Mac Os Search Network Drive

  

Sep 20, 2011  Accessing network shares on Mac is simple, but what if someone wants multiple shares with quick access to them on their desktop? In my experience, this can get a little tricky. Multiple instances of Finder. I setup the drives to mount at startup, but each drive opens a separate instance of Finder after login.

I know in the past OS X did not support indexing network drives. Has this changed? Do more recent versions of OS X such as Yosemite support spotlight on network drives? I am thinking of investing in a NAS storage device such as Synology and spotlight support is a requirement. Since I have lots of data on my external drives right now. Good news that you may access your network drive through your Mac's desktop icon. Just follow several steps and create an icon which always appear on desktop when you connect to network. First open Finder preferences from a menu bar in very top of you window, this appears when Finder is launched. Good news that you may access your network drive through your Mac's desktop icon. Just follow several steps and create an icon which always appear on desktop when you connect to network. First open Finder preferences from a menu bar in very top of you window, this appears when Finder is launched. On your Mac, click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window, then click Network in the Locations section of the sidebar. If no items appear in the Locations section of the sidebar, hold the pointer over the word Locations, then click Show. In the Finder window, double-click the computer you want to connect to, then click Connect As. MacOS: Most versions of macOS or OS X already incorporate the software necessary for file sharing.This will make installing and configuring the server as easy as setting up a desktop Mac. An Older Mac: The Mac should be able to run OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or later and support additional hard drives.They can either be external hard drives connected via Thunderbolt or USB, or internal hard drives.

The ability to switch between different sets of network settings (locations) can be useful in circumstances such as these:

  • You use the same type of network (such as Ethernet) at work and at home, but the settings you use at work don't allow your Mac to automatically connect to the same type of network at home.
  • Your Mac connects to more than one type of network service (such as both Wi-Fi and Ethernet) at work and at home, but at work you want your Mac to try connecting to the Ethernet network first, and at home you want your Mac to try connecting to the Wi-Fi network first. In other words, you want to set a different service order for each location.
  • Your Mac isn't connecting to your network and you want to quickly reset your network settings for testing purposes, without losing your current network settings.

In each of these examples, the Location feature of Network preferences can help.

How to add or remove a network location

  1. Choose Apple menu () > System Preferences, then click Network.
  2. The Location pop-up menu shows the name of your currently selected set of network settings. The default location is named Automatic. Choose Edit Locations from this menu.
  3. Click the Add (+) button below the list of locations, then type a name for the new location, such as Work or Home or Mobile. (To remove a location, use the Remove (–) button below the list.)
  4. Click Done. The Location menu should now show the name of your new location. Any changes you now make to your Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or other network settings will be saved to that location when you click Apply. The network settings in your previous location remain as you left them, so you can use the Location menu to switch back at any time.
  5. Click Apply to save your settings and complete the switch from the previous location to the new one. Your Mac then automatically tries to determine the correct settings for each type of network. If you need to change the settings manually, remember to click Apply again after making your changes.

How to switch between network locations

If you have more than one location, you can use either of these methods to switch between them:

  • Use the Location pop-up menu in Network preferences, as described above. Remember to click Apply after choosing a location.
  • Or choose Apple menu > Location from the menu bar, then choose your location from the submenu.

How to change the network service order

If you're using network locations because you want each location to prefer a different network service (such as Wi-Fi or Ethernet) when connecting, follow these steps to change the service order (also known as port priority) in each location.

  1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Network.
  2. Use the Location menu to choose the location you want to modify.
  3. Click below the list of services, then choose Set Service Order.
  4. Drag services within the list to change their order. Your Mac will try to connect to the service at the top of the list first, then continue in descending order until a connection is successful.
    Virtual private network (VPN) connections can't be reordered, because they always take priority over other connections.
  5. Click OK, then click Apply to make the updated service order active.

How to prevent a network service from being used

By default, the location named Automatic makes all available network services (also known as ports or network interfaces) active, whether or not they are being used to connect to a network. Your Mac automatically searches these services for a network or Internet connection. For example, you might use a Wi-Fi network at home but an Ethernet network at work. Your Mac automatically detects which of these network services to use when it connects.

If you want to make sure that your Mac doesn't use a particular network service, such as Wi-Fi, you can make that service inactive in any of your network locations:

  1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Network.
  2. Use the Location menu to choose the location you want to modify.
  3. Click below of the list of services, then choose Make Service Inactive.
  4. Click Apply.
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A network drive, also known as a NAS (network attached storage) drive, is a storage device that connects to a home or office network instead of your computer. Some of the advantages of this are obvious: for example, you can get access files from a smartphone, tablet, or computer without having to plug the drive in.

Map Windows Network Drive Mac

Other, perhaps less obvious, positives of NAS include things like automated backups and the ability to mirror data on two drives. In other words, NAS offers a flexible and protected way to manage Mac storage that’s far beyond that of standard external hard drives. Read along to learn how to map a network drive and avoid some common NAS mistakes.

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What is a network drive used for?

Whether it’s populated or diskless, has one bay or more than five, a network drive is typically used as an alternative to cloud storage. It may be easy to drag and drop files to something like Google Drive or Dropbox, but just a bit of drive mapping can make using a network drive a fantastic cloud alternative.

