How to mount shared folders in VirtualBox Windows VM

In VirtualBox, shared folders allow file exchange between the host and guest operating systems. After adding a shared folder in the VirtualBox settings, it needs to be mounted inside the Windows guest OS to access it. This guide will walk through the steps required to manually and automatically mount shared folders on a Windows VirtualBox VM.

Before proceeding, ensure that Guest Additions is installed on the virtual machine. This package provides the necessary drivers and utilities to enable shared folder functionality in Windows.

Once the shared folder is mounted, it becomes accessible like any other drive in File Explorer. You can either mount the folder manually or configure it to be available automatically whenever the virtual machine starts.

1. Start the virtual machine and log in to the Windows guest OS.
2. Open File Explorer.
3. In the left pane, click on This PC.
4. At the top of File Explorer, click Map network drive.
5. In the Drive field, select an available drive letter.
6. Enter the shared folder name in the Folder field.

   \\vboxsrv\SharedFolderName

   Replace SharedFolderName with the name assigned to the shared folder in VirtualBox settings.

7. Check the box for Reconnect at sign-in if you want the shared folder to automatically reconnect when you log in to Windows.
8. Click Finish to mount the shared folder.
9. Verify the folder is mounted by opening This PC and checking if the shared folder is listed under Network Locations.
10. Open File Explorer and navigate to the shared folder as described above.
11. Right-click on the shared folder and select Create shortcut.
12. Move the shortcut to the Startup folder to mount it automatically at login.
13. Restart the virtual machine and verify that the shared folder is automatically mounted by checking This PC.

    If the shared folder is not mounted after restart, ensure that Guest Additions is installed and that the shared folder is correctly configured in VirtualBox.