How to Network a Mac and a PC. WIFI File Sharing
How to Network a Mac and a PC. WIFI File Sharing
If you just bought a new Mac product, it is highly wise to connect your PC and Mac computers together over a WIFI network. This way, you can share documents, photos, videos, etc., easily and quickly.
You can even network your PC and Mac to share a printer. Networking will make you more productive, primarily if you use both computers for work purposes.
What You Need to Network a Mac and a PC
Let’s get started, and you need a router so your Mac and PC can start talking to each other. If you have no WIFI, then get a high-speed Ethernet cable to connect the two machines. However, WIFI is a preferred way of networking the two systems.
Next, find your Windows PC’s IP (internet protocol) address by right-clicking on the Start icon at the bottom left of the screen and then clicking on “Run.” Type “cmd /k ipconfig /all” in the box that pops up.
Don’t get overwhelmed by those lines and numbers. Scroll down a bit to find the IP address. Sometimes, instead of just “IP address,” you might see “IPv4/IPv6 address.” Take note of those numbers, which are usually divided into four sets and look like this: 192.168.0.20
Accessing PC Files from Your Mac
Press Command and the letter K simultaneously on your Mac. On the box that pops out, type “smb://” plus the IP address you obtained from the PC. As in our example, it should be something like this:
The next step is to click “Connect” and “Registered User” and enter the username and password you use to log into your Windows 10 computer. You can use your Microsoft Account and its corresponding password or the User ID and password for your account.
Wait a few minutes for the Mac to search for the Windows PC over WIFI. You will notice a new window with “Select the volumes you want to mount.” There will be one option there – “Users.” Click that and then click OK.
At this point, you can now open a “Finder” window. On there, you will find the Shared section, where you will see the SMB share marked by the Windows IP address you keyed in a while back. When you navigate to this, you will now have access to all your PC files. You can start copying your files to and from both computers.
Important Action Items
- Make sure you have enough disk space to receive those files. Otherwise, the data transfer won’t push through, and you will end up with either incomplete or corrupted files.
- Make sure that both machines are free of viruses and other malicious software before you attempt to connect them. Run antivirus software on both before the networking process to make sure each is clean and won’t infect and harm the other.
