Shared network drive opening under "Network" in File Explorer

Question

Shared network drive opening under "Network" in File Explorer

Mauri Koiranen 11

Hello,

couple of my colleagues use a Azure Files shared network drive. The drive is huge (over 1 TB), so they share links with each other to the folders using email when they co-operate on some projects.

During last couple days they noticed that clicking the link in the email sometimes opens a "different" shared drive. In the File Explorer the "different" is visible under the "Network" and NOT under "This PC" where the correct version of the said network drive is. The both of them are visible in the pic attached, other under "This PC" and the one under "Network". I know the latter one is a wrong one, since the files uploaded there or changes made to them are not visible to other users.

How could this latter instance be disabled or stopped?

Thanks!

BR,
Mauri

Carlos Solís Salazar 18,191 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2022-07-20T20:37:27.967+00:00

Thank you for asking this question on the **Microsoft Q&A Platform. **

You have not received answers or comments to your question because it may be ambiguous or confusing.

I recommend you visit How to write a quality question and verify that your question meets some of the recommendations.

Hope this helps,
Carlos Solís Salazar

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NOTE: To answer you as quickly as possible, please mention me in your reply.
SaiKishor-MSFT 17,336 Reputation points

2022-07-25T19:08:09.037+00:00

@Mauri Koiranen Any update?

4 answers

Your answer

Carlos Solís Salazar 18,191 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2022-07-20T20:37:27.967+00:00

Thank you for asking this question on the **Microsoft Q&A Platform. **

You have not received answers or comments to your question because it may be ambiguous or confusing.

I recommend you visit How to write a quality question and verify that your question meets some of the recommendations.

Hope this helps,
Carlos Solís Salazar

----------

NOTE: To answer you as quickly as possible, please mention me in your reply.
SaiKishor-MSFT 17,336 Reputation points

2022-07-25T19:08:09.037+00:00

@Mauri Koiranen Any update?

Answer 1

Dillon Silzer 57,826 Volunteer Moderator

Hey @Mauri Koiranen

It is quite possible that someone has turned on network sharing/network discovery. Ensure that people turn off network discovery and see if this rids of the connection.

Under Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings you can find these settings:

Private:

Public:

------------------------------------------

If this is helpful please mark as correct answer.

Answer 2

Mauri Koiranen 11

Hello @Dillon Silzer I tried that too, but it didn't help regarding this issue.

Answer 3

SaiKishor-MSFT 17,336

@Mauri Koiranen Thanks for being patient while I was checking on this issue. This issue seems like more of a Windows OS issue rather than Azure Files.

Have you checked if other folks have had issues with regular File Shares (not just Azure File shares) with windows and also see if there is a way to make Windows resolve it to the mounted path?

Answer 4

Mauri Koiranen 11

Hello @Dillon Silzer

We don't have other file shares in use apart from SharePoint so I can't confirm this.

I came across the following article from Microsoft:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/troubleshoot/excel/network-mapped-drive-hyperlinks-unc

Could this be the cause?
Outlook resolves a mapped network folder link as a UNC path and therefore it opens in Network instead of in mapped drive as expected?

BR,
Mauri

SaiKishor-MSFT 17,336 Reputation points

2022-07-27T19:21:33.567+00:00

Itseems related to what you mentioned. And from the Resolution part of it- There is no resolution for this. Microsoft recommends that users insert hyperlinks using the UNC path to prevent confusion in cases where opening a file via UNC or network mapped drive might make a difference in the expected behavior in the file.

Itseems you just have to change the way you add the hyperlink. This is very useful and thanks for sharing it @Mauri Koiranen . I am glad that you found the resolution to this issue and that you shared it here.

Please do let us know if you have any further questions/concerns and we will be glad to assist further. Thank you!

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Shared network drive opening under "Network" in File Explorer

4 answers

Your answer