How To Find Your File Shares From Your Desktop

Summary

Users may find out that they have access to file shares based on their position. These file shares are permission-based and not everyone will always have access to other shared files. Those that aren't familiar with file shares may be wondering where they are located.

Instructions

You MUST be on the company network to access File Shares. You can be connected on a network cable, docking station with a network cable, hospital_employees network, or VPN if working outside the network.

Method 1

Navigate to the search bar in the lower-left corner of the desktop and type "PC". Your search result will yield "This PC". Click on it and it will open. If you don't have a search bar in the lower left, click the Windows icon and type "PC".
and towards the center of the screen, you will see your shares. Drive letters may be different for most.
You can also expand "This PC" by clicking on the chevron to expand it. The chevron needs to point down. Your drives will be at the bottom of the list. Hospital File shares use "S:" Double-click on your drive to access it and find the share folder(s).

Method 2

Windows 11

Click on the Windows Start Icon
Find File Explorer in the Window. If the Window has numerous icons, you'll need to scroll down to see File Explorer. Use Method 1 above to see your shared drives.

Note: If you were just granted access, it can take an hour or so for the file share to replicate to the server. If you don't see your drive(s), allow it some time and reboot your computer. You should see the drives the next time you login.

Troubleshooting

Unable to see file shares

If you're unable to see your file shares, there could be several reasons.

The most common reason is you don't have permission to the share drive. If this is the case, please visit the Service Catalog and request the file shares need or click here.
No connectivity. The computer lost connectivity and, therefore has no way of getting to the drive. Ensure the computer is connected to the network and there are no outages. If you're on wifi, you must be on hospital_employees. If using a different network outside the hospital, you must use VPN.
You're using a laptop outside of your hospital and NOT connected to VPN. You'll need to be on VPN anytime you want to access company files.
The computer has been on for several days or weeks without rebooting. Sometimes Windows Updates are ready to be installed and it can cause a computer not to work properly. Reboot.
As mentioned in Method 2, you were just granted access. You may need to give a little time for permission replication. Give it about an hour or so and reboot.
You were given access and performed step 5 above but still don't see the drive. This is most likely a profile issue with your account. Create an incident.
You see partial share files meaning you see some, but not others. This is usually from a sync function setting in Windows they may have inadvertently turned on. You will need to create an incident with your IT department to turn it off. This will require them to remote in.

You must reboot your computer while on the network if you don't see your file share drives. It forces the computer to remap the network drives.

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