How to Map a Network Drive From Remote Desktop to Your Local Computer

When you connect to your VPS via Remote Desktop, you can redirect your local drives so they appear inside the remote session. This is built into RDP and requires no additional software. But sometimes you need those redirected drives mapped to actual drive letters inside your VPS — for example, if an EA or script expects files at a specific drive path. Here is how to do both.

Step 1: Enable Drive Redirection in RDP

Before connecting, open your Remote Desktop Connection settings and enable local drive sharing:

💡 Tip: Mapping a local drive through RDP lets you drag and drop files between your PC and VPS without third-party tools. Enable “Local Resources > More > Drives” in RDP settings before connecting.

1. Open Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe)
2. Click Show Options to expand the settings
3. Go to the Local Resources tab
4. Under “Local devices and resources”, click More…
5. Check the drives you want to share (e.g., your C: drive)
6. Click OK and connect to your VPS

Once connected, your local drives appear in Windows Explorer on the VPS under Devices and drives, labeled as C on YOURPC (where YOURPC is your local computer name).

Step 2: Map Redirected Drives to Network Drive Letters

The redirected drives use a special UNC path format: \\TSCLIENT\C (where C is your local drive letter). You can map these to real network drive letters using the net use command.

Open Command Prompt on your VPS and run:

net use Z: \\TSCLIENT\C

This maps your local C: drive to Z: inside the VPS. You can verify by running:

💡 Tip: Save your VPS connection as an .rdp file on your desktop for one-click access. Include the port number so you never have to type it manually.

net use

The mapped drive now appears as a proper network drive under Network Locations in Windows Explorer.

Making It Persistent

By default, net use mappings disappear when you disconnect. To make the mapping persist across sessions, add the /persistent:yes flag:

net use Z: \\TSCLIENT\C /persistent:yes

Note: This only works if you reconnect with drive redirection enabled each time. If you connect without enabling local drives, the persistent mapping will fail until you re-enable it.

Practical Uses for Traders

• Deploy EAs and indicators — copy files from your local development machine directly to the MT4/MT5 data folder on your VPS without using file transfer services
• Backup trade journals — automatically save trade logs from your VPS to your local drive
• Transfer configuration files — move custom templates, chart profiles, or preset files between machines
• Quick file access — browse your local files from within the VPS without switching windows

💡 Tip: Save your VPS connection as an .rdp file on your desktop for one-click access. Include the port number in the saved config so you never have to type it again.

Troubleshooting

Drive does not appear after connecting? Make sure you checked the drive in RDP settings before connecting. You must disconnect and reconnect for changes to take effect.

“System error 67” when mapping? This means drive redirection is disabled on the VPS server side. Contact your VPS provider to enable it — FXVPS has drive redirection enabled by default on all plans.

Slow file transfers? Drive redirection sends data over your RDP connection. Large files will transfer at your internet upload speed, not LAN speed. For large transfers, consider using SFTP or a cloud sync service instead.