How to automatically connect to a network drive on startup.

In this tutorial, I'm going to show you how to connect to a network drive automatically when you start your Mac.

From the Apple menu, open System Preferences.

Open "Users & Groups" settings.

In the "Login Items" tab, click the "+" button. Do not click the "+" button on the left hand side under the users, as this will add another user. 

In the File Picker, select the desired drive from the left hand side, (in this case IPS-Fileshare) and select the folder that you're connecting to (in this case TMBackup), then click "Add". 

NOTE: If you are asked to enter credentials to connect to the drive and you do not know what they are, please contact Smart Sourced IT and we'll provide them to you. 

You should now see the drive added to the list of items that will open automatically when you log in. 

There are a couple of caveats when using this method to connect a network drive - 

1. If you leave the network, but leave your computer turned on, it will NOT automatically reconnect to the network drive when you reconnect to the network. 
2. When you turn your computer on, it will automatically search for the network drive for up to 220 seconds. If you are not connected to the same network as the drive, your startup will appear to hang for this period of time.