The folder is shared, the other PC is on, the cable is in — and Windows 11 still refuses to open it. This failure is almost never one thing; it is a chain of small gates. Here is the whole chain, in the order that finds the closed gate fastest.
A shared folder fails at one of seven places: the address, the network profile, discovery, the sign-in, the permissions, the host firewall, or the way the connection was saved. Guessing wastes hours; working the ladder in order does not. Start at step 1 even if you are sure it is something else — each step either fixes the problem or proves that part of the chain is healthy, and you will never adjust a setting that was already correct. Nothing here requires reinstalling Windows, and nothing here weakens your security.
Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise, there might be a problem with your network. To try to identify and resolve network problems, click Diagnose.
Error code: 0x80070035
The network path was not found.
Before changing any setting, find out whether your PC can even reach the machine that holds the folder. Press Windows + R, type the host's IP address in the form \\192.168.1.50 and press Enter. You can find that address on the host PC by opening Command Prompt there and running ipconfig — it is the IPv4 Address line.
If the folder opens by IP address but not by computer name, your sharing is fine and only name resolution is failing — that is the most common pattern, and there is a dedicated page in this series for it. If even the IP address fails, keep going down this ladder; the block is lower down.
Windows treats every network as Public until you tell it otherwise, and on a Public network it deliberately blocks discovery and file sharing for your own safety. On a coffee-shop network that protection is correct. On your own home or office network it stops your folders from working.
Go to Settings → Network & internet → Wi-Fi (or Ethernet) → your network → Network profile type and choose Private. Do this on both PCs — the one asking for the folder and the one sharing it. A surprising number of 'it suddenly stopped working' cases are simply a network that got reclassified as Public after a router change or a Windows update.
Open Control Panel → Network and Internet → Network and Sharing Center → Change advanced sharing settings. Under the Private profile, switch on Network discovery (including the automatic setup option) and File and printer sharing, then save.
Discovery is what lets PCs announce themselves and appear under Network in File Explorer. If PCs never show up there even with discovery on, the background discovery services may be stopped — that has its own page in this series.
When Windows asks for network credentials, it wants a username and password that exist on the host PC — not your Microsoft password unless that account is also the host's sign-in. Type it as HOSTNAME\username, for example DESKTOP-PC\Ramesh, so Windows does not guess the wrong domain.
If Windows never asks and just fails, or it asks again and again with a password you know is right, a wrong saved credential is usually to blame. Open Credential Manager → Windows Credentials, remove the entry for that host, restart, and connect again so you are asked fresh.
Sharing has two locks in series: the share permissions on the folder and the file-system (NTFS) permissions underneath. Access is denied if either lock says no — and the effective result is always the stricter of the two.
On the host, right-click the folder → Properties → Sharing tab → Advanced Sharing → Permissions to check the share lock, then the Security tab for the NTFS lock. The account you signed in with must appear — or be inside a group that appears — with at least Read in both places.
On the host PC, the Windows Firewall must allow file sharing in, or every correct setting above still fails silently. Open Windows Defender Firewall → Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall and make sure File and Printer Sharing is ticked for the Private network. In the advanced console (wf.msc) this is the group of inbound rules called File and Printer Sharing (SMB-In), TCP port 445.
Be honest with yourself about the direction: this rule belongs on the PC that holds the folder, not on the PC that is reaching for it. Opening it on the wrong machine changes nothing.
Once the folder opens, make the connection permanent instead of typing the path every day. In File Explorer choose Map network drive, pick a letter, enter the path such as \\192.168.1.50\Share, tick Reconnect at sign-in, and tick Connect using different credentials if the host account differs from yours.
A mapped drive also gives you a clearer error when something changes later — a dead host, a changed IP — instead of a silent missing shortcut. The video walks this whole ladder live, in this order, so watch it if any step behaves differently on your screen.
Every check in this guide, shown live on a real Windows 11 PC — the complete network folder fix, step by step.
▶️ Watch Full VideoSharing itself is working — only name resolution is failing. Your PC cannot translate the host's name into its address. Use the IP address as a workaround (a mapped drive keeps it painless), and check that Network discovery is on and the Function Discovery services are running on both PCs, which is what keeps names visible and resolvable on a small network.
Windows is probably replaying an old saved credential instead of the one you are typing. Open Credential Manager, open Windows Credentials, remove the entry for that host PC, restart, and connect again. Also check the username format: HOSTNAME\username, using an account that actually exists on the host.
Start with the two things that change on their own: the network profile flipping back to Public (step 2) and a changed IP address on the host (step 1). Windows updates and router restarts cause both. Only move deeper down the ladder if those two are healthy.