When a shared network drive disappears after your Mac wakes, first check that the Mac is back on the right network, then reconnect through Finder using the server address. To make the connection easier to restore, add the mounted volume as a login item; macOS documents this for login, though it does not promise automatic reconnection after every sleep.

Reconnect the shared drive in Finder

  1. Confirm your Mac is connected to the network that can reach the server. If you use a VPN or a different Wi-Fi network, reconnect to the one your organization or server requires.
  2. Open Finder and choose Go > Connect to Server.
  3. Enter the server address and select Connect. For an SMB share, the usual format is smb://server-name/share-name; an IP address can be used in place of the server name. If you do not know the address or share name, ask the server owner or network administrator.
  4. Choose the appropriate sign-in option. If prompted, enter a valid username and password, then select the shared folder or volume.

Apple documents Finder’s server connection flow and the SMB address format. A previously used address may also be available in the server address menu or under Apple menu > Recent Items. Connect your Mac to shared computers and servers and Servers and shared computers you can connect to on Mac

Make the volume easier to reopen after signing in

If you want macOS to open the drive when you log in, connect it first so its mounted volume appears in Finder. Then open Apple menu > System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions. Under Open at Login, click Add (+) and select the mounted network volume. The login items list supports connections and volumes, according to Apple.

This setting is for login. It is useful if you sign out, restart, or log in again, but Apple describes it as opening items when you log in—not as a setting that guarantees a network drive will remount immediately whenever the Mac wakes from sleep. If the server is unreachable at login, the connection may still require you to open Finder and reconnect after the network is available. Change Login Items & Extensions settings on Mac

If Finder cannot reconnect

Check the symptom before changing settings:

  • The server is absent from Finder: In Finder, choose Finder > Settings. Under General and Sidebar, enable Connected servers if you want mounted servers to appear there. These options affect visibility; they do not create a connection.
  • The server name fails: Try the DNS name or IP address supplied by the administrator. Apple notes that a server may be shut down, restarted, or disconnected, and that some SMB or Bonjour servers need to be on the same local network or subnet as the Mac.
  • The Mac may be offline: Open Apple menu > System Settings > Network and check the indicator for the active connection. Restore Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or the required VPN, then retry Finder’s connection.
  • You are asked for credentials or denied access: Confirm the account, password, and share permissions with the server owner. Successful discovery does not mean your account has permission to open the share.

Apple’s connection troubleshooting guide recommends checking Finder visibility, the correct server name, server availability, and the Mac’s network connection. If those checks do not resolve the problem, contact the server owner or network administrator; the issue may be with the server or account rather than the Mac’s sleep settings. If your Mac can’t connect to another computer

What “Wake for network access” does—and does not do

The setting named Wake for network access is intended for a Mac that is sharing its own resources while asleep. Apple describes it as waking that Mac when another user accesses resources it shares. It is not documented as a control that reconnects your Mac to someone else’s shared network drive after sleep. For the client-side task in this guide, use Finder to reconnect, and use a login item only for the separate case of opening the mounted volume at login. Share your Mac resources when it’s in sleep

After waking, the practical sequence is: restore the required network, connect to the share in Finder, and verify that the expected volume is mounted before resuming work. Add it to Login Items if you also want macOS to open it at sign-in, while treating a post-sleep reconnect as a Finder action when the server is unavailable or the mount has dropped.

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