Windows PC for iMac Archives

Apple is becoming more popular everyday (I love my MacBook and it’s selling in record numbers this year), yet most people still have Windows PCs at home. If you are running both Macs and PCs on your network, there’s a good chance you might want to share files between your Mac and PC. You can do this in one of two directions: either access Mac files from a Windows PC or access Windows files from a Mac.

Today I’m going to talk about how you can share files on your Mac and access them on your PC. The process is fairly simple and should work as long as you are on the same network and don’t have any over zealous security settings configured on your Mac.

The first thing you’ll need to do is enable file sharing on your Mac. Here’s how to do it.

Enable File Sharing on Mac OS X

First go to the System Preferences menu option by clicking on the Apple icon at the top left and then clicking on System Preferences.

Now click on the Sharing icon, which is where we need to go to configure all the sharing options.

Before you get started, make sure to click on the little gold lock icon at the bottom left otherwise everything will be greyed out and you won’t be able to make any changes.

Now go ahead and check the File Sharing box under Service to enable file sharing. This one dialog pretty much contains all the settings and options for sharing. Starting at the top, you can change your computer name to something less complex so Windows users have an easier time connecting. If you don’t, OS X will give it a short name automatically so that Windows can recognize it. Click the Edit button to change the name.

You’ll also see the IP address for the computer listed by the Options button. Under Shared Folders, the Public folder is shared out by default. Click the little + (plus) button to share any folder on your hard drive. Under Users, you can see the standard permissions and edit them as you see fit.

The only other thing you have to do is click on the Options button and you’ll see a section at the bottom called Windows File Sharing. In order to connect from a Windows machine, you have to check the box next to the user name and enter your password. For whatever reason, OS X has to store your Mac user account password in a less secure way in order to connect from a Windows machine. If you don’t do this step, you’ll be asked to enter the username and password from your Windows machine, but it will just give you an error even if you type it in correctly.

That’s about it from the Mac side. Now it’s time to try connect from your Windows machine.

Connect to Mac from Windows

There are a couple of ways you can do this. One way is to simply open up Explorer and click on Network. You should see the Mac computer listed there.

If Windows asks you to enable Network Discovery, then go ahead and do that. Now when you double-click on the computer name, it should pop up a login dialog box. Enter the same username and password that you had entered in the Windows File sharing dialog on OS X earlier. If the user account on your Mac had spaces, don’t worry because Windows can handle it just fine.

If everything went well, you should see some shared folders now on your Windows computer!

Another way to connect is to use the Run command from the Start Menu. Click on Start, then Run and type in the IP address or computer name:

Now you’ll get the same dialog box where you have to enter the username and password for your Mac user account. You should now be able to copy files back and forth from Windows to Mac and vice versa.

The only setting that can cause issues is the firewall on OS X. Everything should work fine with the firewall enabled with default settings, but if you go to firewall and then Firewall Options, you can block all incoming connections. If this item is checked, then file sharing will no longer work.

Just uncheck that option under firewall options and you should be good to go. If you have any other trouble sharing your Mac files with your PC, post a comment and I’ll see if I can help. Enjoy!

Do you need to transfer files from Mac to Windows? Don't worry; it's a straightforward process.

There are a few different approaches you can take. You can easily do a Mac to Windows file transfer using both operating systems' native tools. Alternatively, there are a few third-party solutions worth checking out.

Below we explain how to transfer files from Mac to Windows, as well as how to transfer files from PC to Mac.

How to Transfer Files From Mac to Windows

The most obvious way to transfer files from Mac to Windows is to use the built-in functions that both operating systems offer.

However, this has one significant drawback. The process will only work if both the Mac and Windows computers are on the same local network. If they aren't, you can skip ahead to the section on third-party solutions.

Set Up File Sharing on a Mac

To share files between a Mac and PC, there are some settings that you'll need to tweak. First, you need to allow your Mac to share its files. Follow these steps to do this:

1. Click on the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of the screen.
2. Go to System Preferences > Sharing.
3. Mark the checkbox next to File Sharing in the left panel.
4. Click on the Options button and a new window will open.
5. Enable the checkbox next to Share files and folders using SMB.
6. Additionally, tick the box next to Share files and folders using AFP.
7. In the Windows File Sharing section below, mark the checkbox alongside each user whose files you want to share.
8. Enter the users' passwords.
9. Click on Done.

You'll now be back on the Sharing window. Next, you need to choose which folders and users you're going to share with your Windows computer. Press the Plus (+) and Minus (-) buttons below Shared Folders and Shared Users to adjust your preferences.

