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Shared folders not appearing on guest VM

  • 1.  Shared folders not appearing on guest VM

    Posted Feb 22, 2019 09:55 AM

    I just created a new VM, configured two shared folders, but I cannot find them on the guest.

    I'm not really expert on VMs so it may be an error of configuration or something missing...

    I'm using VMware Workstation 15 Player and on both host and guest is running Win 10 PRO.

    Sharing folder is configured as "always enabled" and "Map as network drive in Windows guest" is flagged.

    Any suggestion?



  • 2.  RE: Shared folders not appearing on guest VM
    Best Answer

    Posted Feb 22, 2019 01:40 PM

    Have you installed the VMware Tools in the guest yet?  If not, then Shared Folders will not be available yet, as the driver is not installed.



  • 3.  RE: Shared folders not appearing on guest VM

    Posted Feb 22, 2019 02:12 PM

    Hi

    Check if the following article helps: Enable a Shared Folder for a Virtual Machine



  • 4.  RE: Shared folders not appearing on guest VM

    Posted May 21, 2023 12:43 PM

    Hello, same problem here. I'm using VMware workstation 17 Pro on a Windows 10 enterprise machine, while the guest is using Windows 10 Pro. I tried everything that was suggested on the forum (reinstalling VMware tools, modifying the registry...) and I still can't make the shared folder appear on the guest machine.
    Trying to access "\\vmware-host\" from the file explorer doesnt work.

    Oystorio_0-1684672762082.png

    The folder is enabled.

    Oystorio_1-1684672796767.png

    VMware tools is updated and running.

    The only thing that I haven't tried is to "Map as a network drive in Windows Guests". The option is not available in VMware Workstation 17

    What can I do?



  • 5.  RE: Shared folders not appearing on guest VM

    Posted May 21, 2023 02:57 PM

    That is interesting because I have a similar setup with 17 pro as well.  This seems obvious, but when you created the vm did you select windows as the guest OS?



  • 6.  RE: Shared folders not appearing on guest VM

    Posted Nov 03, 2023 03:40 PM

    dont know if anyone still needs a fix, but if you go to services, and enable "function discovery provider host" and "function discovery resource publication" . That may fix the problem. it did for me anyways.



  • 7.  RE: Shared folders not appearing on guest VM

    Posted Feb 24, 2019 01:53 AM

    I suspect you may be having the same problem as I did, being a new VMWare user. On the Shared Folders screen (guest settings) you have to click the Add button below to actually add the shared folder. Once you've done that and rebooted the guest, then it should show up in the file manager.



  • 8.  RE: Shared folders not appearing on guest VM

    Posted Nov 14, 2022 01:15 AM

    I did that and It is still no showing up.

    Also I do have the vmware tools installed.

    No idea what is wrong here.  Base machine is Win10, he VM is Win7, for some legacy software needs.

    Sorry to Necrothread, but this is exactly my issue and I have done the steps here..... soooo thought this is a good place to post.



  • 9.  RE: Shared folders not appearing on guest VM

    Posted Apr 27, 2023 12:03 PM

    i had a similar solution.  My solution was to check the box:
    "Map as a network drive in Windows Guests"

    and the shared drive appeared.

     



  • 10.  RE: Shared folders not appearing on guest VM

    Posted Jan 16, 2024 12:24 AM

    In this blog post, you will earn the various ways to copy files from your host and VMware Workstation: https://techdirectarchive.com/2024/01/16/various-ways-to-copy-files-from-host-to-vmware-workstation-vm/ 

    The blog post covered "Drag and Drop, copy and paste, and shared folders". It also shows the steps to mount the shared photos graphically.



  • 11.  RE: Shared folders not appearing on guest VM

    Posted Jan 26, 2025 03:18 AM

    Here is my fix.

    When I clicked the "network" icon, I got a message saying I need to enable network discovery.
    I enabled it accroding to the link below.
    Note that I enabled it for private and guest only, NOT for all network.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POZXj-T2XyE