Peer to Peer Network Sharing

This is a tutorial that will help you set up a folder/file/document that everyone on your network can access. This is really helpful if you want to contribute to a common folder from different devices. A real life example would be if my brother and I were working on a project, he can contribute things to the shared folder from his computer while I can contribute to the same folder from my laptop.

Step 1: Navigate to the Desktop

Open command prompt [1] and then use the command <cd Desktop> to change into the desktop directory. This step is simply for convenience so that it is easier to find the folder you're going to be working with .

[1] You can open command prompt by clicking on the windows button at the bottom left and tying <cmd>.

Step 2: Create Your Folder

Use the command <md *folder name*> [2]. Make sure that it is visible on your desktop.

[2] The command md allows you to create a new folder. After tying md press space and type the name of the folder you want to create. If the folder has more than one word in the name make sure to put the name in quotation marks.

Step 3: Navigate to the Folder and Open the Properties

Open the file explorer and go under the Desktop section. Left-click then right-click on the folder. The left-click highlights the folder, and the right-click opens a menu of options. Once the menu of options pops up click on the properties. When you open the properties window go to the sharing section.

Step 4: Choose Who You Want to Share With.

Type <Everyone> and click add [3]. Once you're done with that click share and then go to the advanced sharing.

[3] The default setting for the folder is set to only read. This means that if a person accesses the folder they will only be able to view the files and not actually be able to write to the folder.

Step 5: Sharing the Folder

Press the box that lets you share the folder and then go into the permissions section.

Step 6: Permissions

Make sure to give full control to the people that have access to the shared folder. Click Apply then click OK. Once you press OK you'll be back at the advanced sharing page. Press Apply and OK on that page too.

Step 7: Open Control Panel

Navigate into the control panel and click on the Network and Internet section.

Step 8: Network and Sharing

Navigate into the Network and Sharing section.

Step 9: Advanced Sharing

Navigate to the advanced sharing settings.

Step 10: Choose Home and Work / Public

There are many settings that need to be changed in both of the options.

Step 11: Select All Options

There are going to be many options, the ones you need for the sharing to work are pretty common sense like making sure that your device is allowed to be discovered. And turn off password protected sharing.

Step 12: Go Into Network

Go onto another computer and open the file explorer. Go into the Network section found on the left hand side at the bottom.

Step 13: Find the Device

Find the original device that the file was shared from.

Step 14: Find the Folder That Was Shared

Once you click on the device you will find all the files that were shared from it. You can tell that the folder is shared over the network because it has the green crossroads looking thing under its name.