How to Connect Your Mac to an SMB Share

Are you having trouble connecting your Mac to a Server Message Block (SMB) share? This can be frustrating, especially when trying to access files and folders from another computer or server. In this article, we will guide you through the process of connecting your Mac to an SMB share.

First, make sure that the 'Connected servers' option is selected in the General tab of your Finder preferences. This will allow any mounted drives to appear on your Desktop, where you can select them and proceed with the next steps.

Next, manually mount the SMB volume using the standard Finder method. To do this, go to Go > Connect to Server, then type in the network address for the computer or server in the Server Address field. Click Connect, and enter any login information that is required.

Once you have successfully mounted the SMB share, you can create an alias of the volume by choosing File > Make Alias or holding down Command and Option while dragging the folder to another location.

To do this, navigate up one level and proceed to step 7. First, manually mount the SMB volume using the standard Finder Go -> Connect To Server method. Then, in the Locations section of the sidebar, click the remote Mac, then double-click the volume you want to make an alias from.

You can also use the mountsmbfs command (a shortcut for mount -t smbfs) to mount the share to a specific folder on your Mac. For example:

mkdir /Volumes

mkdir /Volumes/Projects

mountsmbfs //User:PassSERVERNAME/Projects /Volumes/Projects

This will allow you to access the SMB share as if it were a local volume.

Finally, double-click the volume you want to link to, and an alias will be created. This alias will still work even if the other computer is no longer sharing the volume over AFP.

It's also worth noting that if you see an option for AFP (Apple Filing Protocol) in your Mac's SMB settings, make sure it's unchecked. Otherwise, you may experience issues connecting to SMB shares on other computers or servers.

By following these steps, you should be able to successfully connect your Mac to an SMB share and access files and folders from another computer or server.

Macos connect to smb share