. You will need to click the Share files and folder using SMB option. And, you will need to select the account that can access the files.
Once you have completed all these steps, you will be able to access the files from your Windows computer. This will enable to retrieve files stored on your Mac computer from your Windows machine. This will make it easier to transfer files back and forth versus using thumb drives or file sharing services like Dropbox. Hopefully, the instructions in this article will help you to successfully share your files with your Windows computers.