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🗂️ Synology NAS Guide

Synology Shared Folder Setup with Users Groups and Permissions Complete Guide

Create Synology shared folders the right way - users first, groups by team, permissions last, SMB on, recycle bin on. A complete DSM guide with the mistakes to avoid.

✍️ Technical Anshu🗄️ Synology DSM 6 / 7⏱️ Shared folder setup in about 20 minutes
🎥 Watch the full setup in the video - shared folders on Synology NAS, step by step

A Synology NAS becomes useful the day other people can actually use it - and that means shared folders with the right users, groups and permissions. Most people create one folder, give everyone full access, and spend the next year untangling the mess. Do it in the order on this page - users first, groups second, folders third, permissions last - and the same setup stays clean for years.

DSM - Control Panel - Shared Folder
Shared folders on OFFICE-NAS (example)
accountsgroup: accounts-team Read/Write
officegroup: everyone Read/Write
archive-2024group: managers Read only
accountsuser: guest No access

Example only - a healthy Synology shared folder list. Permissions are given to groups, not to individual people.

1

Create a User Account for Every Person First

Never share one common login. One account per person is what makes permissions, quotas and the recycle bin meaningful later.

  1. Open Control Panel → User & Group → User tab → Create
  2. Enter the person's name and a strong password; let DSM enforce its password policy
  3. Repeat for every team member - five minutes per person, once
  4. Keep the built-in admin account for administration only, never for daily file work
2

Make Groups That Match Your Teams

Groups are the whole trick. You will give permissions to groups, so when someone joins or leaves you change the group once - not twelve folders.

  1. User & Group → Group tab → Create
  2. Name groups after teams: accounts-team, sales-team, managers
  3. Add each user to the groups they belong to
  4. One person can sit in several groups - that is normal and fine
3

Create the Shared Folder

Now the folder itself. A shared folder is the top-level unit DSM manages - everything else (subfolders, files) lives inside it.

  1. Control Panel → Shared Folder → Create → Create Shared Folder
  2. Give it a short, clear name like accounts or office, pick the volume, add a description
  3. Tick Enable Recycle Bin in the wizard - future you says thank you
  4. Skip encryption unless you truly need it; an encrypted folder must be mounted before anyone can use it
  5. Finish the wizard, then set permissions in the next step
4

Give Permissions to Groups, Not People

Select the folder → Edit → Permissions. For every group you have three honest choices: Read/Write, Read only, or No access.

  1. Set each group's level - for example accounts-team gets Read/Write on accounts, everyone else gets No access
  2. Leave individual user entries alone unless there is a real exception - exceptions are where clean setups go to die
  3. Remember the golden rule: No access (deny) always wins over any allow, even one coming from another group
5

Turn On SMB So Windows and Mac Can Reach It

Folders nobody can open are just expensive storage. The SMB service is what Windows and modern Macs use to connect.

  1. Control Panel → File Services → SMB tab → tick Enable SMB service → Apply
  2. On DSM 7, also open the Advanced tab and enable WS-Discovery so the NAS appears under Windows Network
  3. From a Windows PC press Win + R and type \\OFFICE-NAS\accounts (your NAS name and folder name) or use its IP address
  4. Log in with the person's own NAS username and password - not the admin account
6

Test as a Normal User Before Announcing It

Log in as one ordinary user and try to open every folder. You should see exactly what that person is meant to see - no more, no less. Fix surprises now, while the setup is small: a folder they cannot open is a permission problem, a folder they should not see at all can be hidden with Hide folders and files from users without permissions in the folder's Edit screen. This two-minute test is the difference between a setup and a hope.

🔴 Honest warning: permissions protect folders from honest mistakes and casual browsing - they are not a backup. A user with Read/Write can still delete everything they can touch, which is exactly why the recycle bin and snapshots exist. Set those up too.

🎥 Watch the Complete Video Guide

The full shared folder setup - creating folders, users and permissions - shown live on a Synology NAS.

▶️ Watch Full Video
❓ Common Questions (FAQ)

Where do I create a shared folder in DSM?

In Control Panel, open Shared Folder and click Create, then follow the Shared Folder Creation Wizard. You choose the name, the volume, whether the recycle bin is on, and then assign permissions. Only users in the administrators group can create shared folders.

Should I give permissions to users or to groups?

To groups, almost always. People join, leave and change teams; groups stay stable. If permissions are given person by person, removing one leaver means hunting through every folder. With groups, you remove the person from the group once and every folder is correct again.

What is the difference between Read only and No access?

Read only means the user can open and copy files but cannot change or delete them. No access means the folder is completely closed to that user - and No access is the strongest setting in DSM. If a user gets No access from any one group, it beats Read/Write from every other group.

This guide is based on the Technical Anshu Synology shared folder video • Stuck on a step? Ask in the video comments - answers come there 🙏