How to connect to a network drive

Question or Issue:

• How do I connect to a folder on the network to access my files from on campus?

Instructions:

To connect to a network drive in Windows 10

To connect to a network drive on from macOS

To connect to a network drive in Windows 10

• Locate the "Search" bar in the lower-left corner of the screen.
• in the "Search" bar, type in the network location you would like to browse to. For example, if you're trying to access a folder in a department drive other than yours that you have permission to access, type in "\\microwave.bowdoin.edu\dept" and press Enter
   
  Hint: If you know the complete path to the location you want to go, you may also enter that.
  For example: \\microwave.bowdoin.edu\dept\ccenter\documentation\
  In some cases, you may need to enter the complete path if you don't have permission to the parent folders containing the location you're trying to access.
• A Windows Explorer window will open with the network location you entered. You may then browse files or folders from here.

To connect to a network drive on from macOS

•  Click the Finder icon in the Dock.

• From the Go menu in Finder, select Connect to Server.

• Enter smb://[servername] and then type the full path of the folder.
  
   Replace "yourusername" above with your bowdoin username. For example:
  • To connect to the department drive, type "smb://microwave.bowdoin.edu/dept"
  • To connect to your personal folder, type "smb://microwave.bowdoin.edu/home/yourusername"            

• Click Connect.

The network drive appears as an icon on the Desktop.

Additional Information

• While you may not need to enter the "fully qualified domain name" for your network location on campus, it is good practice to do so to avoid naming issues. This means that instead of typing in "microwave", try typing in "microwave.bowdoin.edu". This is especially useful when working from home using the VPN.