How to hook up desktop to laptop
Last Updated: May 13, References Tested. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom click here the page. The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 1, times.
Find a complete guide from this article. It is quite common that one user owns both a laptop and a desktop. Each device has its merits. If you have both a laptop and a desktop, you may want to sync visit web page two devices for following reasons:. Use the same settings on two computers without u time manually entering theme customizations, browser options, etc.
How to Sync a Laptop and a Desktop in Windows 10, 11 (2 Cases)
Last Updated: October 2, References. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical lapfop and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. This article has been viewed 23, times. Learn more Now that wireless networks are just go here everywhere, it's super easy to transfer files between your desktop and laptop computers. But if you can't connect one or both of computers to Wi-Fi, things get tricky.
Keep frequently-used files up to date on two PCs without the repetitive work of copy and paste. Some users want to sync settings between a laptop and a desktop while some want to sync files between two computers. Click Your account and then Sign in with a Microsoft account instead.
Enter your Microsoft account information. Skip to step 3 if you have already signed in. Click Sync your settings.
Turn on the switch next to Sync settings. Disable any individual settings if you want certain things to not sync. Get the how-to guide here. Name the task so that you can distinguish it from other sync tasks. Then, click the folder icon in the second column. Type username and password if it prompts.
After the IP address has been added, all network-shared folders under it will be listed. Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies. Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues. Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games. All Categories. Edit this Article. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article methods.
Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1. All rights reserved. This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc. Get a USB bridging cable. Bridging cables look similar to male-to-male USB cables, but with chips in the middle of the cable encased in hard plastic that enable file transfers.
Check both the desktop and the laptop to see what types of USB ports they have, and make sure to get the right cable. Connect each end of the bridging cable to available USB ports. Bridging cables come with their own file transfer software built in to the cable. Simply plugging the cable in to both PCs will prompt you to install software on each. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the bridging software.
If you are not prompted to install software on your computers after connecting them with the bridging cable, go to the cable manufacturer's website and look for a Downloads section.
You may need to download the software and run the installer manually. Open the software that came with your bridging cable. You'll usually find the application at the top of the Windows Start menu in your recently-added apps list.
It doesn't matter which computer you open the app on, as either can now access files on both systems. Drag files between the local and remote computers. The "Local" or "This PC" area contains the files on the PC you're using now—so if you opened the software on the laptop, you'll see the files on the laptop here.
The "Remote" area shows the files on the other computer. You can drag any file to or from the Remote PC to copy them as needed. File transfer can take a while over USB, so be patient. Disconnect the cable when finished. When you're no longer waiting for files to transfer between computers, close the bridging cable software and remove the cable—you can do this safely without ejecting through Windows.
Method 2. Know when to use this method. If both the desktop and laptop have Thunderbolt ports and Intel processors, you can use a Thunderbolt cable to connect them for file sharing.
If you see "Processor" followed by the name of any Intel processor, you can use this method. If you see "Chip" followed by Apple M1 or similar on either the desktop or the laptop, see the method for connecting a silicon-based Mac. Connect a Thunderbolt cable to ports on both Macs. Most Thunderbolt cables have lightning bolts printed on each end of the cable. Open System Preferences on the Mac you want to share. You can share the hard drive from either the laptop or the desktop, it doesn't matter.
You'll find System Preferences in the Apple menu. No matter which computer you share, you'll be able to transfer files to and from each computer's hard drives. Click Startup Disk. It's the icon of a hard drive. Click Target Disk Mode. This will shut down your Mac and boot it into a special mode that allows you to share files over Thunderbolt. Double-click the new disk icon on the other computer. On the computer that you didn't just restart, you should now see a hard drive icon on your desktop.
Double-clicking this icon will display the contents of the shared computer's hard drive. Transfer files between your desktop and laptop computers. You can drag files from the computer with the shared drive into any folder on the computer you're using now, or vice-versa. Eject the drive and reboot the shared computer.
When you're finished, just drag that new hard drive icon from the desktop to the Trash to eject the shared disk. You can then shut down the shared computer by pressing its power button. When you restart it, it will come back up as normal. Method 3. Connect the laptop to the desktop computer with a USB 3.
Any of these cables will work, but for the best performance, use a Thunderbolt cable. If both Macs have Apple silicon chips, shut down the one that has a hard drive you want to share with the other computer.