First: your WebDAV address and an app password
Every Nextcloud account has a WebDAV address of this form:
https://cloud.example.com/remote.php/dav/files/USERNAMEYou can copy it from the Files app: Files settings in the bottom-left corner shows the WebDAV URL. If two-factor authentication is on for your account, the normal password will not work for WebDAV. Create an app password in Settings → Security → Devices & sessions and use it instead.
Option 1. The WebDAV client built into Windows
In Explorer choose This PC → Map network drive, pick a letter and paste the WebDAV address, or use the command line:
net use N: https://cloud.example.com/remote.php/dav/files/USERNAME /user:USERNAMEThis works for small documents. Before relying on it, know its limits:
- Files larger than about 47 MB fail to download until you raise
FileSizeLimitInBytesin the registry, and the hard ceiling is 4 GB. - A file is uploaded only when the program closes it, in one piece. A dropped connection means starting over.
- There is no local cache worth the name: listing a large folder or re-opening a file goes back to the server each time.
- Microsoft has listed the WebClient (WebDAV) service as deprecated: it still ships, but it is no longer developed.
Option 2. Pier
Pier is a Windows service that mounts WebDAV storage as a real drive letter and is written with Nextcloud in mind: it uses Nextcloud's chunked-upload protocol for large files, keeps a block cache on your disk and resumes an interrupted transfer from the last completed block.
- Download and run the Pier installer. It installs the open-source Dokany file-system driver if it is missing; no reboot is needed.
- Open Pier from the tray icon and press Add.
- Paste the WebDAV address into Address. Pier takes the protocol, port, path and login from the link; type the password or app password.
- Press Check. Pier connects, tests writing and renaming and reports what the server supports.
- Choose a drive letter and press OK. The drive appears in This PC and comes back after every reboot.
Which one to use
| Windows WebDAV client | Pier | |
|---|---|---|
| File size | About 47 MB by default, 4 GB at most | No client-side limit |
| Large uploads | One request, restart on failure | Nextcloud chunked upload, resumes |
| Local cache | Minimal | Block cache, size set by you |
| Offline work | No | Offline mode with queued changes |
| After a network drop | Drive may need remapping | Reconnects by itself |
| Cost | Included in Windows | Free up to 5 drives; Pro $19 a year |
Tips for a smooth drive
- Use an app password per device, so a lost laptop can be revoked without changing your main password.
- If the server sits behind a reverse proxy, make sure the proxy allows large request bodies and long timeouts; Pier's server check reports a proxy that ignores partial-read requests.
- For folders you work in on the road, switch the drive to offline mode before you leave: files already in the cache open without a connection.