How to Map Synology Network Drive on Windows 11

Do you know Synology NAS?

Synology NAS (Network Attached Storage) is a type of storage device that is designed to provide centralized data storage and file sharing capabilities for home and business users. It is a hardware device that is connected to a network and allows multiple users to access and share files from a single location.
Synology NAS devices can be used for a variety of purposes, such as storing and sharing files, streaming media, backing up data, hosting websites, and running applications. They can also be expanded with additional hard drives or SSDs to increase storage capacity.
Having understood what a Synology NAS is, let's learn reasons for mapping Synology NAS network drive on Windows 11.

Why map Windows 11 network drive on a Synology NAS?

To map Synology drive on Windows 11, the main benefit is that it allows you to simply access the files on your NAS without storing anything on your PC. Synology Drive will actually download the files to your PC and automatically sync those changes back to your NAS when there are some changes. 

And you can map a network drive on Windows 11 to find it from Windows File Explorer without having to find it or enter its network address every time. However, in some cases, you may want to move a large file from your PC to your NAS to save storage space. In this example, using a mapped network drive would move the entire file from your PC to your NAS instead of syncing it.

How to map Synology network drive on Windows 11

After understanding the importance of mapping Synology drive on Windows 11, this part will show you how to do the Synology setup and Windows setup step by step.

Synology setup

We will look at how to map a network drive on Synology NAS Windows 11 using SMB Settings below.

Step 1. In Windows, SMB is used to map network drives and connect to shared folders on the Synology NAS. Make sure SMB is enabled by going to Control Panel, selecting File Services, then choosing SMB. Make sure Enable SMB Service is checked.

Step 2. If you are using Synology's firewall (and you should), you must also make sure that you have created a firewall rule. Select Security, Firewall, and then Edit Rule.

Step 3. Create an Allow rule for the Windows File Server and click OK. Then you can connect Synology as network drive on Windows 11.

Windows setup

Now, we will learn how to map a network drive on Windows 11 from File Explorer below, but if you are using Windows 10, you can find introduction here.

Step 1. Open File Manager from the taskbar or Start menu, or press Windows logo key + E.

Step 2. Select This PC from the left pane. Then, in the File Explorer ribbon, select More ••• > Map Network Drive.

Step 3. In the Drive list, select a drive letter. (Any available letter will do).

Step 4. In the Folder box, type the path to the folder or computer, or select Browse to find the folder or computer. To connect each time you log on to your computer, select Reconnect at logon.

Step 5. Choose Finish to access the network drive on your computer.

Note: If you can't connect to a network drive or folder, it is possible that the computer you are trying to connect to may be down, or you may not have the correct permissions. Try contacting your network administrator.

Why can’t map Synology drive on Windows 11?

If you are experiencing problems with not being able to map network drives within Windows, there are a few things you should check:

☀ Verify that the user you are connected to has permission to share the folder.
☀ Verify that you are connecting to a separate folder. If you try to connect to the NAS without specifying a folder (using only the IP address or server name), you will likely run into problems. Always connect to a single folder and mount multiple if necessary.

Backup to mapped network drive with best free backup software

We all know that the main purpose of mapping a network drive is for file sharing. Also, there is another useful function and that is to backup your data. So here I recommend you one of the best free backup software - AOMEI Backupper Standard.

• This software has various backup functions, including System backup, Disk backup, Partition backup, File backup, etc.
• It supports you to backup files to NAS, network drives, external drives, local disks, USB flash drives, and cloud services.
• Besides, it has various useful features like automatic backup, file sync, PC-to-PC file transfer, system clone, and so on.

Tip: Backup process will run in the background without interrupting your work.

Now, I will tell you how to backup Windows 11 to network drive step by step:

Step 1. Run the software, then choose Backup tab. You will find several options to choose from: System Backup, Partition Backup, Disk Backup, and File Backup.

Here, I will take File backup as an example of backing up files to a network drive in Windows 11.

Step 2. Click Add Folder or Add File to specify the data you want to back up. And You can add as many items as you need.

Step 3. After mapping a network disk to the local machine, selecting a network disk is the same as selecting a local disk. you can choose one of them as your network location.

Step 4. Now you can further configure the backup, for example, create a Schedule on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, or click on the Options to comment, compress, or split the backup. Then, click Start Backup to execute it.

Summary

This article mainly tells how to map Synology network drive on Windows 11. As you can see from the steps above, mapping a network drive in Windows 11 is very easy.

By mapping network drives, you can easily access shared files from other computers in the same LAN and avoid unnecessary troubles. Also, we introduced a free backup software - AOMEI Backupper, which can help you backup files to mapped network drives, and backup files to external hard drives, USB flash drives, etc.