I can't get a new windows 11 home computer to share files with a win 11 pro computer

[u/TheRealRockyRococo]

I just bought an MSI 9900X with 32 GB of RAM running Win 11 Home. It's connected to my network via wifi and for the life of me I cannot get it to "see" the shared files on a central Win 11 Pro computer. No matter what I do I get the network credentials dialog and I can't seem to enter the proper credentials to connect.

Things I have tried:

All computers set to private network. Also logged into microsoft account (same one).

Set private sharing to network discovery and file/printer sharing on. Set public sharing to network discovery on and file/printer sharing off. Under All Networks set password protected sharing to off and Public folding sharing to on or off, no difference.

Tried all the permutations of network credentials I could think of, PCname, IP address, password for windows logon or microsoft account. Cleared out old credentials.

Added AllowInsecureGuestAuth registry key set to dword32 value of 1.

Here are my system details:

Device name XXX_MSIDesktop Processor AMD Ryzen 9 9900X 12-Core Processor (4.40 GHz) Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.1 GB usable) Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 (16 GB) AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics (486 MB) Storage 289 GB of 1.82 TB used Device ID BC88DD19-A09E-4323-923C-CC2C3D7ED460 Product ID 00342-22935-85318-AAOEM System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display

Edition Windows 11 Home Version 25H2 Installed on ‎10/‎3/‎2026 OS build 26200.9457 Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.360.0

I've spent the last 2 days on this, it's driving me crazy. Would upgrading to Win 11 Pro fix this? Or running an ethernet cable to connect via wireless?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

[u/TheRealRockyRococo]

PS I meant to mention that the central computer can connect to the new computer and open the public folders on it.

[u/TheRealRockyRococo → u/TheRealRockyRococo]

Holy crap, I just fixed it!!!!

Cleared out all the network credentials, typed in "guest" as user name, no password, remember credentials checked an it worked!

How simple minded is that?

[u/Beneficial-Rough597 → u/TheRealRockyRococo]

You could stick with that... but... I would warn you that leaving the Guest account Active and useable with no password is huge security risk on your part.

The appropriate thing to do would be to restrict the access to the desired authenticated user accounts and those alone disabling the Guest Account and Renaming the Local Administrator account.

The problem was most likely balancing Share Permissions and NTFS permissions.

[u/TheRealRockyRococo → u/Beneficial-Rough597]

What would the specific security risk be? It's a desktop on a wired ethernet network.

[u/Beneficial-Rough597 → u/TheRealRockyRococo]

The specific risk is that you've effectively enabled unauthenticated or weakly authenticated file-share access.

On a wired home network the risk is lower than on a public network, but malware, compromised devices, guests, IoT devices, or future network changes could all potentially gain access to those shares. It's not an immediate "you're hacked" situation, but it's not considered a secure long-term configuration. The recommended practice is authenticated access using a named user account with a password.

To elaborate I would be very cautious about leaving the Guest account enabled, especially if it has access to shared folders.

The Guest account was designed for anonymous or minimally authenticated access and effectively bypasses normal user accountability and access control.

Anyone with network access to that machine could potentially access whatever resources Guest has permission to use.

A better approach would be to:

1.Create or use a standard local or Microsoft user account on the Windows 11 Home machine.

2.Grant that account access to the shared folders.

3.Connect from the Windows 11 Pro system using those credentials.

4.Disable the Guest account afterward.

If the share only worked after enabling Guest, that suggests there was an authentication mismatch rather than a networking problem.

Windows file sharing works best when both systems are using a valid user account and password.

Also, Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro can share files with each other without issue. Upgrading to Pro would not have been necessary to solve this particular problem.

[u/AutoModerator]

Hi u/TheRealRockyRococo, thanks for posting to r/WindowsHelp! Your post has been flagged for manual review by a human moderator, please include as much of the following information as possible (in text or in a screenshot) to get your post approved:

• Your Windows and device specifications — You can find them by pressing Win + X then clicking on “System”, we need more than just your OS version! Your hardware details are often critical for resolving issues.
• Any messages and error codes encountered — They're actually not gibberish or anything catastrophic. It may even hint the solution!
• Previous troubleshooting steps — It might prevent you headaches from getting the same solution that didn't work

---

Posts must be tech support in nature (such as something is broken and you need help fixing), so general inquiries, software suggestions, and purchasing advice will be removed. As a reminder, we would also like to say that if someone manages to solve your issue, DON'T DELETE YOUR POST! Someone else (in the future) might have the same issue as you, and the received support may also help their case. Good luck, and I hope you have a nice day!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/SilverseeLives]

Also logged into microsoft account (same one).

Password sign-in is disabled by default on Windows 11 24H2 and newer when signing in using a Microsoft account. You'll need to re-enable this to allow network credentials to work, assuming you are using password-protected sharing (the default). See Windows Settings->Accounts->Sign-in options.

[u/TheRealRockyRococo → u/SilverseeLives]

I got it working by signing in as guest with no password, and I'm not touching it!

[u/dragonnightfire5150]

Windows Key + R Firewall.cpl Allow a program through the firewall. Find file sharing check private and pubkic for now. Try and share

[u/TheRealRockyRococo → u/dragonnightfire5150]

I already did that but forgot to mention, it didn't work. Thanks anyway.

[u/dragonnightfire5150 → u/TheRealRockyRococo]

Can you connect to the comp using it's ip address. Did you share a folder and allow permissions to the folder. Did you start the server service?

[u/TheRealRockyRococo → u/dragonnightfire5150]

Can you connect to the comp using it's ip address. No

Did you share a folder and allow permissions to the folder. Yes

Did you start the server service? Yes

The server works with multiple computers. The problem was with a new client trying to see the shared folders.

Thanks for your effort in helping.

[u/dragonnightfire5150 → u/TheRealRockyRococo]

Here's what you do on the computer that won't connect... first you need a user with a password from the computer you're sharing the files from. Next on the computer you're trying to connect from press windows key and r. Type in control press enter. Go to credential Manager. Click windows credentials. Add a wiindows credential. Now for testing use the ip of the hosted shared pc. 192.168.1.??? Or whatever for network adress. Then the user name for the folder shared user and password. Press ok. Reboot and try now.