WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 When you connect your laptop to a new Wi-Fi network, it's never enough for Windows to 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:10.320 just connect you and be done with it. It always asks you this rather cryptic question about 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:16.400 whether you want your PC to be discoverable on the network, with a warning that you shouldn't do it 00:00:16.400 --> 00:00:22.160 if you're sitting at a Starbucks or something. But many folks have never quite understood 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:28.880 what picking one option over the other one means. And even more frustrating is that if you click the 00:00:28.880 --> 00:00:34.080 wrong thing or click away from it, it's very difficult to find that prompt again. 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:41.600 So basically what it comes down to is whether you want to use file and device sharing for devices 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:46.720 that would commonly be something like a printer on your local network. And lots of people never 00:00:46.720 --> 00:00:52.720 bother with this, but it can be useful. So let's have a look at what answering that question yes 00:00:52.800 --> 00:00:57.840 or no actually does and how to take advantage of the associated features. 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:02.880 If you tell Windows that you don't want your computer to be discoverable, it won't let any 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:08.800 other devices on the network see any files or devices that you're sharing either. And this 00:01:08.800 --> 00:01:13.600 is simply meant as another layer of protection if you're on a strange network, like one at an 00:01:13.600 --> 00:01:20.080 airport, library, or a Tinder dates apartment who you just met like an hour ago. But if you answer 00:01:20.080 --> 00:01:25.920 yes, it will allow you to share those things on whatever network you're connected to. So 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:32.160 how do you get that set up? Well, unfortunately, Windows doesn't make it super obvious and the 00:01:32.160 --> 00:01:35.920 home group feature that was meant to make file sharing a bit more straightforward 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:42.960 was axed in Windows 10 because ironically, nobody used it. The easiest way to share things locally 00:01:42.960 --> 00:01:48.320 is to create a folder containing everything that you'd like your friends or roommates or whoever 00:01:48.320 --> 00:01:53.760 to have access to. And you can do this after creating and filling up the folder by right 00:01:53.760 --> 00:02:00.160 clicking on it, then going give access to then selecting specific people. You'll see a menu 00:02:00.160 --> 00:02:05.600 pop up and in that drop down box, you can select everyone if you just want to share that folder 00:02:05.600 --> 00:02:10.880 broadly with everyone on your local network. Though it's very important to be sure to select 00:02:10.880 --> 00:02:15.920 what permission level you'd like to give other users. You can select read if you don't want 00:02:15.920 --> 00:02:21.360 anyone modifying the files like if you're sharing a game cache or something. Then all you need to 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:26.560 do is click share and you'll be given a path to send to the other users on your network. Just 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:32.960 have them type it into the file explorer address bar a voila. Your files are now available network 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:38.960 wide. If instead you only want to share with certain people, you can make another user account on 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:44.640 your computer with a password and then type that username into the box in the sharing window. 00:02:44.640 --> 00:02:48.800 Then you can give those credentials to whomever you want to have access to the files 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:52.720 and when they access the appropriate path, they'll be asked to enter them. 00:02:52.720 --> 00:02:56.880 But what about sharing a printer? This is actually a little more straightforward 00:02:56.880 --> 00:03:02.240 even if the setting itself is buried a little bit. Go to your main Windows 10 settings app, 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:07.280 select devices, then printers and scanners. Whichever printer is connected to your local PC 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:13.680 should pop up. You just select it and click on manage. Now annoyingly you don't get a nice big 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:19.600 button that says share. So instead you need to click on printer properties and in the box that 00:03:19.600 --> 00:03:24.800 pops up you should see a tab up top labeled sharing. Click it then check the box that says 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:30.640 share this printer. Give it a funny name or just anything that people on your network will recognize 00:03:30.640 --> 00:03:36.240 then click okay. Now as long as the host computer is turned on anyone on the network should be able 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:40.880 to add the printer from that same printers and scanners menu by clicking the printer I want 00:03:40.880 --> 00:03:46.480 isn't listed then entering the path in this format or just browsing for it. Now I know that 00:03:46.480 --> 00:03:50.880 there are more advanced and more secure ways to share files and printers across the network 00:03:50.880 --> 00:03:55.520 which I'm sure our viewers will be happy to discuss in the comments. But hopefully this guide 00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:01.680 has demystified the topic a bit and will help get you up and running. As for me, I'm not gonna 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:07.360 bother because I never learned to share as a kid and besides, printer ink is expensive. Thanks for 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:12.240 watching guys. Like, dislike, check out our other videos, leave a comment if you have a suggestion 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:18.560 for a future fast as possible and don't forget to subscribe and follow because if you don't do it then 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:23.360 fleas will bite your toes while you sleep and nobody wants that.