How I permanently share a Windows folder with my Android phone, no extra apps required

My present cellphone is a Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely with 256GB of storage. Whereas that does not sound like a lot, because of a 2TB cloud Google One subscription, it is by no means been a problem. My photographs, movies, and different recordsdata are simply offloaded to the cloud.

Nonetheless, I do not need each file, photograph, or textual content doc to undergo Google servers, or ever transfer throughout the open web. Which gave me the concept of organising a simple network shared folder on one in all my Home windows PCs that my cellphone can use as a spot to avoid wasting or retrieve recordsdata whereas I am related to Wi-Fi.

I turned my Plex server right into a easy NAS for my cellphone

Fortunately for me, I have already got a Home windows PC that is at all times on, has a bunch of arduous drives plugged into it, and is related to my community with an Ethernet cable.

I take advantage of an outdated Lenovo mini PC as my Plex server, which sits idle more often than not until we’re really streaming one thing from it. Even then, its plucky little dual-core i3 CPU has greater than sufficient juice left for a community file switch to 1 system.

Credit score: Sydney Louw Butler / How-To Geek

Organising a devoted folder for my cellphone makes it simple to retailer recordsdata like ROMs for Android emulators, ebooks, MP3s, and paperwork. My Plex server has 14TB of storage, so placing a number of hundred gigs apart barely strikes the needle.

Home windows already consists of every little thing you want

For those who’re operating Home windows 11 (or older variations, however they’re all end-of-life), then you will have all of the instruments it’s essential create a network share. This is how you can do it:

• Open Home windows Settings
• Go to Community & Web Settings > Superior community settings
• Open “Superior sharing settings”
• Allow “Community discovery and File and printer sharing.” Flip each toggles and shut the window
• In Home windows Explorer, create the folder you need to share or use an current one, right-click on it and choose “Properties”
• Choose the “Sharing” tab and choose “Share”
• Add extra customers if wanted, but when your personal account is already listed with Learn/Write permissions, click on “Share”
• Learn the affirmation dialog and select “copy” if you wish to ship the hyperlink to the shared folder someplace.

The folder is now shared as an ordinary SMB community drive in your LAN. Copy any recordsdata you need your Android cellphone to entry into that folder, after which we’re prepared to maneuver on to the handset itself.

Android can browse Home windows shared folders with out downloading something

As I stated earlier, I am utilizing a Samsung cellphone, and so its default file supervisor is My Information. Your cellphone may include a distinct app, however most of them ought to assist accessing community drives. So, though the steps for various apps will not be precisely the identical as these, they need to be very related.

• Open My Information, scroll all the way down to the underside, and faucet “Community Storage”
• If that is the primary time, you may be requested to finish a file replace, after which activate file permissions. So do this
• Since now we have no community shares, you may faucet the “Add community storage” button, however in future you should utilize the plus button so as to add extra
• Select so as to add an SMB drive
• Examine that you just’re on the native Wi-Fi, and permit the app to seek for discoverable community shares. You too can use the handbook button right here to make use of the data you copied earlier from the SMB setup, however normally it ought to auto-detect
• Decide the proper share from the record of detected community drives
• Enter the username and password. The username is the one you noticed when including customers to the share throughout setup. The password is identical one you employ to log into Home windows. Once you’re performed, finalize the setup.
• Now it’s best to see the contents of the shared folder. On this case, I created a textual content file on the pc as a demo.

Since you will have learn and write permissions, you may delete recordsdata or copy recordsdata to this folder with ease, however do watch out! For those who delete them from the pc you may’t get well them! If you wish to take recordsdata with you relatively than entry them immediately from the shared drive, keep in mind to repeat them to your cellphone.

There are a number of limitations price understanding

This is not an ideal resolution, in fact. Not like utilizing Google Drive or different industrial options for community storage, your Home windows PC needs to be on on a regular basis. For me, since I am utilizing my devoted Plex server to host the community share, that is a non-issue. Nonetheless, if you are going to share a folder out of your primary desktop or laptop computer PC, it is price questioning if the ability value is price it. You can in all probability simply purchase a USB-C Flash drive as an alternative.

Additionally, until you arrange a VPN into your house community, which is a ache, you may’t entry this share when not related to your native community. Nonetheless, it nonetheless has loads of makes use of and has the sizable benefit of being one thing you may arrange proper now for no cash in lower than 5 minutes.