Some of network drive’s key advantages include:

  • Better control over your files
  • More security features than cloud services
  • Flexibility without compromising on privacy
  • Being used by multiple users across multiple devices
Mac Os Search Network Drive

Map network drive on macOS (one-time)

Nowadays, most NAS devices are seriously easy to map. Let’s say that you’ve been working on a document in your home office but have just remembered a key fact that you want to include. Time to make a quick edit from your wife’s laptop before you forget about it!

Network drive access can be obtained in three simple steps, provided you don’t mind having to repeat those steps if the connection drops, you restart your Mac, or the device is disconnected:

  1. In Finder, either hit Command+K to bring up “Connect to Server” or click Go > Connect to Server
  2. Enter the path of the network drive you’re trying to map (e.g. smb://192.168.1.300/shared/Files) and click Connect
  3. Enter your login details and password then click OK to mount the network drive

You can now access the relevant drive either via your desktop or the sidebar in Finder windows.

Map network drive on macOS (remount after reboot)

Maybe you have a server in your office with a connected network drive and want all your employees to be able to connect to it so they can collaborate on shared documents. If you want to keep a Mac connected to a network drive, even after restarting, the easiest way to do this is to follow the three steps above then add these:

  1. Hit the Apple menu, then System Preferences > Users & Groups
  2. From here, select Login Items and click + to add a new item
  3. Find your network drive and click Add, then close the window

Now, your network drive will be mapped and automatically remounted when you reboot your Mac. Network drives won’t, however, connect automatically if you’re using a different WiFi network.

Make a network drive accessible from Mac desktop

Depending on your settings, mounted drives may not always appear on your desktop. That’s not necessarily a problem if you don’t mind only being able to see connected servers in Finder window sidebars and open/save dialogues.

If, however, you want your NAS device to always be just one double-click away (in the same way that most people have Macintosh HD as a visible item on their desktop) just follow these steps:

  1. Open Finder > Preferences or click Command + to open Finder Preferences
  2. Click the General tab, then tick the box next to Connected servers
  3. Close Finder Preferences

Remount a mapped network drive with one click

Managing, or working across, multiple departments that each have their own network drive? In that case, it can be handy to create aliases of mapped network drive(s):

  1. Right click on any mapped NAS device on your desktop.
  2. Select Make Alias

This might not sound like anything all that significant but, as the subheading suggests, you can use this alias to reconnect to a network drive with one click. That can be very helpful if you need to keep jumping between different shared drives.

How to manage files with network-attached storage

In most cases, macOS’s default tools are sufficient for viewing, editing, and deleting files. That might change, however, if you’re using a NAS device. For example, it’s very easy to end up with a ton of duplicate files on your network drive where it’s likely you’ll be less concerned about making the most of your storage as you might be with a built in hard drive.

Gemini is a great tool for digging out any duplicate content on your drives, so you can ditch everything you no longer need while hanging onto backup documents, photos, etc.

  1. Open up the app and hit the giant + or drag your folder of choice into the window
  2. Choose from recommended locations or select a custom folder
  3. Push the green Scan for Duplicates button to get started
  4. Delete duplicate files manually or use Smart Cleanup to automate the process

For a more granular approach to file management, you might want to consider something like DCommander or Forklift. These apps both offer dual-pane file management, as well as features like batch renaming, copying, and deletion, in a more seamless way than your default Finder.

Mac Os Search Network Drive

Although Forklift was designed with FTP management in mind, it’s become a favorite of network drive users because of how closely it resembles macOS. Billed as a Finder replacement app in parts of its marketing material, you won’t find an app much more native unless it comes out of Cupertino.

Plus, actually getting started with the app is incredibly simple:

  1. Open up the Forklift app
  2. Use the left-hand panel to find the file(s) you want to move across
  3. Select the right-hand panel then, using the sidebar, click on your network drive
  4. Start moving, renaming and archiving files

If Forklift isn’t for you then you might prefer to take a look at DCommander, an approved Mac alternative of Total Commander for Windows. In addition to two side-by-side file panels that look very similar to those of Forklift, DCommander puts a wider range of commands and features (including quick file viewing, selective file unpacking, navigation history, and a great looking Dark Mode) at your fingertips without the need to leave the dual-panel display.

Both apps let you do things like mark certain drives as favorites, create and browse archives, and get previews of items. In short, they’re much like macOS’s Finder … only better. It’s difficult to overstate how much easier it becomes to manage Mac storage with dual-pane browsing until you try to organize your network drive without it!

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Effectively manage Mac storage day-to-day

Thanks to macOS, network drive mapping is a pretty simple process even if you’re not particularly tech-savvy. You might be out of luck if you’re hoping to access a NAS device from another network using standard macOS tools but, at present, that’s pretty much the only thing keeping network drives from competing with the cloud at the mainstream level.

Mac Os Search Network Drive Windows 7

If remote access isn’t such a concern for you and you’re using NAS as an alternative to cloud, then it’s definitely worth taking a look at programs like Forklift or DCommander to make file management easier once you’re done drive mapping, as well as Gemini to ensure that your NAS device isn’t filling up with duplicate files you don’t need.

Mac Os Search Network Drive On Mac

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