A network share is a location on a computer network, typically allowing multiple computer users on the same network to have a centralized space on which to store files (i.e. documents, spreadsheets, etc)

A network share is created on a computer by marking a directory as shared (the exact process varies by platform). The name of the share can be different from the directory upon which it is based. The share is access by client computers through some naming convention, such as UNC (i.e. \\ServerComputerName\ShareName).

On windows, a network share is provided by the windows network component "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks", using Microsoft's smb (Server message block) protocol. Unix, Linux, and Mac systems use Samba software to create network shares.

Network shares can also be implemented with WebDAV, NFS, or AFS.