Windows 7: Libraries - Include a Network Folder

   Information

By default, Windows 7 and Windows 8 does not allow you to include network drives or folders in a library. This is because folders must be indexed first in order to be added to a library, and network drives cannot be indexed unless they are synchronized.

This tutorial will show you how to include network drives or folders in a library in Windows 7 and Windows 8.

   Tip

The full path to the hidden Libraries folder is below.

C:\Users\(User-Name)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries

OR

%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries

OPTION ONE

Synchronize the Network Folder or Drive

1. Right click on the network folder or network drive you wish to include to a library (or create a new one for it) and select "Always Available Offline". A synching process will start, synchronizing your network folder.


2. Now you can add it to a library in Windows 7 or Windows 8.

OPTION TWO

Using mklink Command

1. Create a new folder (ex: c:\shares) on your hard drive.

2. Create a new subfolder (ex: c:\shares\pictures) in the above folder.

3. Include this folder (ex: c:\shares\pictures) to a library.

4. Delete the folder (ex: c:\shares\pictures), but do not remove it from the library.

5. Use mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e -

mklink /d "LINK" "TARGET"

mklink /d "c:\shares\pictures" \\Server\Network Folder

6. Done. Now you have a non-indexed network path as a library.