Virtualbox: Shared folder - how to create it

In Virtualbox, you can conveniently exchange data between your virtual machine and PC with the help of a shared folder. Learn how to proceed to set up such a shared folder for data exchange and what to keep in mind.

How to create a shared folder in Virtualbox

To transfer data between your virtual machine and the host PC, you need to create a shared folder in Virutalbox. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open the virtual machine on which you want to create a shared folder and install Virtualbox Guest Additions if it is not already present.
2. Then click the Devices item in the menu bar of the virtual machine window and select the Shared Folders... option.
3. Click the folder icon with the green plus sign to create a new shared folder.
4. Determine the directory and name for the folder. Use the checkboxes to enable the "Mount automatically" and "Create permanently" options.
5. Finally, click "Ok" and restart the virtual machine once.

Exchanging data via the shared folder

If you now want to exchange data via the shared folder between the virtual machine and the host PC, you must first open the virtual machine's Explorer. There you will find the newly created transfer folder under "Network addresses". All the files you move from the virtual machine to this folder will then automatically appear on the host PC in the directory you specified. Files that you move to the folder from the host PC can be accessed from within the virtual machine using the shared folder.