Forum Discussion
Sharepoint Online map as local network share in file exporer (Windows 10)
Roland,
While there are some options for mapping SharePoint has a file share I would caution against it. I've seen plenty of weird issues/error when doing this. Not to mention it undermines all the benefits of using SharePoint for your file management.
If you are going to just put all your files in SharePoint and then map a network drive, use a network file share. If you are going to put all your file in SharePoint, use SharePoint like it was meant to be used and have the browser/SharePoint interface be your primary method of accessing and working with the files.
IF you do need files accessed in a mapped network drive sort of way, leverage the OneDrive sync client to take them offline and sync them locally. This still gets you some of the benefits of SharePoint (you still don't get everything) and is more reliable in my experience. You also get the files on demand functionality using the sync client. But still, even with this, be selective in what you sync. Don't just go sync everything locally b/c you don't want to use the SharePoint interface...
I do get there are circumstances where you may need to map a network drive, although in my experience they are VERY rare. In that case, other have provided methods. Again though, this should be the very rare exception, not a normal operation you perform for all your users.
Hi BenStegink,
Which features of Sharepoint would be lost, other than the HTML interface itself (which I'm trying to avoid)?
I want my users to have the same read/write power that they had in the UNC file structure, and the suggestion on this site (https://support.office.com/en-us/article/troubleshoot-mapped-network-drives-that-connect-to-sharepoint-online-ef399c67-4578-4c3a-adbe-0b489084eabe?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US) seems to address my need perfectly. I am also anxious to avoid edit conflicts, and I'm perfectly willing to sacrifice offline access to accomplish that.
Thanks for your clarification, and have a great day!