I have two Windows 11 machines that will not talk to each other on the network

Question

I have two windows 11 machines that will not file share with each other.

I have tried every solution offered online and had two IT professionals look at it and neither machine will accept any network credentials.

Answer 1

Hello Doug Field,

When two Windows 11 machines refuse to accept network credentials during file sharing, the root cause is almost always tied to authentication policy mismatches rather than basic sharing settings. Windows 11 enforces stricter SMB and NTLM rules compared to older versions, and if those policies are misaligned, you’ll see repeated credential prompts that never succeed.

The first thing to confirm is that both machines are in the same network profile type. Go to Settings → Network & Internet → Properties and ensure both are set to “Private” network. If either is set to “Public,” Windows will block inbound SMB connections regardless of sharing settings.

Next, check the local security policy. Open secpol.msc and navigate to Local Policies → Security Options → Network security: LAN Manager authentication level. On Windows 11, this often defaults to “Send NTLMv2 response only. Refuse LM & NTLM.” If the other machine is attempting NTLM or LM, authentication will fail. Set both machines to the same level, ideally NTLMv2 only, and reboot.

Also verify that password protected sharing is enabled. Go to Control Panel → Network and Sharing Center → Advanced sharing settings and under “All Networks,” ensure “Password protected sharing” is turned on. If it is off, Windows will reject credential prompts.

If you are still blocked, check the SMB protocol state. Run Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName SMB1Protocol in PowerShell. SMB1 should remain disabled, but SMB Direct and SMB2/3 must be enabled. If one machine has SMB disabled, authentication will fail.

Finally, confirm that the accounts you are using exist on both machines with identical usernames and passwords, or that you are using domain accounts if joined to a domain. Windows 11 will not accept credentials for accounts that do not exist locally or in the domain.

If after aligning these policies the issue persists, collect the exact error code from Event Viewer under Applications and Services Logs → Microsoft → Windows → SMBClient/SMBServer. That will show whether the rejection is due to bad credentials, policy mismatch, or disabled protocol. Without that log, you are troubleshooting blind.

I hope you've found something useful here. If it helps you get more insight into the issue, it's appreciated to accept the answer. Should you have more questions, feel free to leave a message. Have a nice day!

Domic Vo.