Cannot Navigate to a Network Location Using Address Bar

Question

Hi Community,

I have a Windows 10 user that has several mapped network drives. The user would prefer to use the address bar located at the top of file explorer to get to a network drive location by file path name, such as entering \remote-network-location , in the address bar I marked with the red X. The user can get to the network locations through the side navigation just fine or from the mapped network locations, but cannot reach them through the method he prefers. I cannot replicate this issue on my system nor can teammates - meaning I can use the address bar to access the same network locations that this user cannot access. When we try to access a network drive the file explorer either says that it can't find any files or it will appear to attempt to find/load the network drive but when the progress bar finishes, nothing happens.

We tried re-indexing the user's search, but I'm at a loss of what else we can try. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Hello there,

If you are unable to navigate to a network location using the address bar in Windows Explorer, there are several potential reasons and solutions to consider:

Network Connectivity Issues:

Check if your network connection is working correctly. Ensure that you are connected to the network and have internet access if required.

If you are trying to access a local network location, make sure that your computer is connected to the correct network and that you can access other network resources.

Check Network Location Path:

Ensure that you are entering the correct network location path in the address bar. The correct format for accessing network resources is usually like this: \server_name\share_name. Make sure you replace server_name with the name of the server hosting the shared folder and share_name with the name of the shared folder.

Network Discovery and File Sharing:

Make sure that network discovery and file sharing are enabled on both your computer and the computer hosting the network location. To check this, go to "Control Panel" > "Network and Sharing Center" > "Advanced sharing settings" and verify that network discovery and file sharing are turned on.

Firewall and Antivirus Settings:

Check your firewall and antivirus settings to ensure they are not blocking network traffic. Sometimes, third-party security software can interfere with network access.

Temporarily disable your firewall or antivirus to see if it resolves the issue. If it does, you may need to adjust the settings to allow network access.

I used AI provided by ChatGPT to formulate part of this response. I have verified that the information is accurate before sharing it with you.

Hope this resolves your Query !!

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Senthil K