Any external devices on your computer use some specific network drives. These are mapped at startup due to which the computer is able to recognize them. The “could not reconnect all network drives windows 10/11” error message is an indication that the network drives you have mapped before can’t be connected to your computer.
There may be certain issues when mapping the drives. Fortunately, several fixes for this issue is available. If you are experiencing this issue, follow the solutions provided below so that you can get rid of the problem.
Possible fixes for could not reconnect all network drives windows 10/11
Fix 1: Disconnect Network Drive
Very first, you should try with disconnecting all network drives. This could be the solution you need to get rid of the problem. Here is how you can do this:
- Open File Explorer,
- Right-click on This PC,
- Select Disconnect Network Drive option,
- On the new page, locate network drive with issue, right-click on it and select Disconnect,
- (Note: The problematic drive usually has X red icon on it)
- Reboot the device.
Fix 2: Force Windows to wait for network
Soon the system starts up, the process of mapping the hard disks initiates. The entire process completes before you log into your operating system. Because of inactive connectivity, the network drives might not be loaded on the right time and as a result could not reconnect all network drives windows 10/11 arrives. As a remedy, you should set up a local group policy to make Windows wait for the connection before enabling the mapping process:
- Press Win+ R, type gpedit.msc and hit Enter to open Local group policy editor window,
- In this window, navigate to Computer Configuration> Administrative Templates>System> Logon,
- Locate Always wait for the computer startup and logon network on the right pane of the opened window, and right-click on it and select Edit option,
- In the opened window, select Enables and save the changes by clicking Apply and then press Ok to exit.
Fix 3: Use Command Script from Microsoft Support
Another solution is to create scripts that run at startup. Here are the required steps:
- Open Notepad and paste the below script:
PowerShell -Command “Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser Unrestricted” >> “%TEMP%\StartupLog.txt” 2>&1 PowerShell -File “%SystemDrive%\Scripts\MapDrives.ps1” >> “%TEMP%\StartupLog.txt” 2>&1
- Now, click on File on the top, choose Save as and name this file as .cmd,
- Open another Notepad and copy and paste the below script in it:
$i=3 while($True){ $error.clear() $MappedDrives = Get-SmbMapping |where -property Status -Value Unavailable -EQ | select LocalPath,RemotePath foreach( $MappedDrive in $MappedDrives) { try { New-SmbMapping -LocalPath $MappedDrive.LocalPath -RemotePath $MappedDrive.RemotePath -Persistent $True } catch { Write-Host “There was an error mapping $MappedDrive.RemotePath to $MappedDrive.LocalPath” } } $i = $i – 1 if($error.Count -eq 0 -Or $i -eq 0) {break} Start-Sleep -Seconds 30}
- Name the file as DriveMap.ps1,
- Restart the device now and those scripts will then run at startup.
Fix 4: Use Task Scheduler to map drives at startup
You can get the fix for could not reconnect all network drives windows 10/11 error by scheduling a task that runs at startup. Here are the steps you should follow to create and execute tasks:
- Open File Explorer and locate the DriveMap.ps1 folder created in the previous solution,
- Copy that file,
- Now, navigate to the Windows search, type Task Scheduler and open the app,
- Expand Action and select Create task,
- Under the General tab, specify a name and description for the task and click Ok,
- Now, click on Change User or Group button and select a local user or group,
- Click Ok and Save Ok to exit,
- Move to the Triggers tab then, click on New and choose At log on in begin the task column,
- Now, under the Action tab, pres New, specify the actions by choosing the start a program option,
- Now, browse or paste your Powershell script and hit Ok.
- On the condition tab, check the option start only if the following network connection is available and choose Any Connection,
- Reboot your device the then and see if the problem persists.
Fix 5: Disable the notifications at Windows Startup
Some users get the required fix just by disabling the notifications could not reconnect all network drives windows 10/11 error message. Follow the below steps:
- Press Win+ R, type regedit and hit Enter,
- Move to the below path:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkProvider
- On the right-pane, double-click Restore connection and set the value 0,
- Click Ok to save the changes,
You might have to go one step more if you don’t see the Restore Connection file in the stated field. In that case, right-click on NetworkProvider folder and on the left pane, select New> DWORD Value and name this value with RestoreConnection. Restart your device on completing the steps to get the best result.
Fix 6: Reconnect all network drives
You can try reconnecting the external drive to make the computer recognizing it. Do that only when the network drive is mapped from an external drive. If it is from your hard disk in another computer and the machine is disconnected from the network, you should reconnect the PC with the network and ensure that the physical disk is accessible. Thus, on restarting the system, you would see could not reconnect all network drives windows 10/11 won’t appear.
Conclusion
That’s all! We have provided all possible fixes for could not reconnect all network drives windows 10/11. If still receiving the problem, the possibility could be that the physical hard disk is removed or its owners stop sharing it with others.
You can look for common WIndows related issues such as BSODs, exes and DLL files errors, registry issues and son on if these are causing the problem. In such a case, you would get an automatic fix by running a full system scan using PC Repair Tool.
