If you have a NAS at home, you naturally want to use shared folders from that device to read or store data. With a little planning it is very easy.
In its simplest form, a NAS is a hard drive with a network connection. More verbose instances add a lot more functionality. Bottom line, they all have one thing in common: you can access shared folders from any (logged in) PC or Mac on your network. Mac OS doesn't automatically mount previously used network shares on every startup, which means you would have to re-enter the name and password for such a shared folder every time. Fortunately, that can also be a lot easier. Namely by telling Mac OS that certain shares should be mounted immediately after logging in. To do this, start System Preferences (via the Dock or the Apple menu at the top left of the screen). Then click Users and groups. Click on your account and then login on the panel on the right. Now launch Finder and mount the network share. You can do that in Finder by clicking in the column at the bottom left Shared clicking on the desired NAS. Then right click Connect as and enter username and password as set on the NAS. Double click on a share and you will see an alias appear on the desktop to this folder.
Automatically on startup
Now we return to the already open Users & Groups window, part of System Preferences. You will see a list on the right under the text These sections open automatically when you log in. It is possible that something has already been mentioned here or there, but the list can also be virginally empty. Simply drag the folder that just appeared on the desktop to the list and drop it there. That way you can add multiple NAS shared folders. When you're done, close the Users and Groups window. From now on, the added shares will be mounted automatically after logging into your Mac. And are therefore directly available in Finder.
Where is that folder?
For a novice to the Mac OS world, finding the folder in any program's Save As window can take a while. After all, there is nothing else to see besides a list of favorites. To list all available folders, in the Save As window - regardless of which program you want to save something from - click on the downward-facing 'arrow' after the file name. You will now see all storage locations, including your NAS folders.
