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Backup and Restore Network Shares in Windows 10

Windows 10 allows the user to share his or her locally connected printers and stored files with other users over the network. Shared files can be accessible for reading and writing to others. Shared printers can be used for printing on the remote computer. You can backup your network shares in Windows 10 and restore them later. Let's see how it can be done.

Windows 10 Share A Folder Give Access To 6

It is easy to share a folder over a network in Windows 10 using the built-in file sharing feature. No third-party apps required. The procedure is covered in detail in the following article:

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How to Share File or Folder in Windows 10

Note: If you are running Windows 10 version 1803, you may have issues with file and folder sharing. Please see the article  Network Computers are Not Visible in Windows 10 Version 1803.  Ensure that you have the services 'Function Discovery Resource Publication' and 'Function Discovery Provider Host' enabled (their startup type is set to automatic) and running. This needs to be done on each Windows 10 PC you want to set up for file and folder sharing.

You can backup the currently existing share names and permissions you have assigned to them  using the advanced sharing dialog. You must be signed in with an administrative account to continue.

To backup Network Shares in Windows 10, do the following.

  1. Open the Registry Editor app.
  2. Go to the following Registry key.
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Shares

    See how to go to a Registry key with one click.

  3. On the left, right-click on the Share folder and select Export... from the context menu.Windows 10 Backup Shares
  4. Browse for the folder where you want to store your REG file and click on the Save button.Windows 10 Save Shares To Reg File

Using the REG file you created, you can quickly restore your network shares later.

Restore Network Shares

Double-click on your REG file and confirm the import operation. If you have UAC enabled in Windows 10, you'll will be prompted to permit the operation.

After that, restart Windows 10.

To save your time, you can use the following commands.

  1. Open a new command prompt as Administrator.
  2. Type the following command to export your shares: reg export HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Shares "%UserProfile%\Desktop\Network Shares.reg".
  3. The next command will restore them: reg import HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Shares "%UserProfile%\Desktop\Network Shares.reg".

Correct the file path and its name in the commands provided above. By defaults, the shares will exported to the file "Network Shares.reg" in your Desktop folder.Export Shares To A File

That's it.

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

One thought on “Backup and Restore Network Shares in Windows 10”

  1. Sergey, I really wish you would stop posting stories like this.

    Microsoft has disabled file sharing in windows 10.

    What I’d really love to see is a new version of WinAreo that re-enables password protected file sharing.

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