What is a homegroup and how does it work?

Machines with Windows 7 and 8 have the advantage that they can share files very easily. You can arrange this by creating a so-called homegroup. With this you can easily make images, music, videos, documents and printers visible on other computers in the home network.

01 Create homegroup

Homegroups are only available on systems with Windows 7 and 8. Open the Control Panel and click under Network and Internet on Select homegroup and sharing options. Via the button Create a homegroup a wizard will appear in which you can choose the desired settings. Select the items you want to share. You can choose from Pictures, Music, Videos, Documents and Printers. After a click on Next one Windows automatically generates a password. Also read: More insight into your home network.

It is smart to write down this combination of letters and numbers on a note, because you need this code to add other PCs to the homegroup. Close the window with Complete.

A homegroup is a turnkey solution to easily share frequently used files.

02 Add computers

You can easily add other PCs to the homegroup you just created. On the computer you want to add in the control panel, click Select homegroup and sharing options. Via the button Join now a wizard will appear on your screen. click on Next one and decide what kind of files you want to share with other computers in the homegroup.

In the next screen, type the correct password. Through Next one the PC connects to the homegroup. close with Complete the window. You access the shared files in Windows Explorer by clicking Homegroup to click.

You add other computers to the homegroup by entering the correct password.

03 Add folders

In addition to the default locations, you may also want to add data to the homegroup that is stored elsewhere. In Windows Explorer, browse to the desired folder and right-click on it. Then choose Share to / Homegroup (read/write). Would you rather not allow other members of the homegroup to modify the files? In that case, choose the option Homegroup (reading).

Sync Online

If you also want easy access to the shared folders outside the home network, it pays to log in to an online storage service. This allows you to store valuable files on an online server. A plus is that changes are synced across all registered devices.

Furthermore, most services support other devices in addition to your PC, such as iOS and Android devices. So you always have updated versions of files at hand. Well-known names in the field of online storage are Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox.

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