How to sync folders between a wired connected PC and WiFi laptop?

Up front, I am not an expert on this: as a single user with standalone PC I had nothing to do with 'sharing' stuff.

Have been puzzling about the below for many hours now and maybe, what I want, isn't possible. Don't know.

I would like to sync folders between my desktop PC (wired connected) and my laptop (WiFi).
Both having the latest Windows 10 x64 version (1809)
On both the folders are within an encrypted drive, i.e. they only become accessible after entering a password.
Outlook accounts on both.

On both: Settings->Accounts->Sync your settings: all enabled.

I went through the tutorials, but am not sure which one might be applicable for this situation.
Shared folders? Homegroup? Shared Libraries? What will work in case of LAN and WiFi?
Should I use 3rd party tools?

I had this idea to make a junction (mklink /j) from a folder on the PC to a OneDrive folder.
OneDrive on the laptop will then be the same as the folder on the desktop.
However, it seems that can't make a 'link' from the OneDrive folder on laptop to a folder on that device.
I tried, it failed.

Note: in case of many changes within the 'linked' PC-folder, then OneDrive on laptop is (very) slow.
Even when restarting sync a few times, nothing seems to happen. It does sync, but it may take a while.
A few hours, the next day, I don't know.

Appreciate suggestions.

Thanks!

Many thanks for the quick reply. Really appreciated.
Indeed, I already went thru that manual yesterday but got stuck on 'instruction' number 7
(7.Turn on Public folder sharing if you want to share items in the C:\Users\Public folder.)

Within 'Change sharing options for different network profiles' this is under 'Guest or Public'.
At this point I very much hesitate as to how to proceed... (remember: I am not an expert, far from it)
When turned on, for me it says: 'Share files to the public'
To the Public..!?
I don't know.. I don't want files/folders be visible to anyone else.
So, at this point, as well as selecting 'Turn off password-protected sharing' (All Networks), being a dummy, I got uncertain as to what I am exactly doing. Maybe it is completely safe.

Note that my both my laptop and PC are not password protected. I disabled the login password, simply because I am the only user and personal files/folders are stored within password protected encrypted drives.

tfwul said:

Indeed, I already went thru that manual yesterday but got stuck on 'instruction' number 7
(7.Turn on Public folder sharing if you want to share items in the C:\Users\Public folder.)
...When turned on, for me it says: 'Share files to the public'
To the Public..!?

No, this is just referring to whether or not the C:\User\Public folder will be visible to other PCs that connect to the User share. It's already accessible by any user signed in on the PC as a way of sharing files between users, turning on sharing the Public folder just lets users on the network see it as well. No one can connect without knowing a user name an password. It's not being broadcast to the whole world.

Thank you so much Bree!
I'll continue as per the tutorial, see what happens.
Again, thanks.

Needed to enable "Turn on network discovery" under Guest or Public as well.



let's say how to go on from here.

both you and Clintlgm - again thanks so far.

tfwul said:

After setting up a homegroup on laptop and PC, I need to log in on both devices. Is that correct?

Slip of the finger? You meant Workgroup I presume...

Also, when I click on Network->Laptop in the Explorer tree, it asks for user id and password, although this has been set to 'Off' in Network and Sharing Centre->Advanced sharing settings->All Networks...
...However, is it correct that both on my desktop pc and laptop I need to log in?

No, you don't need to be signed in locally at both machines to be able to connect.

When a PC (let's call it A) receives an incoming connection request it requires an account name and password from the machine trying to connect to the share (call that B). Machine B will give the name and password of the account on to B that you signed in with. A will check the name/password against the accounts on A, if it has an account of the same name and password it will grant access, what permission you have is determined by the permissions of the account on A. If you are signed in on B with an account that doesn't exist on A (or has a different password) you will be asked to give the name and password of an account that exists on A.

After creating Workgroup, join workgroup, made a laptop-folder 'shared' - it shows up in the Explorer tree on my desktop alright, but I have no access to it...
later . . . for the permissions problem, I found the solution ... under step 1,2 and 3 of "Step 1 – Give Sharing Permission to Everyone"

That is the simplest possible way to allow sharing and the way I do it.

I have password protected sharing turned off on all my PCs. Shares are then protected by the share permissions and the ntfs file permissions. I have a C:\Temp folder on each PC which is shared with Everyone having full control, the ntfs file permissions are also set for full control for Everyone. When you try to access a share on another PC the access you get depends on whether or not the name you are signed into this PC also exists on the PC you are trying to connect to and whether the passwords of the two accounts are the same.

The result is that If I have the same user account name and password on each PC I can access the Temp share on any PC from any other without being challenged. When connecting to a share on another PC it will first try to connect as the user/password I've used to sign into this PC. Only if the user and/or password is different on the PC I'm connecting to will I be asked to give a name and password that exists on the PC I want to connect to.

I use the Temp share on each PC as a sort of local 'drop-box' for files I want to move between my PCs.

Bear in mind though that by setting share and file permissions for Everyone you are granting full access to the share to anyone who knows any account/password for the machine doing the sharing. This is fine if you are the only user on your network, but you may want to restrict permissions if there are multiple users on your network. In that case you may want to set share permission for Users rather than Everyone. Then access will be controlled by the ntfs permissions for the account you use to connect. For example, if the Users folder is shared then you'd only be able to see the user folder of the account you used to connect.