Hyper-V keeps host and guest VMs isolated by design, which makes file exchange less obvious than in a typical desktop environment. Here I‘ d like to share three practical ways to share folders securely and efficiently, plus when to use each.
1. Enhanced Session Mode (best for Windows guests, fast & simple)
Enhanced Session Mode uses RDP redirection inside the VMConnect console to expose host drives to a Windows guest without networking changes. Enable the policy on the host, connect via VMConnect → Show Options → Local Resources → More → select drives. Host drives appear in the guest as redirected drives during that VMConnect session. Quick and convenient, but only active while the VMConnect session is open and works best with supported Windows guests.
2. SMB Network Share over an Internal Switch (cross-platform, persistent)
Create an Internal virtual switch and give host and guest fixed IPs on a private subnet (for example 192.168.100.x). Share a host folder with a dedicated, least-privilege service account and connect from the guest to \host_ip\share. This works for Windows, Linux (SMB/NFS), and offers persistent access without VMConnect. Harden it by restricting the internal adapter’s firewall, enabling SMB encryption/signing, and disabling SMBv1.
3. Passthrough / Physical Disk (raw performance, exclusive access)
Attach an entire physical disk or LUN to the VM for high throughput or direct access use cases (databases, large media). Take the disk offline on the host first, attach it via VM settings (SCSI → Physical hard disk), then bring it online inside the guest. Passthrough gives raw performance but sacrifices snapshots, many Hyper-V checkpoints, and some backup/migration features — use only when those tradeoffs are acceptable.
