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Accessing files on local or remote disk drives

Start your journey to the next level of remote computing

If you use your remote computer as a file server whether it's for storage or data security reasons, or simply find yourself having to upload and download files between computers frequently during a NoMachine session, a better solution might be to connect the disk, or drive. By forwarding a disk using NoMachine’s ‘Connect a disk’ feature, the contents of the remote or local operating system's disk are shared to or from the other computer. NoMachine lets you access any local or remote disk during the life of your remote desktop session. The remote and local systems can be Mac, Windows or Linux, it doesn’t matter. NoMachine lets you connect disk drives and access all the files and data on them for the duration of the session. You can redirect local disk drives, including the hard disk drives, CD-ROM disk drives, and mapped network disk drives to the remote side, and vice-versa, meaning that the connected disk will show up in the remote or local file explorer (on Windows), finder (on Mac) and file manager (on Linux) depending on which direction you forwarded it. Just follow the simple steps below.

How to share the local disk to the remote computer

Connecting a local disk to the remote desktop

Step 1: Connect to the remote computer

  • Start a connection from your computer to the remote computer you want to access.
  • Once connected, open the session menu (Ctrl-Alt-0).
  • Go to Devices and click on 'Connect a disk'.
Go to devices in the connection menu

Fig. 1 - Click on 'Connect a disk' in Devices

Step 2: Choose from the available disks

  • Click on the disk you want to share e.g. the local Mac 'Mainframe' partition in Local disks (Fig. 2).
Select the disk you want to connect in the session

Fig. 2 - Select 'Mainframe' to connect that disk within your remote session

  • Check 'Export this disk at session startup' if you want this to be automatically connected every time you run the session to the remote desktop (Fig. 3).
  • You can provide a unique name for this disk or folder for easier identification (e.g., My_Office_Documents) in the 'Export as' field. The disk will appear with this name in the file manager of the remote computer.
  • NoMachine also indicates the path to the disk so you can locate it easily.
You can rename the disk which will be shown on the remote host for easier identification

Fig. 3 - Rename the disk for easier identification on the remote desktop

Step 3: Wait for the disk to be connected

  • Click Connect, and check that a green dot appears next to your selected disk.
Once connected a green dot will show up by next to the disk's icon in the session menu

Fig. 4 - A green dot indicates that the disk is connected and available from within the session

Step 4: Disk successfully connected

  • You're done!
  • Close the session menu and browse to the file manager, or explorer, of the remote desktop. You will see the local disk or drive you just shared in the list of available resources.
Example of local disk visible on the remote host

Fig. 5 - The local disk renamed to My Office Documents appears in the file manager of the remote Windows desktop

How to share the remote disk to the local computer

Connecting a remote disk to the local desktop

Step 1: Connect to the remote computer

  • Start a connection from your computer to the remote computer you want to access.
  • Once connected, open the session menu (Ctrl-Alt-0).
  • Go to Devices and click on 'Connect a disk'.
Go to devices in the connection menu

Fig. 6 - Click on 'Connect a disk' in Devices

Step 2: Choose from the available disks

  • Click on the remote disk you want to share to the local file manager of the computer you are connecting from. In the example below, the disk to be shared is Windows 'D:' partition.
Select the disk you want to connect in the session

Fig. 7 - Select 'D:' available on the remote desktop to connect that disk to your local desktop

  • Check 'Import this disk at session startup' if you want this to be automatically connected every time you run the session to the remote desktop (Fig. 8).
  • If you prefer, you can provide a unique name for this disk or folder for easier identification in the 'Import as' field. This is optional. The disk will appear with this name in the local file explorer, or file manager, of your computer.
  • NoMachine also indicates the path to the disk so you can locate it easily.
You can rename the disk which will be shown on the local host for easier identification

Fig. 8 - Rename the disk for easier identification on the local desktop

Step 3: Wait for the disk to be connected

  • Click Connect, and check that a green dot appears next to your selected disk.
Once connected a green dot will show up by next to the disk's icon in the session menu

Fig. 9 - A green dot indicates that the disk is connected and available from within the session

Step 4: Disk successfully connected

  • You're done and close the session menu.
  • Browse to the file manager, or explorer, of the computer you are connecting from. You will see the disk or drive you just shared in the list of available local resources.
Example of remote disk visible on the local desktop

Fig. 10 - The remote disk My Home Documents appears in the local desktop's file manager

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If you're looking for fast and reliable remote access that enables you to work from home and provide remote support to friends, download and install NoMachine. You can access all your files, view all your videos, play all your audio, edit your documents and more.