Once you enable the network discovery, you can access almost any type of network share on Windows. Apart from the regular network shares, you can also access FTP drives directly from the file explorer. For ease of use, you can also map FTP drive in file explorer in Windows 10. Let me show you how.
In case you are wondering, mapping FTP drive is very helpful in your day to day life. For example, you can use apps like Solid Explorer in Android to create a quick local FTP server and access it via Windows File Explorer to transfer files to and from your Android device. Though not as fast as a wired connection, this FTP connection gives a lot of flexibility and most of all, you don't have to deal with cables or other clumsy programs.
Before proceeding, I assume that you already have the FTP details like FTP address, port number, username, and password. Generally, you can get all these details from your FTP server application or provider.
Related: How to map a WebDAV drive in Windows 10.
Map FTP Drive in Windows 10
1. First, make sure the FTP server is running and you have all the details like the username, password, FTP URL, and port number.
2. Once you have the details, open the File Explorer by pressing the Win + E keyboard shortcut. Alternatively, you can also click on the File Explorer icon on the taskbar.
3. In the file explorer, click on the "Computer" option on the top navigation bar and then select "Add a Network Location" option.
4. Click on the "Next" button in the wizard.
5. Click "Next" again.
6. Now, Enter the FTP URL along with its port number separated by :. For instance, my local FTP server address is 192.168.0.101 with port number 8899. So, I entered, ftp://192.168.0.101:8899. Click on the "Next" button to continue.
7. Here, uncheck the "Log on anonymously" checkbox. Enter the FTP username in the blank field and click "Next".
8. Name the new connection. This is the name you will see in the File Explorer under Network Locations section.
9. Make sure the "Open this network location when I click Finish" option is selected and click the "Finish" button.
10. Windows will now try to access the FTP server. When prompted, type the FTP password, select the "Save Password" checkbox option and click on the "Log on" button.
11. If everything goes perfectly, you will log into the FTP server via File Explorer. From here, you can use it like any other drive.
12. If you go to the File Explorer's "This PC" page, you will see that the FTP connection is mapped as a drive. From now on, you can simply double-click on the mapped FTP drive and access the FTP server as long as it is online.
That is all. It is that simple to add FTP as a network drive in Windows 10.
that doesnt work anymore it gives an error and forces you to open internet explorer instead folder view.
I’ve just tested it on my end and it worked fine.
That being said, the thing you are saying happened to me once and it resolved itself after some time. Unfortunately, I don’t know the reason why it happened to me.