How to Access Shared Windows Folders on iPhone and iPad [Detailed Guide]

The Files app on iOS13 is more powerful than ever, you can zip files, share folders using iCloud, scan documents, and of course access Samba servers. This is useful not only when you have to connect to a NAS, but also when you just want to transfer files between Windows and iPhone/iPad. In this article, I will show you an easy way to transfer files from Windows to iPhone using Samba server. All you need is both your Windows computer and your iPhone on the same Wi-Fi network and enable Windows File Sharing.

Note: I will be using a Windows 10 computer to demonstrate the steps, but you can also follow the steps on Windows 7, 8, 8.1.

How to access shared Windows folder on iPhone

1. Turn on Network sharing on Windows

The first step is to turn ON File sharing On your Windows computer, you can move on to the next step if it’s already turned on.

To do so, please Setting and open ‘network and sharing center‘.

It will open a new window, look in the left pane and click ‘Advanced Sharing Settings’ open Sharing settings.

On this page you will see three Network Configuration; Worker, and All networks. Turn Explore the network and File sharing on all three configurations. If you are concerned about your privacy then you can do this on your current profile and it will still work. Click ‘Save changes’.

2. Share Folders on Windows

To share a folder, open your computer and navigate to the folder you want to be shared with. To demonstrate, I will share a folder from drive C but you can share any other folder of your choice.

Right click on the folder and click Characteristic. Go Share redirect and click Repost Below Network file and Directory Share.

Here you can add who can access the shared folder. Type Everybody, click ‘Add’ and then click ‘Repost’. Your folder is now shared.

3. Find the hostname of your Windows computer

Before we can access the shared folder on your iPhone, we’ll have to figure out the IP address of your Windows computer.

In a typical home network, a dynamic IP address is assigned to your devices, which means that every time you restart your computer, it will get a different IP address, which will make sharing going to be a bit of a hassle. Thankfully, you can fix this by using the Workgroup name instead of the IP address, which stays the same regardless of the IP address.

To find your workgroup windows, open Command prompt about you Windows Computer and server name and press Enter.

Make a note of your computer’s computer name, we’ll need it to access the shared folder on the Files app.

4. Access the Shared folder on iPhone

Make sure your iPhone and Windows computer are connected to the same Wi-fi network.

Open Files app, and tap the three-dotted button in the top right corner. Option ‘Connect with A server’ and proceed.

It will remind you entertheserveraddress, smb://YOUR-HOSTNAME.local. Replace ‘YOU-HOSTNAME’ with your computer name and click ‘Link‘. Enter your username and password, the credentials you use to unlock your Windows computer will be the username and password for this step. Clap ‘Next’.

It will take a few seconds and then open a new page with the shared folder. You can access all the files in the shared folder and copy it to your iPhone.

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