Electronic Team uses cookies to personalize your experience on our website. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our cookie policy. Click here to learn more.

Access Files Remotely

Editorial Team Editorial Team Aug 12, 2025
Remote access to files from any device

Remote file access can be accomplished by creating a shared folder, or sharing a storage device on your local network. In this article, we will take a look at the SMB protocol and USB Network Gate, with both solutions being easily available and cross-compatible between Windows and Linux.

Contents:

The SMB Remote File Sharing Protocol

SMB is one of the most common protocols for file sharing servers, so systems and apps often support it by default. Windows uses SMB for its built-in folder sharing capabilities, and Linux file managers, such as Nautilus, can access SMB shares by default. However, creating an SMB share on Linux will require you to install Samba. Media players like VLC also find shared folders automatically.

A shared folder accessed through SMB behaves like any other folder, but if you’re using different filesystems on the two computers, their restrictions can come into play - such as certain symbols in filenames or files with the same name in the same folder not being allowed.

How to Allow Remote Access to Files on Windows 11

1
Right-click the folder you want to share and select “Properties”.
Folder properties
2
Go to the “Sharing” tab and select “Share…”
Basic sharing settings
3
Click the arrow next to the user list and select “Everyone”.
Per-user access - Everyone is selected
4
If you want write access, click “Read” next to “Everyone” and enable it. Confirm by clicking “Share”.
Allowing write access to everyone
5
Select “Advanced Sharing”.
Advanced sharing settings
6
Check “Share this folder” and type in the share name. We suggest making it short and simple, so that it’s easier to type.
Changing the share name
7
To connect to the computer, learn its IP. Open CMD from the Search bar.
Opening the command prompt
8
Run “ipconfig”. Find your IPv4 address.

How to find your IP on Windows
Now to connect to the shared folder.
9
Open the Windows Explorer. Click the address bar and enter
\\[your ip]\[share name].
Accessing the folder
10
Enter the username and the password of the sharing user.

Enter the username and the password
You now have access to the folder.
Related Articles

How to Start a Remote File Server on Linux

This tutorial has been tested on Debian, and the steps may vary on different systems. You may need to add a UFW exception on OSes that use a firewall, or install the packages through a different package manager specific to your system. There are also alternative ways to access server files remotely.

1
Run sudo apt install samba.
run the command
2
Configure Samba to create a share. Run sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf.

configure samba to create a share
The share name is written at the top in square brackets, and the share’s parameters are added in newlines.

Our share, in this example:

[documents]
path = /home/bobby/Documents
read only = no
browsable = yes
3
Run sudo service smbd restart and sudo smbpasswd -a [your username]. Enter the password for your share.
run the command
4
Run ip a and find your local IP.
Switch to the other computer.
1
Open Nautilus. Click “Other locations”.
2
Click the address bar next to “Connect to Server” and enter \\[ip address]\[share name].
run the command
3
Select “Registered user” and enter the credentials.

select registered user and enter the credentials
Now, the folder is browsable.

Access Computer Files Remotely with USB Network Gate

Network USB device sharing is a great alternative to SMB for remote file access, since not only can you share the files, but also physically remove the storage device and transfer it to a different computer.

In addition to being fast, USB Network Gate supports traffic compression and encryption, and allows you to revoke access to a shared device at any time. In addition, external storage devices allow you to format and partition them in any way you want, without the risk of damaging your operating system.

How to Share Storage on Windows 11 with USB Network Gate

1
Download and install USB Network Gate on both computers.
Download and install USB Network Gate
2
On the computer with the attached USB storage device, activate the copy. This can be either done by getting a 14-day free trial, or a full license.
Activate the copy
3
In the “Local devices” tab, click “Share” next to the storage device.
share
4
On the remote computer, select the now-available device and press “Connect”.
connect
5
Your storage device will now appear in the Explorer.

How to Use USB Network Gate on Linux

1
Download the USB Network Gate .deb or .rpm on both computers.
Install USB Network Gate
2
Open the download folder in the Terminal.
Open the download folder
3
Use your package manager to install USB Network Gate. In our case, it’s apt. After using dpkg, run apt-get install -f to get the prerequisite packages.
run the command
4
Activate the copy that you will use to share the storage device. The connecting computer does not need activation.
Activate the copy
5
You can now share the device and access it from other instances of USB Network Gate on the local network.

Cloud Alternatives

Cloud storage solutions have the distinct advantage of being accessible over the internet, unlike the previous two solutions. Many services provide a desktop app that allows you to designate a cloud-synced folder. However, the free storage provided by these services is very limited, and the apps are not always up-to-date or guaranteed to work with your system. For local networks, we recommend trying the other methods before going for cloud sync.

USB Network Gate
Redirect USB devices over network
Try for Free
14-day Free Trial available
License price starts at $159.95
Available for