How To VirtualBox VMware

How to Transfer Files Between Mac and Windows PC (Support VMware, VirtualBox)

Written by John

Today we're going to run you through how to transfer files between your Mac and PC. This is one of the biggest issues that users come across when making the transition from Mac to PC. Most of your data is easy to find and transfer; however, some of your more important files are harder to find than others, and so we are going to make the process easy for you. Following this process will also ensure that the files are transferred in an orderly and efficient manner.

Using an external flash drive or hard disk isn't quite as effective as the download and upload speeds are very slow, especially when transferring large amounts of data. However, there are ways to transfer your files at high speeds over ethernet or your local area network (LAN) at speeds of up to 10Gbps or if you're using Wi-Fi you'll find the speeds will be 300mbps. The benefit of transferring your files using a fast and stable internet is that you won't have any files being lost during the transfer.

If you're already using a Mac Virtual Machine, you'll be aware of what VirtualBox and VMWare, Virtual Machines that allow you to transfer files from mac to pc and this using ethernet (NAT). The tutorial that we're going to run you through today will show you how to move files between your Mac or Virtual Machine and your new Windows PC.

How to Transfer Files Between your Mac and Windows PC (Support Mac Virtual Machine)

Step 1: Check your Network Settings

This tutorial will only be effective and successful if both your Mac and Windows are connected to the same network whether that is your LAN or Wi-Fi. You're going to want to ensure you're connected to some form of network as this essentially will be what will be facilitating the transfer of the files, you'll also want to ensure that the connection is stable to prevent any file loss.

If you're using a Windows PC:
You're first going to want to go to Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections and here you can check whether your Wi-Fi or Ethernet (LAN) is working or not.

If you're using macOS (Catalina or Mojave):
You're going to want to find System Preferences, from here go to Network and find your current Network on the right-hand side (it will show you the IP address of your network), double check that it is connected.

If you're using a Virtual Machine through VMWare:
Open up your VMware and go to Network Adapter, then to Enable and double check that your network is working. Feel free to refer to the picture below:

VMware Network Settings

If you're using a Virtual Machine but this time through VirtualBox:
Open the VirtualBox and find the Network tab, then find the Adapter 2 tab and here double check that it is firstly Enabled and connected to a 'Host Only Adapter' and Name is "VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter". Again, feel free to refer to the picture below:

Attached to Host-only Adapter

Step 2: Using the Sharing Feature on Mac to Transfer Files

Now that we have ensured that both the Windows PC and Mac are connected to the same network, now to get transferring files. On your Mac, navigate to System Preferences, from here you will see a feature called Sharing, open it.

Open Sharing Feature

Once in, enable "File Sharing" feature and find the [+] button. Once you've done, that find the folder which contains the files you're going to want to share. For the purposes of this tutorial, we're going to use the 'Documents' folder. 

Sharing Feature on macOS

So, once you've selected the documents folder click "Options" so that you can set a Username and Password.

Set a Username and Password

Finally, once you've done that enable 'Share Files and Folders using SMB' and select the user account and password you set up before. Then click "Done" button.

Step 3: Find your IP address on your Mac

Before connecting your Mac and Windows PC, you'll need to find out what your IP address is. On your macOS go to System Preferences and find your connected network. Click on it, and here you'll have your IP address. It will be in the form of 192.168.XXX.XXX.

Find your IP address on Mac

Step 4: Connect your Shared Files or Folders on your Windows PC

Before we start this step, you're going to want to open your Windows PC and open up File Explorer. Next, type \\192.168.xxx.xxx (this is just an example IP address), you're going to want to enter in the IP address of your Mac. Next, it will prompt you for the Username and Password that you set up in step 2.

Connect shared files or folders on Windows PC

Once you've done that you'll now be able to browse the files in your Mac, to move these files over to your Windows PC, you're going to want to create a folder on your Windows PC and drag the files you want to transfer over to this new folder.

Transfer files between your Mac and your Windows PC

Hopefully, this tutorial today has made the whole process easier of transferring files from Mac to PC Windows should you be making the transition between the two systems in future. Transferring files from your macOS to Windows has never been easier thanks to the steps that have been given in this tutorial today. It also means that following these steps means that the files will be transferred at a high speed so that you won't experience and file loss or damage to any transferred files.

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