Share your macOS music folder with Sonos

Follow the steps in this article to share a music folder from your macOS computer to your local network. Sharing the folder will allow you to add it to Sonos to use for your local music library.

After following these steps, the music folder will be ready to share with your Sonos products, and you’ll know the folder’s network path that you’ll add to the Sonos app.

Share your music folder in macOS

1. Select the Apple logo at the top-left of your screen, then select System Settings.
2. In your macOS System Settings, select General, then select Sharing.
3. Make sure File Sharing is enabled, then select the information icon next to File Sharing to open your sharing settings.
4. Under Shared Folders, select the + (plus) icon, then select the folder on your Mac that contains the music files you want to share with Sonos.
5. After adding your music folder, select it in the Shared Folders section and check the Users section on the right.
   1. Set the permissions for your user account to Read & Write.
   2. Set the permissions for “Everyone” are to Read Only.
6. Next, select the Options button.
   1. Verify that Share files and folders using SMB is enabled.
   2. Under Windows File Sharing, make sure the On box is checked next to your user account. You will use the username and password for this account when adding the library to Sonos.

The music folder is now shared on your local network. Next, we’ll find the network path of the shared folder that you’ll use to set up your music library in the Sonos app.

Find the network path of your shared folder

The network path consists of your computer’s hostname and the name of the folder you shared in the section above. As an example, if a computer’s hostname is “MyComputer” and its shared folder’s name is “Music Folder,” the network path would look like this:

Follow the steps below to find both the hostname and the folder name you’ll need to add your music folder to Sonos.

1. Select the Apple logo at the top-left of your screen, then select System Settings.
2. In your macOS System Settings, select General, then select Sharing.
3. At the bottom of the Sharing section, you’ll see a section for Hostname or Local hostname. Take note of your computer’s hostname before its “.local” suffix. This is the Hostname you’ll use as part of your network path.
4. The Folder Name that you’ll use in your network path is the same as the folder you shared in the previous section. You can check the name of this folder in your macOS System Settings under General > Sharing > File Sharing > Shared Folders.

You should now have both a hostname and a folder name you use to create a network path in the following format:

Add your shared folder to Sonos

You can now add your shared folder to your Sonos system using the Sonos app.

Follow the steps in our Add your music library to Sonos article to learn how to provide your shared folder’s network path to your Sonos system.