Can you link two computers together to make one?

Two computers can be connected to carry out different purposes. For instance, you want to share a file between two computers. So, you can do that without any trouble because it’s easy to connect two computers. 

But a question arises how to connect two computers? Well, there are many ways to connect two computers. The most common and convenient methods are given in the following section. 

How to connect two computers without the internet? 

This is the easiest method to connect two computers without the internet. It’s done for attaining improved performance and the best connectivity. For this purpose, you should ensure that both of your computers have Ethernet or LAN ports. 

How to connect multiple computers together :

Furthermore, you require 1 Ethernet or LAN wire for the connection between them. Attach one side of the wire to 1 computer and another one to the 2nd computer. Once both sides of the Ethernet wire are attached then follow the given steps:

Steps:

1. First, click on the ‘’control panel’’ and choose the ‘’Network and Sharing’’ option from the list. After that, right-click on ‘’Ethernet’’ placed on the right side. Go to its ‘’properties’’ and click on ‘’Internet Protocol (TCP/IPv4).’’ 
2. Select ‘’properties’’ placed at the right corner of the dialog box. Choose the Use the following IP address to enter 192.168.0.101. You write a subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 in front of a subnet mask.
3. On the other computer, repeat the above-mentioned steps. This time write the IP address as 192.168.0.201 along with the 255.255.255.0 subnet mask.   
4. On the first computer, choose the ‘’Network and Sharing’’ option and click on ‘’change advanced sharing settings’’. Select the option named ‘’Turn on file and printer sharing’’ below ‘’File and printer sharing’’. Save your chosen settings and you are ready to start sharing.
5. To share a folder between the two computers. Go to ‘’File Explorer’’ and right-click on the desired folder or file. Tap on its ‘’Properties’’ and after that tap on the ‘Sharing’ option at the top. 
6. Select ‘’Share’’ and choose ‘Everyone’ from the drop-down menu. Choose ‘’Add’’ option along with permission settings like ‘’Read or Write access to another computer’’. Tap on the ‘’Share’’ option that appears in the dialog box. 
7. Now you want to see that your shared file is on the other computer. For that purpose, you should click on ‘’File Explorer’’. Tap on ‘’Network’’ from the left side of the panel. Select the computer you want to look at. Moreover, you can type the name of the computer at the top of the address bar. 
8. If that computer has a username and password so you have to type it for accessing purposes. Select the desired user whose folder or file, you want to look at. Click on that and choose the folder with the files.   
9. It’s done between two computers that have Microsoft Windows. If any of the computers don’t support Ethernet or LAN cables then you should have an external Ethernet adapter. 

How to connect two computers on the same Wi-Fi network (windows 10 or 11)? 

This has easy steps to follow and to connect two computers. Your time for sharing files gets saved by implementing this method. 

how to connect two computers wirelessly :

First thing you have to make sure that both computers have Windows 10 or 11. Furthermore, they both should be on the same Wi-Fi network. 

Steps to Follow:

1. Open the ‘’Network and Sharing settings’’ from the ‘’control panel’’. Tap on ‘’Ethernet’’ which is placed on the left in the menu bar. After that click on the ‘’Change Advanced Sharing’’ options. It will take you to a new window and tap on ‘’Private’’ for Private network. 
2. Click on the ‘’network discovery’’ option and tap on ‘’file and printer sharing.’’ When you turn on the ‘’network discovery’’ option then you can be able to view other computers present in the network. The ‘’file and printer sharing’’ option enables sharing of files or printers across the network. 
3. Select ‘’Guest or Public’’ that is below the ‘’Private’’ option in the ‘’change advanced sharing settings’’. As its name suggests, it shows ‘’guests or public’’ users on your computer.
4. After that, tap on ‘’network discovery’’ and tap on ‘’file and printer sharing.’’ Choose ‘’All Networks for showing sharing options’’ for connected systems. Choose ‘’Turn on sharing to enable sharing of files or folders.’’ 
5. If you want to secure your file sharing then click on ‘’Turn on password protected sharing.’’ Hence, you will create a username along with a password. Furthermore, if you don’t want to do that so keep ‘’Turn off password protected sharing.’’ 
6. Click on ‘’File Explorer’’ and right-click a folder or file. Select ‘’Properties’’ to choose the sharing tab. After that tap on the ‘’Share’’ option. From the drop-down menu choose ‘’Everyone’’ to select ‘’Add.’’ 
7. You can select the ‘’permission level’’ according to your desire. Select ‘’Share’’ and now go to the other connected computer. Click on ‘’File Explorer’’ and choose ‘’Network’’ from the left side panel. 
8. Choose the desired computer or you can search name in the search bar. If there was a password-protected sharing so put a username and password. Select the user whose files or folder you need to access. 

How to connect two computers with different IP addresses? 

Connecting two computers with different IP addresses is an easy job to do. Just follow the below-mentioned steps:

Steps:

1. Tap on ‘’Network and Sharing Settings’’ to click on ‘’Ethernet’’ placed on the right side. Select its ‘’Properties’’ to see ‘’Internet Protocol (TCP/IPv4).’’ After that, tap on ‘’Internet Protocol (TCP/IPv4) properties’’. 
2. Now enter two different IP addresses along with the same subnet masks. For instance, on the 1st computer IP address is 192.168.0.101 and on the 2nd computer is 192.168.0.201. Subnet masks are 255.255.255.0 on both computers. 
3. Furthermore, enter the Default Gateway address on each system. This is done by disabling the DHCP from the settings. For checking both IP addresses are changed. Use the ping command on both computers.
4. Choose ‘’Network and Sharing’’ option and click on ‘’change advanced sharing settings.’’ Select the option named ‘’Turn on file and printer sharing’’ below ‘’File and printer sharing.’’ Save your chosen settings and you are ready to start sharing

Final Thoughts:

All the methods are convenient to implement in a network. These are very beneficial for sharing files or folders. You can apply any of them according to your requirements. Like you have an Ethernet cable or the same Wi-Fi.

Related FAQ

• How to connect two computers in different locations
• How to connect two computers on the same wifi network (windows 11)
• How to connect two computers together to make one computer