Quick way to "link" to location on a shared SMB server?

Question

I work at a small office where everyone uses Macs. We have a shared SMB server for storing files, which often contain spaces and other special characters.

Let's say that I have a folder containing important data for a coworker. Our current workflow is:

1. I take a screenshot of the folder path in Finder:
2. I attach this screenshot to an email and send it to my coworker.
3. My coworker uses the screenshot to manually navigate to the correct directory in Finder.

We do this many times each day, and it adds up. Step 3 in particular is quite annoying for the recipient.

Is there a technique we could use, or some software we could install, that would expedite this process? Ideally, I'd like the ability to email a "link" that, when clicked, would automatically open the directory in Finder.

Again, this method must be compatible with special characters, and should be easy to explain to less technically savvy users.

Answer 1

Since Mojave 10.14 - Catalina 10.15 versions of macOS Finder, you can easily get a copy of any of the path variants:

Edit > Copy the good old Cmd+C becomes just the filename when pasted as text:

file.ext

Edit > Copy as Pathname with added Option (Cmd+Opt+C) becomes:

/Volume/Share on some server/file.ext

Edit > Copy as Link with added Control & Option (Cmd+Opt+Ctrl+C) becomes exactly what the question asked for in this case:

smb://someserver/Share%20on%20some%20server/file.ext

Answer 2

1. Right-click the file or folder in Finder > Services > Copy full path
2. Paste the path into the email (I used Apple Mail)
3. The recipient just has to choose the whole path in the email and right-click it > Reveal in Finder

You don't have to escape spaces in the path with backslashes! The share has to be mounted already.

---

If you don't find a service like "Copy Path" or "Copy full Path" you can simply create it yourself:

1. Launch Automator
2. Create a new service
3. Search for “Copy to Clipboard” and drag that into the rightside panel of the Service
4. Set ‘Service receives selected’ to “files or folders” and ‘in’ to “Finder” at the top of the service.
5. Save the service as "Copy Path"
6. Depending on your system you can copy the path either by right-clicking an item > Copy Path or Services > Copy Path.

Answer 3

If you're on Mojave, they've changed the default so now command-option-C on a file copies the smb path with the URL rather than the /Volumes/ path.

Answer 4

I created an Automator workflow that gets the full path to file or folder. It replaces the (/Volumes/mountName) with the actual server address and encodes the path as URL. (Meaning you can send this to a colleague who might not have the server mounted or mounted differently):

MOUNTCHECK=$(echo "$1" | cut -d "/" -f2)
if [[ "$MOUNTCHECK" == *"Volumes"* ]]; then
  MOUNT_NAME=$(echo "$1" | cut -d "/" -f3)
  FILE_PATH=$(echo "$1" | cut -d "/" -f 4-)
  MOUNT_INFO=$(mount | grep "$MOUNT_NAME")
  MOUNT_USER="${MOUNT_INFO/\/\/${USER}@/}"
  SERVER=$(echo $MOUNT_USER | awk '$0=$1')/
  echo $SERVER$FILE_PATH
else
  echo `echo $1 | perl -pe 's/File//g'`
fi

Download the Automator workflow.

Answer 5

My go to tool for this is a Finder extension available on the Mac App Store:

• https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pathsnagger-2/id722364475

It's super helpful for all sorts of common gyrations whether you need to convert between the Apple syntax or windows syntax for a share and is super speedy for getting a link you can paste if that's all you need.

Another useful thread on SMB efficiencies:

• Is there a way to make Windows-style SMB share paths launch correctly?

Answer 6

An easier method for sending links would be this:

1. You copy and paste the path of the folder from the "Get Info" dialog where you are getting your folder path screenshot. If you highlight the path like so:

   

   You can copy the path using Edit > Copy or Command+C.

2. Paste the path into the email using Edit > Paste or Command+V

3. Make the path a link - this will vary between email clients. As the link address, put in the file path.

4. When your coworker gets it, they click the link in the email and it should open the folder in Finder (assuming they have the SMB server currently connected).

This worked for me on El Capitan with Outlook as a mail client.

Answer 7

I ended up writing an Automator Quick Action / Service for this:

https://github.com/ideasonpurpose/NAS-Location-Sharing-Workflow

A small amount of configuration will be required, to specify e.g. the server address address of your nas drive(s). Details are in the repository readme.

We have been making very heavy use of this within my company for nearly a year now, and it has been great. The key thing to makes it work is that we have code (an automator service) to handle both ends—both the sharing of paths and the opening of received paths. File:// and SMB:// links proved much too unreliable; different programs treat them differently.