Adding External HDD to Home Network

[stgeorge602]

Hello;

I had trouble finding clear instructions on how to add an external HDD to my home network. From what I gathered I can connect external drive to my computer or connect to router.

I moved my wife's movies and pictures to an external drive to free up space on her laptop before cleaning it up and doing a system restore. I don't want her filling up the drive again but still want to give her access to the pictures and movies.

I prefer connecting to computer because I keep that in basement while router is on main floor on TV stand and don't want it HDD lying up there.

Can someone direct me to a good article or explain the process to me?

I have an iMac running Big Sur and using a 2TB Seagate drive.

Thanks

 

[chabig]

Basically, you just connected the drive to your iMac and turn on File Sharing.

Set up file sharing on Mac

Share the files and folders on your Mac with others on your network. Share your entire Mac or allow specific users access to certain folders.

support.apple.com