This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(115.19999999999999, 83%, 21%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ER%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
I've been trying to move off of Linux and over to Windows 11 and I've come across an issue I'm unsure of how to resolve.
So I've mapped a network drive (to Z:) which contains information needed in some programs that I run. In those programs, they specify a file path to look in that looks like "media\NewtworkDrive" - if I try and change the program to look for the info instead in, say, "Z:", that will mess up things for other people still using Linux. In Linux, I am able to mount the drive to a specified folder or path (the media folder in this case) - is there an analogue to this in Windows? Or a way to add a path to a network drive? I know how to add a path to a local drive using Disk Management, but network drives don't show up in disk management.
Hopefully my issue makes sense, let me know if clarification is required, and thank you!
-Ryan
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
mklink could work for you.
mklink /d C:\myprograms \\server\share\foldername\
mklink /d D:\myprograms D:\shared\
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/mklink
--please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--
So I've been trying to get this to work, but thus far I've been unsuccessful. I create a symbolic link (which is basically a shortcut for my understanding) to the Z drive (the mapped network drive) and my program still can't find the data when I look for it as the shortcut doesn't change the actual location - basically media/Data/Models/ still doesn't exist, the shortcut located at /media and called Data then takes us to Z:/Models, where my program gets lost.
I tried then creating a symbolic link directly to the server (rather than the Z drive), but trying to use that gives me a username/password error since it doesn't actually log into the network drive.
So basically I'm not sure this worked, unless I've missed something.
Edit: I made a symbolic link after mapping the drive and that seemed to save the credentials so the link works now, but now the path looks like "\10.44.114.75\Data..." which also isn't media\Data, so it still doesn't work unfortunately.
It is a little wonky. I created a link to a network share. The link shows as a shortcut and then when I browse to a file with notepad.exe the file open dialog box snaps to the network share path.
So this did end up fixing my issue after some messing with it - basically I had to set my root folder in MatLab (the program I'm using to analyze the data I'm accessing) to be above the shortcut - so I set the root folder to just C:\ and my shortcut is C:\media and now Matlab reads the full path as being C:\media\Data... so it works.
What I was doing before was actually going into the shortcut, which snaps the path to the network share path and thus doesn't work.
Anyway, I marked this as the solution!
Ok, makes sense. Glad to hear it worked out.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(60.8, 45%, 15%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EAO%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Hello Ryan, Welcome to Windows.
Yes, there is an analogue to mounting a network drive to a specified folder or path in Windows. It's called "mapping a network drive".
To map a network drive in Windows 11:
Once you've mapped the network drive, you should be able to access it using the drive letter you selected (in your case, "Z:"). You can also create a shortcut to the network drive on your desktop or in your Start menu for easy access.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.
If symbolic links are not working for you, you could try creating a junction point in Windows. Junction points are similar to symbolic links in Linux and can be used to create a "fake" folder that points to another location on your system.
Here's a link to Microsoft's official documentation on how to map a network drive in Windows 11:
And here's a link to their documentation on how to create a symbolic link in Windows:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/mklink
I hope these resources are helpful!