Finally, you need to make a note of your Mac's IP address. You will see this below the File Sharing: On message.

Access Mac Files on Windows

Now it's time to head to your Windows computer. Follow the instructions below to transfer files from Mac to Windows:

1. Open File Explorer.
2. In the address bar at the top of the window, type \\ followed by your Mac's IP address. It should look something like this: \\192.168.1.68.
3. A new window will pop up asking for a username and password.
4. Enter the credentials exactly as they appear on your Mac.

File Explorer will display any folders and users that you've added to the Shared Folders and Shared Users lists on your Mac. You can move, edit, and copy folders like any other Windows folders. Thus, to transfer a file from Mac to Windows, just drag and drop it into one of your local folders.

How to Transfer Files From PC to Mac

That wasn't too tough, right? Now let's look at the reverse process: how to transfer files from Windows to Mac.

Set Up File Sharing on Windows

To begin, you need to make sure that Network Discovery is turned on in Windows. Fire up your Windows PC and work through the following steps:

1. Open the Settings app and go to Network & internet.
2. On the left panel, click on Status.
3. Under Change your network settings, select Sharing options.
4. Expand either the Private Network or Public Network menu, depending on your current connection type.
5. Mark the checkbox next to Turn on network discovery.
6. Mark the checkbox next to File and printer sharing.
7. Click on Save changes.

(Note: We don't recommend enabling network discovery or file sharing on public networks. They are typically far less secure than private networks. Instead, use one of the other options we'll briefly discuss later.)

To share folders on a case-by-case basis, right-click on the folder's name and go to Properties > Sharing > Network File and Folder Sharing > Share.

You'll also need to make a note of your Windows machine's IP address (Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi > Hardware Properties) or computer name (Settings > System > About).

Access Windows Files on Mac

Once you're happy with your sharing options, it's time to transfer your files from PC to Mac. Follow the steps below to do this:

1. Open the Finder app.
2. In the menu bar at the top of the screen, select Go > Connect to Server.
3. Type either smb://[IP address] or smb://[computer name] and press Enter.
4. You will be prompted to enter your Windows username and password.
5. When you're ready, click on Connect.

Your shared Windows content will be available in the Shared section of Finder. To transfer files from your PC to your Mac, just drag and drop as needed.

Other Ways to Share Files Between Mac and PC

You're not limited to the above built-in methods; there are other ways to share files from Windows to Mac. These methods will work if your two computers are not on the same network.

1. Use a Cloud Storage Service

Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive all have dedicated apps available for both Windows and macOS. Just install them on the two systems and upload/download the files as needed. If you have spare iCloud storage, you might also consider using that to share files.

2. Use a USB Stick

A simple-but-effective solution for anyone who needs to transfer files from Mac to Windows quickly is to use a USB flash drive. If you don't own one, we recommend the SanDisk Ultra Flair 128GB model on Amazon.

3. Use Your Own Server

If you've already paid for web hosting, you could upload a file using FTP and download it back onto your other machine.

Some of the best web hosting services include WP Engine, InMotion, and Bluehost.

Learn More About Mac to Windows File Transfers

Hopefully, the various methods we've discussed will help you to share files between a Mac and a PC with ease. If you also need to do this with your phone, check out the easiest ways to transfer files between computers and mobile devices.

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Dan Price (1377 Articles Published)

Dan joined MakeUseOf in 2014 and has been Partnerships Director since July 2020. Reach out to him for inquires about sponsored content, affiliate agreements, promotions, and any other forms of partnership. You can also find him roaming the show floor at CES in Las Vegas every year, say hi if you're going. Prior to his writing career, he was a Financial Consultant.

More From Dan Price

I have a Mac and an external hard drive that includes some important family files. I bought a 4TB hard drive for my dad, and thought it would be easy to copy the files over so he could use them on his PC. However, my Mac doesn’t recognise his hard drive, and his PC won’t recognise my hard drive. Any suggestions?

Carla

The hard drives should not be a problem, unless your computers are very old. Macs and Windows machines do have their own preferred file formats for internal hard drives, but external hard drives don’t always ship with these pre-installed. They tend to use a version of Microsoft’s FAT file format, which dates back to the MS DOS (or IBM PC DOS) operating system used by the IBM PC in 1981. Most operating systems can read files in these old formats.

When DOS was born, popular hard drives only had 5MB or 10MB of storage space, which you could fill today with a single animated GIF. In 1996, Microsoft introduced FAT32 to handle much larger hard drives, and FAT32 is still in common use. However, hard drives keep getting bigger -- now they are typically 500GB to 4TB -- and in 2006, Microsoft released a new extended version, exFAT. In theory, this can handle drives up to 64 zettabytes, though 512TB is the recommended maximum.

