Network file sharing not working between Windows 11 & Windows 10

Anonymous
2022-01-12T16:32:28+00:00

Hello, we have an office where there are several Desks, recently one of the employees upgraded their computers from windows 10 to windows 11, we had all of the computers set up for Local file sharing over the network, now for some reason since the upgrade, the Win11 PC can still see all the other Win10 PC's but none of the Win10 PC's can see or access the Win11 PC, we checked all the settings, and nothings changes, SMB is enabled on all PC's, and running same IP address's, file sharing in the network sharing center is still all turned on.

Any idea what caused this?

Thanks

Windows for business | Windows Server | Networking | Network connectivity and file sharing

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-10-07T20:06:47+00:00

    This has been driving me nuts for months but I think I have found the cause, and the solution - credit to Skulfighter from this thread: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/cant-access-the-other-windows-11-computers-on-my/97d61be9-4e6a-40d0-a64a-ce1217ab2544

    During new Windows 10 / 11 setups, you are immediately prompted to create a PIN and therefore you never log in to Windows with a password, so it is not cached anywhere. The resolution is to turn OFF Windows Hello, log in with your password to get it cached, then you can turn on Windows Hello again:

    Open Settings > Accounts > Sign-In Options

    Additional Settings > TURN OFF "For improved security, only allow Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts on this device"

    Close and re-open Settings > Accounts > Sign In Options. A Password option should now be available (under the Security Key option)

    Click Password, and you will see "You're all set up"

    Press "Windows Key + L" to lock your computer, and unlock using your account password

    Re-enable Improved Security option if required

    Your share should now be visible on your network. I have tested on a new Windows 10 and Windows 11 build and both shares are now visable to to all other machines on my network (on Windows anyway - my Android phone can not see the SMB share unless I enable SMB1, but thats another issue!)

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-10-08T00:14:47+00:00

    Doesn't work for me - I've never used Windows Hello... Or a PIN...

    But maybe we're getting close to a solution - definitely related to credentials and the sub-systems that rely on it...

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-10-08T01:13:04+00:00

    Open Settings > Accounts > Sign-In Options

    Additional Settings > TURN OFF "For improved security, only allow Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts on this device"

    I wanted to test this and started on my WIN10 PC but I got stuck here: no Additional Settings found on the Sign-In Options page! Any clues?

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-10-08T01:55:35+00:00

    The resolution is to turn OFF Windows Hello, log in with your password to get it cached, then you can turn on Windows Hello again.

    UPDATE: As noted in my previous reply, I could not find the paths you described but now I just simply applied your statement above in both PCs.

    Result: shared folders of WIN10 are now visible on WIN11 but not the other way...

    I cannot find and turn OFF, in either PC, this option your mention:

    Additional Settings > TURN OFF "For improved security, only allow Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts on this device"

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-10-08T04:00:07+00:00

    this is precisely where I'm stuck
    my earlier suggestion worked on my previous machine
    but I had to replace that pc with an identical one thanks to warranty, and my suggestion doesn't work anymore
    so I'm just as stuck as everyone else
    I'm at the point of baffled by this weird 'can see the drives on my Win 10 machine from my Win 11 machine, but not the other way around' issue
    I really hope someone finds a working workaround for this
    it's been going on for quite too long :/

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