Mount Windows Share in Ubuntu - Permanent Setup

Test the Share First from the Files App

Before making anything permanent, prove the basics once: the Windows PC is sharing the folder, the network path works, and your Windows username and password are accepted. Open the Files app, press Ctrl + L to open the location bar, and type the share address — in the video it is the SharedDocs folder on the PC named OFFICE-PC:

smb://OFFICE-PC/SharedDocs

Enter the Windows username and password when asked. If the folder opens and you can see its files, the share name, the PC name and the login are all correct — write them down exactly, because the permanent setup uses the same three things. Replace OFFICE-PC and SharedDocs with your own PC name and share name throughout this guide.

Install cifs-utils

A permanent mount needs the CIFS tools — the mount.cifs helper that lets Ubuntu attach an SMB (Windows) share as a normal folder. Open a terminal and install the package:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install cifs-utils

Without this package, the fstab entry in Step 5 has nothing to work with and the mount fails — this small install is what separates a one-time browse from a real, boot-time mount.

Create the Mount Point

A mount point is simply an empty folder where the share's contents will appear. Create one under /mnt, named after the share:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/SharedDocs

Leave this folder empty. When the share is mounted, everything inside /mnt/SharedDocs is really the files on the Windows PC — and when it is not mounted, the folder is just empty, which is also a useful way to tell at a glance whether the mount is live.

Store the Login in a Protected Credentials File

The mount needs your Windows password at every boot, but that password must never sit inside /etc/fstab itself — fstab can be read by every user account on the machine. Instead, keep the login in its own small file that only root can read. Create it:

sudo nano /root/.smbcredentials

Type exactly two lines, with your own Windows username and password, then save with Ctrl + O and exit with Ctrl + X:

username=YourWindowsUser
password=YourWindowsPassword

Now lock the file down so only root can read it:

sudo chmod 600 /root/.smbcredentials

Add the Permanent fstab Entry

Now tell Ubuntu to mount the share at every boot. First keep a backup copy of the original fstab — one wrong line in this file can affect booting, and the backup is your way back. Then open the file:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Add this single line at the very end of the file:

//OFFICE-PC/SharedDocs /mnt/SharedDocs cifs credentials=/root/.smbcredentials,iocharset=utf8,_netdev,nofail,uid=1000,gid=1000 0 0

What each part does: //OFFICE-PC/SharedDocs is the share, /mnt/SharedDocs is where it appears, and cifs is the filesystem type. credentials= points to the protected file from Step 4, so no password appears in fstab. iocharset=utf8 keeps file names with special characters correct. _netdev tells the system this mount needs the network, so it waits for the network instead of failing too early. nofail means that if the Windows PC is switched off, Ubuntu still boots normally instead of hanging or dropping to an emergency prompt. uid=1000,gid=1000 makes the mounted files owned by your Ubuntu user, so your apps can save into the share without sudo — 1000 is the first user account's usual ID; check your own with the id command and adjust if yours differs.

Mount Now and Verify Before You Reboot

Do not reboot yet. Test the fstab entry right now, while you can still see any error it produces:

sudo mount -a

mount -a mounts everything listed in fstab. If it finishes silently, the entry is good — open /mnt/SharedDocs and you should see the Windows share's files, and a quick df -h shows the share listed as a mounted filesystem. Create a small test file inside it to prove you can write, not just read. Only after this test passes, reboot the Ubuntu machine once: the share should be back in place on its own, with no manual connection — that reboot is the real proof the permanent setup works.