Your NAS is the storage box in the office that holds your shared files. Most of the time it only answers to computers sitting on the office network, which is exactly what you want. QuickConnect is Synology's way of letting you reach those same files from home, from a client site, or from your phone.

This article covers how to find your QuickConnect ID and use it, and just as importantly, how to do it without leaving your files open to the rest of the world.

What QuickConnect actually does

Rather than opening a door in your office internet connection, QuickConnect uses Synology's own servers as a go-between. You visit a short web address, Synology works out where your NAS is, and it joins the two ends together. Nothing in the office has to be reconfigured, and there is no fixed address sitting out on the internet for strangers to find. It is the safer of the easy options, but it is still a way in to every file you own, so treat the login the way you treat your banking.

Try this first

1. On any computer, go to account.synology.com and sign in with the Synology account the NAS is registered to. That is usually the account set up when the NAS was installed, not your normal work email password.
2. Once you are signed in, open My Devices from the menu.
3. Find your NAS in the list. The QuickConnect ID is shown beside it, and it is a short name rather than a string of numbers. Write it down, because it does not change.
4. Open a new browser tab and go to quickconnect.to/ followed by that ID. For example, if the ID is yourbusiness-nas, the address is quickconnect.to/yourbusiness-nas.
5. Sign in with your usual NAS username and password. You should land on the NAS desktop, where File Station shows you the same folders you see in the office.

On a phone or tablet, the Synology apps ask for the QuickConnect ID instead of an address, so the steps above give you everything you need there as well.

If that didn't fix it

• If the page loads but says the device is offline, the NAS may be switched off or the office internet may be down. Ask someone in the office whether the shared drives still work from a desk computer.
• If the address is rejected as unknown, check the ID again in My Devices. A typo or a stray space copied from the end is the usual culprit.
• If your username or password is refused, stop after two attempts. Repeated failures can lock the account, and on many setups they also block the internet connection you are calling from. Log a ticket instead.
• If it works from home but not from a client site or a hotel, that network is most likely blocking it. Tethering to your phone for a minute is a quick way to prove that is the cause.

Doing this safely

• Use a strong password that you use nowhere else. If the same password is on another website and that site is breached, your files are the next stop.
• Turn on two-factor authentication on the Synology account. That means a code from an app on your phone as well as your password. It is the difference between a stolen password being an annoyance and being a very bad week.
• Sign out when you have finished on any shared or personal computer, and do not let the browser save the password on a device other people use.
• Treat exposing the NAS as a decision, not an accident. Switching on extra remote services, or opening ports on the office internet connection, makes your files reachable from anywhere. That can be a perfectly reasonable thing to do. It just needs to be deliberate, and set up alongside updates and working backups.

Check with us before you set this up yourself

If more than one person now needs the files from outside the office, tell us what you are trying to achieve rather than turning settings on. We would nearly always rather build a proper remote path for you, with the right access for the right people and the NAS kept patched and backed up, than have staff open the NAS up one setting at a time. It usually ends up easier to use as well. Email admin@yougrowit.com.au and we will scope it.

Still stuck?

Log a ticket at portal.yougrowit.com.au or email support@yougrowit.com.au. If it is stopping you working right now, call 03 9028 4358.

Support hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm Melbourne time, excluding Victorian public holidays.