Hard drives will have to double in size another seven times to reach that.

If your dad’s new 4TB EHD (external hard drive) has been formatted in FAT32 or exFAT, then both his PC and your Mac should be able to read it. All updated versions of Windows XP and later versions of Windows support both FAT32 and exFAT. Apple already supported FAT32 and it added support for exFAT in Mac OS X 10.6.5 (Snow Leopard) and later versions of OS X.

Even if the 4TB drive has been formatted in Windows’ NTFS (New Technology File System) format, then your Mac should still be able to read it, though it won’t be able to write to it. Apple added read-only support for NTFS in 2003 with Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) and many Mac users need it for running Windows under Boot Camp.

Your dad can check the format of his 4TB EHD by running Windows Explorer and selecting Computer in the left-hand pane. All the PC’s drives will be shown in the right-hand pane. If he right-clicks on the 4TB drive and selects Properties from the drop-down menu, the Properties sheet will have an entry for “File System” that will usually be NTFS or FAT32. Either should be fine. However, if both of you want to read and write to this particular EHD, I suggest reformatting it in exFAT while it’s still empty. You should then be able to copy files to it with your Mac. If your Mac still refuses to recognise it, you can tell it to initialise the drive as an MS-DOS disk (ie FAT32).

Meanwhile, your external hard drive is probably formatted in a version of Apple’s Hierarchical File System (HFS). Windows PCs won’t normally read that without an additional software driver, such as Erik Larsson’s HFSExplorer or the DiskInternals Linux Reader. (It’s a Windows program that reads Linux and Mac disks.) Both are free.

So, you could use your Mac to copy the files to your dad’s 4TB FAT32/exFAT drive, or your dad could install a free HFS+ driver and use his PC to read them from your Mac drive. I don’t know which would be simpler, but if the first one doesn’t work, you can try the second.

Finally, although an external hard drive is a good way to move files from a Mac to a PC, there are other ways to do it. The most obvious solution is to use a USB Flash drive. This can get tedious, depending on how much data you need to move. However, SanDisk sells thumb drives with capacities up to 128GB, so it’s just a case of deciding how big a drive you need. Some of the Amazon reviews complain that the transfer speed of the 128GB version is very slow, but trying to do it via a cloud storage system would be even slower.

A less obvious solution is to use a standard ethernet cable to connect the two machines together, as shown in this YouTube video. This should also work quickly.

Playing ALAC files in Windows

I have some Apple Lossless files on my Mac and also want to play them on my Windows PC. Is there a simple way to do this?

Anon

The problem with ALAC is that it’s not widely supported outside the Apple world, where FLAC is the de facto lossless standard. The answer depends on whether you want to convert your <A href=“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alac“>ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec)</A> music files to another format that’s more popular on Windows, and if so, which.

The options include FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and compressed “lossy” formats such as MP3 or AAC. If you don’t need the full fidelity of lossless playback, then Lame MP3 or AAC will save a lot of space. Apple lossless files take up about 5MB per minute whereas MP3 might be 1MB per minute.

One lossless format can be converted into another lossless format without any loss of sound quality, so that’s not a problem. However, people often convert lossless files into a compressed format for use on a PC, phone or MP3 player. This does cause some loss in sound quality, though you may not be able to hear the difference.

You should be able to play your ALAC files in Windows by using either the VLC media player or foobar2000, but that may not fit well with whatever you use at the moment. However, if you have an iPhone and/or an iPad or iPod, then these support Apple Lossless. Also, you will already be using iTunes for Windows, QuickTime etc. In this scenario, converting your ALAC files to FLAC would be a bad idea, though you should still consider AAC.

However, if you use an Android phone or tablet, then it may be worth converting them, as FLAC is now supported as standard on Android. On your PC, you can download a set of open codecs from Xiph.org. The package also includes support for Ogg Vorbis, Speex, Theora, and WebM. These are directshow filters and should work normally with Windows Media Player and hundreds of other standard Windows programs.

For people who do want to do file conversions, XLD (X Lossless Decoder) is a good option for Mac users. It’s also much better at ripping audio CDs than iTunes, more like EAC (Exact Audio Copy) for Windows.

Windows users who want to convert ALAC files to FLAC and other formats often like dbPowerAmp, but it costs £24 to register after the free trial period. People who can’t or won’t pay can use xrecode, or the foobar2000 media player to do file conversions.

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