You may have setup VirtualBox shared folder as we had previous described but you cannot use it or copy files to it until you mount VirtualBox shared folder on Windows guest OS. Setting up a shared VBox folder allows you to easily share files between host OS and guest OS. This post shows how to mount VBox shared folder on Windows 10 guest. This method works on Windows 7 and Windows 8 as well.
Mount VirtualBox Shared Folder on Windows
The steps for mounting VBox shared folders is different for Windows and Ubuntu / Debian. Ubuntu / Linux guide for mounting VBox shared folder was published previously. This guide only shows how to mount VirtualBox shared folder on Windows guest OSes. Host OS on which Oracle VirtualBox VM is installed can be anything.
Mounting VBox shared directory on Windows happens automatically if you chose Auto-mount while setting up the shared directory.
Virtualbox Shared Folder Auto-Mount
Folder Name in the above picture is also known as ShareName The shared folder will appear in your Windows Explorer as a network drive with the name ShareName (in this example Share) as shown in the picture below.
Map Vbox Shared Folder In Windows 10
Manually Mount VBox Shared Folder on Windows
In case you did not auto-mount VBox shared folder then you may go to Device->Shared Folder Settings, edit the shared folder, and enable Auto-mount. You may also check "Make Permanent" if you want the mounting to stick on reboot.
Alternatively, you can manually map VBox shared folder on Windows as a network drive. To do that open "My Computer" or "My PC" depending whether you have Windows 7, 8, or 10 as guest OS. Go to "Map Network Drive" from the top menu and select any drive letter. For "Folder" type in \vboxsrv\ShareName, which in this example is \vboxsrv\Share. Check "Reconnect on Logon" and click "Finish".
Windows Map Vbox Shared Folder
Or if you are a commandline fan, open Windows Command Line and type in the following command. Replace ShareName with Folder Name from the first picture and x with any available drive letter.
net use x: \vboxsvr\ShareName
Repeat the process for any other shared folders. Your Oracle VirtualBox shared folders should now be mapped as a Windows network drives. So there you go, mount VirtualBox shared folder on Windows, and enjoy seamlessly sharing files between the two OSes.
Complete Guide to Setting Up a Home Server on VirtualBox Virtual Machine:
Anand is a self-learned computer enthusiast, hopeless tinkerer (if it ain't broke, fix it), a part-time blogger, and a Scientist during the day. He has been blogging since 2010 on Linux, Ubuntu, Home/Media/File Servers, Smart Home Automation, and related HOW-TOs.
