How to Find All Shared Folders in Windows and Stop Sharing Them

When working in an environment where computers are connected over the same network, sharing files and folders with everyone becomes essential. Over time, you have shared so many that you don’t remember. While they should show in Network locations, here is a better way to find all your shared folders in Windows 11/10.

Find All Shared Folders in Windows and Stop Sharing Them

You can use any of these tools to find and remove all shared folders from sharing. Make sure to note down the actual location of the folder if you need to know.

  1. Computer Management
  2. Localhost
  3. Net Share

The command should be available for both admin and standard users.

1] Computer Management

Computer Management Sharing

  • Open the Windows Power menu using Win + X.
  • Then select Computer Management from the menu.
  • Choose Shared Folders under System Tools > Shares in the Computer Management screen.

The shares folder lists all the folders and files you have shared with anybody on the network.

The folders listed without a dollar sign at the end are the ones you have shared. The one with the $ sign is OS shared folder that admins can access, and they stay hidden from the other users.

To stop sharing, right-click on the folder and click Stop Sharing.

You can also directly open the Shared Folders section by typing fsmgmt.msc in the Run prompt (Win+R) followed by the Enter key.

2] Localhost

Share Folder Localhost

Open the Run prompt (Win + R) and type \\localhost in the text box followed by the Enter key. It will reveal all the shared folders in File Explorer.

To remove the shared folder from here, right-click on any of the older and switch to the Sharing tab. Then click on Advanced Sharing, and remove sharing.

3] Net Share Command

How to find all your shared folders in Windows 10

Quickly open Command Prompt with admin permission. Once it’s there, you can type the following command to reveal all the network-shared files.

nets share

If you want to delete or remove the shared folder, then use the command:

net share WFbackup /delete

Related: How to Monitor and Manage Network Shared Folders in Windows.

Conclusion

Keeping a tab on the shared folder is essential, and I hope the post was easy to follow and you can now manage, share and remove them from sharing.

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