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GPO Drive Mapping Best Practices: How to Do It Safely
Everything you need to know about drive mapping is right here
4 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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Key notes
As many of you surely know, Drive Mapping with GPO has basically replaced the good old Login-Script on Windows Servers. Also, it allows users to automatically map Network Drives via Group Policy if that is what they choose.
Needless to say that this saves you a ton of work in the long run and is the Best Practice on how to Map Network Drives on a Windows Server nowadays.
Why should I resort to Group Policy Drive Mapping?
IT admins will find this especially useful since the decisions and modifications they make impact the entire server.
This will make your life a lot easier and apply changes to multiple devices at the same time, instead of you having to do it over and over again.
Furthermore, mapping drives with Group Policy also brings with it the following advantages:
That being said, we are also going to show you properly and safely do it, so that the entire process is understood.
We can also show youhow to block Group Policy inheritance for a domain/OU, just in case that is the information you were looking for.
How can I properly map drives in Group Policy?
After completing the steps above, you need to link the GPO to be active. To do so, you need to drag it to the appropriate container where your users and computers reside.
Keep in mind that it is also important that the Drive Map is linked to a container where both the user and the computer are included.
The last step is to either restart the computer on which you want the drive connected or open a cmd shell and type:gpupdate /force
This is pretty much the entire process so there is absolutely no need to feel discouraged or think it is some kind of daunting task.
You should definitely know that doing so actually modifies the settings of an existing mapped drive. It differs from the Replace action in that it only updates the settings defined within the preference item.
And, all the other settings remain as they are. That being said, if a drive mapping does not exist, the Update Action will create the drive.
The number one rule here is that every change you make to the path or drive letter or any other option will not be updated. In fact, you would need to delete the drive and re-map it again. With the Update Action that happens automatically.
However, what the Update Action doesn’t do is, for example, if you change the location of the share or its name.
Therefore you would need to use either the Remove Action to remove the old share and create a completely new share, or, you could use the Replace Action until all the PCs are updated.
We also made a thorough article onhow to edit the Group Policy, in order to help you out a bit more.
Leave a comment in the dedicated section below if this guide has helped you better understand and map your own drives.
More about the topics:group policy editor
Alexandru Poloboc
Tech Journalist
With an overpowering desire to always get to the bottom of things and uncover the truth, Alex spent most of his time working as a news reporter, anchor, as well as TV and radio entertainment show host.
A certified gadget freak, he always feels the need to surround himself with next-generation electronics.
When he is not working, he splits his free time between making music, gaming, playing football, basketball and taking his dogs on adventures.
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Alexandru Poloboc
Tech Journalist
With a desire to always get to the bottom of things and uncover the truth, Alex spent most of his time working as a news reporter.
