FAQ: How do I create a shared folder on Mac and add it as a watched folder in Roon?

Before Roon will be able to access your music library that's stored on your Mac OS device, you'll need to first ensure that the folder is properly shared. Once the folder has the proper share settings applied, it can be added as a watched folder in Roon. Follow the instructions below to properly share your folder:

Accessing Share Settings on the Mac

On the Mac, go into System Preferences and Select Sharing. From there, click the + sign under Shared Folders and navigate to where your music folder is located.

After pressing Add, here it is being shared:

You now need to make sure SMB file sharing and also Window File Sharing are selected in Options. Click the Options button on the Sharing screen:

You may be asked for your account password after you check the box next to your name. Remember this Name and Password. Then, Click Done.

On the Sharing screen, make a note of the path for your computer. In this case, it's Gregs-iMac.local and the shared folder is called Music. You may also be able to use the computer's IP address instead of Gregs-iMac.local.

 

Now you can go to Roon and Settings > Storage. After clicking Add Folder, enter the correct information for the shared folder you just created.

and here it is added:

Please Note: On early releases of macOS Catalina, you may receive an error when adding the Network Share. One thing to try is to click the File Sharing checkmark Off, then On again in System Preferences > Sharing.

Note: If you are unable to share the account properly and the username is grayed out, this might be because you don't have a local account on your Mac. You may need to create a new local user account and try sharing via that instead. 

• Related Articles

• FAQ: How do I create a shared folder on Windows and add it as a watched folder in Roon?

  If you want Roon to be able to access your music library that's stored on your Windows device, you need to first ensure that the folder is properly shared. Once the folder is shared it can be added as a watched folder in Roon. Please see the ...

• FAQ: What's a watched folder?

  You add your local music to Roon via "watched" folders. These are folders that will be monitored by Roon for new music. Your files are left in the folder and won't be copied or modified in any way unless you explicitly choose to add or delete them ...

• FAQ: What's the best way to configure my NAS for Roon?

  If your media storage or backup location isn't directly connected to your server machine, you'll need to add that location over the network. Whether you're using a NAS, Windows, or Mac machine for storage, adding these locations is easy as long as ...

• FAQ: Can I use my Meridian Sooloos 2.1 music and database with Roon?

  It's easy to migrate your Sooloos library and playlists over to Roon! While Roon is not able to talk with Sooloos storage devices directly, Roon is able to read from nearly all local and network storage devices. To access your music and playlists, ...

• FAQ: How do I build playlists in Roon? How do I edit them?

  Playlists vs the Queue The first thing to understand about Roon is that there is a difference between Playlists and the Queue. When you select a track or album to play, it is slotted into the Queue for playback. As you queue more songs, they are ...