How to Use Windows HomeGroup

HomeGroup is a networking feature of Microsoft Windows introduced with Windows 7. It provides a way for Windows devices to share resources, including printers and different types of files, with each other. Although it was removed from Windows 10, older devices can still use the feature. Learn how to create and manage homegroups using any Windows 7 or 8 device.

How to Create a Windows Homegroup

To create a new homegroup, follow these steps:

1. Open the Windows Control Panel.

2. Choose Network and Internet.

3. Select HomeGroup.

4. Select Create a homegroup to start the homegroup wizard.

5. Select the types of resources on this PC to be shared with the homegroup from among the available choices: Pictures, Music, Videos, Documents, and Printers. These choices can be changed later.

6. Select Next.

   

7. Write down the automatically-generated password (a combination of letters and numbers) shown on the last page of the wizard and select Finish to exit the wizard.

By design, a Windows 7 PC cannot support creating homegroups if it has Home Basic or Windows 7 Starter Edition. These two versions of Windows 7 disable the capability to create homegroups (although they can join existing ones). Setting up a homegroup requires the home network to have at least one PC running an advanced version of Windows 7 such as Home, Premium, or Professional.

Homegroups also cannot be created from PCs that belong to a Windows domain.

How to Join and Leave Homegroups

Homegroups become useful only when two or more computers belong to a homegroup. To add more Windows 7 PCs to a homegroup, follow these steps from each computer to be joined:

1. Open the HomeGroup sharing window from inside Control Panel (steps 1 and 2 above).

2. Confirm the homegroup name listed is correct, and select Join Now.

3. Select which resources (Pictures, Movies, Videos, Documents, and Printers) on this PC are to be shared with the homegroup, then select Next.

4. Enter the homegroup's password, then select Next to complete the process.

5. Select Finish to exit.

Computers can also be added to a homegroup during the Windows 7 installation. If the PC is connected to the local network and Windows discovers a homegroup during the install, the user is prompted to join that group.

To remove a computer from a homegroup, open the HomeGroup sharing window and choose the Leave the homegroup link near the bottom.

A PC can belong to only one homegroup at a time. To join a different homegroup than the one a PC is currently connected to, first, leave the current homegroup, then join the new group following the procedures outlined above.

How to Use Homegroups

Windows organizes the file resources shared by homegroups into a special view in Windows Explorer. To access shared files, open Windows Explorer and, in the Folder pane, navigate to the Homegroup section located between the Libraries and Computer sections. Expand the Homegroup icon to show a list of devices currently connected to the group, and expand each device icon, in turn, to access the files and folders that the PC currently shares (under Documents, Music, Pictures, and Video).

Files shared with HomeGroup can be accessed from any member computer as if they were local. When the hosting PC is off the network, however, its files and folders are unavailable and not listed in Windows Explorer. By default, HomeGroup shares files with read-only access.

Several options exist for managing folder sharing and individual file permission settings:

• To change the categories of resources being shared, right-click the Homegroup icon in Windows Explorer and choose Change HomeGroup settings.
• To manage permissions of local files being shared with the homegroup, open Windows Explorer, select the Libraries section, navigate to the desired folder or file level, and select Share with to change permissions for those specific resources.

HomeGroup also automatically adds shared printers into the Devices and Printers section of each PC connected to the group.

How to Change the Homegroup Password

While Windows automatically generates a homegroup password when the group is first created, an administrator can change the default password to a new one that's easier to remember. This password also should be changed when permanently removing computers from the homegroup or when banning individual people.

To change a homegroup password:

1. From any computer belonging to the homegroup, go to Control Panel and open the HomeGroup sharing window.

2. Scroll down, and select Change the password.

   To view the password currently in use, click the View or print the homegroup password link.

3. Enter the new password, and then select Next > Finish.

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for each computer in the homegroup.

To prevent synchronization issues with other computers on the network, Microsoft recommends completing this procedure across all devices in the group immediately.

Troubleshoot HomeGroup Issues

While Microsoft designed HomeGroup to be a reliable service, it may be necessary to troubleshoot technical issues with either connecting to the homegroup or sharing resources. Watch for these common problems and technical limitations:

• PCs that belong to a Windows domain (common for laptops used in a corporate office) cannot share their files or printers with homegroups, although they can join and access the shared resources of others.
• IPv6 must be running on the local network for HomeGroup to work. Windows 7 enables IPv6 by default.
• PCs may fail to join a homegroup if they have an enabled Trusted Platform Module (TPM).

HomeGroup includes an automatic troubleshooting utility that diagnoses specific technical issues in real time. To launch this utility:

1. Go to Control Panel and open the HomeGroup sharing window.

2. Scroll down and select Start the HomeGroup troubleshooter.

HomeGroup vs. Windows Workgroups and Domains

HomeGroup is a separate technology from Microsoft Windows workgroups and domains. Windows 7 and 8 support all three methods for organizing devices and resources on computer networks. Compared to workgroups and domain, homegroups:

• Are optional. Windows computers must either belong to a workgroup (often the default WORKGROUP) or domain, but networks are not required to use HomeGroup.
• Are password protected. HomeGroup requires each computer that joins the group to provide a matching shared password, while workgroups do not (and network administrators add computers to domains rather than users doing so).
• Do not require users to have accounts on other computers, unlike workgroups. Homegroups instead use a common system account (called HOMEGROUPUSER$) so that users can connect to any computer in the group transparently, as with domains.
• Do not configure certain computers as network servers, and do not extend beyond one local network, unlike domains. HomeGroup PCs communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking, similar to workgroups (but using different network protocols).

Extend Homegroups to Non-Windows Computers

HomeGroup is officially supported only on Windows PCs starting with Windows 7. Some tech enthusiasts developed methods to extend the HomeGroup protocol to work with older versions of Windows or with alternative operating systems like macOS and Mac OS X. These unofficial methods tend to be difficult to configure and suffer from technical limitations.