To create a new remote file share connection, you have two options with net use. This command allows you to connect to remote file shares to copy files to, remove from, etc just like if the folder you’re connecting to was local. Creating Remote ConnectionsĬreating new connections is one of the most common reasons to use the net use command. This command is capable of connecting to printers and other devices but for this tutorial, you’re going to focus on remote file shares. Much of the content you’ll see around net use refers to the endpoints it works with as ‘connections’ instead of ‘drives’. Throughout this tutorial, you’re going to learn about each parameter and see in what use case each parameter fits. The net use command can view device connections, create new connections and remove them. Using net help to find net use parameters It does this using various parameters and switches as shown below. The net use command enables you to work with files on network file shares.

A user account with read access to the file share and NTFS read permissions to the folder the share is pointing to.

This tutorial will be connecting to an administrative file share called C$ on a server called DEVSRV.

One or more available file shares on an accessible server part of an Active Directory domain.

If not though, you’ll always need to pass a username and password to authenticate to the remote file share. The net use command will work in non-domain environments.

A Windows client computer (any version will work) in an Active Directory domain.

To follow along with any examples in this tutorial, ensure you have at least:

Let’s dig into the net use command and cover what it’s capable of and how to use it in this tutorial.

The net use command is a legacy, yet still completely functional command to create, remove and manage SMB Windows mapped connections and drives. Not seeing the video? Make sure your ad blocker is disabled.

Netdrive alternative