Replace SMB

Replace Windows file sharing

You have fixed the same error more than once. You enabled network discovery, set the profile to Private, restarted the Function Discovery service, checked the share name, and it worked — until the next Windows update reset something and the shared folder vanished again. The fixes are real, but they are maintenance on a system that keeps breaking, not a solution.

Try Oxolan free for 14 daysWindows 10/11 · macOS 12+ · no card

Why the usual answers don't hold

It depends on four services that Windows resets

Discovery needs Function Discovery Resource Publication, SSDP Discovery, UPnP Device Host and DNS Client running, plus a Private network profile and the right firewall rules. Feature updates routinely reset them. Each layer failing produces a different error code, which is why no single fix ever sticks.

It depends on names any user can change

A share is a registry entry pointing at a folder path. Rename the folder, unplug the USB drive it lived on, or let a NAS firmware update relabel it, and every machine that mapped it gets an error — for a path that worked for two years.

The errors are cryptic by design

0x80070035 means Windows could not reach the machine. 0x80070043 means it reached the machine but there is no such share. They look identical to the person who just wants their file, and the fixes are completely different.

How Oxolan handles it

No SMB in the path

Oxolan moves files between machines over its own protocol. There is no share to name, no drive to map, and no network discovery to reset — so the entire catalogue of 0x-errors simply cannot occur. Windows file sharing can stay broken and it will not matter.

Machines find each other on their own

Install it on each PC and every other machine appears in a sidebar and stays there. No IP addresses, no pairing, and no usernames or passwords to administer.

Your files stay on your network

Transfers run directly between the two machines at 60–115 MB/s on wired gigabit, encrypted, certificate-pinned and BLAKE3-verified. Your files never leave your network and are never uploaded to us.

Built for a team, not a one-off send

File locking stops two people overwriting the same working file. You can browse and search what another machine is sharing rather than only pushing files at it. Large transfers resume instead of restarting.

Your options, honestly

Including the free ones. If one of them fits you better, use it.

Option	Honest read
Keep fixing shared folders (SMB)	Free and built in. Breaks again after the next feature update — that is the loop you are in.
Windows Nearby Sharing	Built in and free, but slow and unreliable at discovery. Fine for one small file, not a workflow.
OneDrive / Dropbox / Google Drive	Reliable, but every file makes a round trip to a data centre and back — slow for large files on office broadband, and your files sit on someone else's server.
LocalSend (free, open source)	Genuinely good, and cross-platform including Linux and mobile. Send-to-device only: no persistent machine list, no file locking, no remote browsing.
A NAS	Solid once configured, but it is hardware to buy, mount and maintain — and it still speaks SMB to Windows, so some of the same errors follow you.
Oxolan	Paid, Windows and macOS only. Persistent discovery, file locking, remote browse and search, resumable large transfers, and someone to email.

Getting started, in 3 steps

1
Install Oxolan on each Windows or Mac machine.
2
The other machines appear in the sidebar on their own — nothing to configure.
3
Drag a file onto one of them. It transfers directly, at network speed.

One flat price for the whole office

From $149/yr for up to 5 machines — every plan is the full app. See pricing. Free 14-day trial, no card required.

Download Oxolan — free trial

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to turn off Windows file sharing first?

No. Oxolan does not use SMB for peer transfers, so it works alongside whatever your shared folders are doing. Most people leave Windows sharing exactly as it is and simply stop relying on it.

Will this fix error 0x80070035 or 0x80070043?

It does not repair Windows file sharing — it replaces the job you were using it for. Those error codes come from SMB, and Oxolan does not use SMB between machines, so they cannot occur on a transfer. If you still need the shared folder itself working for another reason, our error guides cover the actual fixes.

Does it work between Windows and Mac?

Yes. Oxolan runs on Windows 10 and 11 and on macOS 12 and later, and machines on both platforms appear in the same list. It does not support Linux or mobile devices — LocalSend is the better answer if you need those.

Do my files go through your servers?

No. Transfers are direct between the two machines on your network. We do not receive, store or process the contents of any file you send.

What happens if a large transfer is interrupted?

It resumes rather than starting over — which matters when the file is tens of gigabytes.