A mapped drive is a shortcut to a specific drive on another device that allows you to access resources shared on a local network or files on an FTP server or website.
How to Map a Network Drive in Windows 10
It looks exactly like the shortcut on your local hard drive with its own letter. It even opens as if it were on the drive, but the files are physically stored on another computer or device.
Mapping is different from mounting a drive because it lets you open remote files as if they were stored on your own computer. Mounting lets you open a file as if it were a folder.
The biggest limitation of using a mapped network drive is that it depends on a working network. If the network is not available or the connection is not working properly, you will not be able to access the files on the mapped drive.