A NAS earns its keep the day everyone in the house can open its folders like they were on their own PC. This page covers the share setup in TrueNAS - one dataset per job, SMB switched on properly, and the simple test order that finds why a folder refuses to open, because it is almost always permissions, not the network.
Shares are where TrueNAS meets real life: a Media folder the TV can read, a Documents folder only the family can write to, a Backups folder nobody browses by accident. The recipe below is deliberately plain - dataset first, share second, permissions third, test from a second device last - and that order is what keeps it painless.
Example of mapping a TrueNAS share in Windows - use your own NAS address and share name.
In TrueNAS, a share is a window into a dataset - so create the datasets first: Media, Documents, Backups, one per job. Then go to Sharing → Windows Shares (SMB) → Add, choose the dataset, give the share the same plain name, and save. Matching names (dataset Media, share Media) keep future-you out of confusion. Under Services, confirm SMB is running and set to start automatically.
On Windows, open File Explorer, type the NAS address in the address bar - \\192.168.1.50\Media with your own address - or right-click This PC → Map network drive to give it a permanent drive letter. On a Mac, Finder → Go → Connect to Server, enter smb://192.168.1.50/Media. Sign in with the NAS user account you created, not your Windows or Apple password, and tick the option to remember it.
Keep guest access off. Give the family group read and write on Media, read and write for parents and read-only for children on Documents, and keep Backups visible to almost nobody. Set these on the dataset under Permissions in TrueNAS. This sounds strict; in practice it is what stops a guest laptop, or a piece of malware on one PC, from browsing everything you own.
Work down the list instead of changing five settings at once - the step that changes the result is the answer.
Every step shown live on screen - installation, pools, shares and the settings that matter.
▶️ Watch Full VideoBecause Windows first tries its own login, and the NAS wants the NAS account. Choose 'connect using different credentials' and enter the TrueNAS user you created for that person. Once Windows remembers the right pair, the asking stops.
Yes. On iPhone, the Files app connects to an SMB server directly. On Android, most file managers offer a network or SMB option. Same address, same NAS user, same permissions - the share does not care what device knocks.
Make a separate small dataset for that - call it Drop - with its own rules, instead of opening your real folders. Anything on the family or office network can read a guest share, including things you would rather it did not.