Mac File Sharing: give another Mac access to one folder

On the host: choose the folder and who may use it

These steps follow the System Settings layout in macOS Ventura 13 and later. Publish a folder you created for the purpose rather than your entire home directory. It is far easier to review six months later, and it keeps everything else out of the conversation.

1. Open System Settings, go to General, then Sharing. Click the information button beside File Sharing, then turn File Sharing on.
2. Under Shared Folders, click the add button and pick the directory you want to publish. You can add more than one, but treat each as a separate decision about who sees what.
3. Under Users, add the people who need the folder and set each one's level. Read Only lets someone open and copy files but change nothing in the folder. Read and Write lets them add, edit, rename and delete. Give Read and Write to the people who are meant to change the contents, and do not open a folder to everyone because it is quicker to set up.
4. Note the connection address shown in the settings window, then click Done. Sign in from an authorised account and confirm the permissions behave as you intended before you tell anyone the folder is ready.

On the client: connect from Finder

The client has to be able to reach the host over the network. And the credentials it needs are an account on the host Mac — not an Apple Account password, which is the first thing most people try.

1. In Finder, choose Go, then Connect to Server, or press Command-K.
2. Type the address from the host's File Sharing settings and click Connect.
3. Choose the registered-user option, enter the host username and password you were given, then select the shared folder from the list.
4. Open a file to confirm read access. If you are meant to have write access, save a small test file into the folder and check that it appears on the host.

Cannot connect and cannot write are different problems

If the host never appears, or the connection times out, permissions are not involved yet. Check that the host is awake, that the address is right, and that the network lets the two Macs talk to each other. Guest and public Wi-Fi routinely allow internet access while isolating devices from one another, and retyping the password will not change that.

If the folder opens but you cannot save into it, the connection is fine and this is a permissions question. Check whether the account has Read Only rather than Read and Write, then the folder's own permissions on the host, then any restrictions on the individual file, then free disk space. One thing to be clear about: File Sharing is an access mechanism. It is not a backup, and it does not arbitrate who edits a document at the same moment.

Ending a session and switching Mac File Sharing off

When you have finished, eject the share in the Finder sidebar to disconnect the client. On the host, removing the folder from Shared Folders stops future access to that directory, and turning File Sharing off stops all of it.

Neither reaches backwards. Anything someone already copied to their own Mac stays there as a separate file, and no setting on the host will pull it back. If several people will keep working in the folder, agree in advance which version is authoritative and who edits it — two people saving over each other is usually a permission setup doing exactly what it was told to do.

When you want a copy rather than access

A shared folder gives you access to files that stay on the host. Right shape when both Macs need the same live directory. Wrong shape when you simply want the PDF you exported on your laptop to land in a project folder on the desktop Mac. Deskferry covers that second case: copy the file in Finder on one Mac, paste it in Finder on the other, and the result is an independent copy that does not depend on the host being awake or reachable.

It does not replace what you set up above. There is no shared directory, no per-user permission model, and edits on either side never merge. Deskferry is a macOS 14 or later menu-bar app working inside a trusted group on a local network; files and videos use the group administrator's Pro or Max entitlement, and folders need Max. See the file handoff guide for setup, and keep File Sharing for the folders several Macs must reach on demand.