A family NAS setup gives each person in the household their own private storage alongside shared space for photos, movies, and documents that everyone can reach. Setting it up correctly the first time - with proper user accounts and folder permissions - means each person's private files stay private, and shared content is available to everyone without needing to ask someone else to share a link. This guide covers the setup on both Synology DSM (Synology's operating system) and QNAP QTS (QNAP's operating system).
In short: Create one user account per family member. Create a personal shared folder for each person (only they can read/write it). Create a household shared folder for photos, movies, and documents that everyone can access. Set up automatic phone photo backup for each family member's phone. Map the shared folders as network drives on each computer. Done - each person has private storage and shared family storage, all on the same NAS.
Step 1: Create User Accounts for Each Family Member
Each person in the household should have their own NAS user account with a unique username and password. This is what allows the NAS to know who is accessing what and enforce permissions correctly. Shared accounts (everyone using the same login) undermine the entire permission system.
On Synology DSM: Log in as admin, open Control Panel, then User and Group, then Create. Enter the person's name and a password. Do not add them to any special groups for now. Repeat for each family member. The default users group is fine - it gives basic access without admin privileges.
On QNAP QTS: Open the Control Panel, then Privilege, then Users, then Create. Enter a username and password for each family member. Leave the quota settings blank unless you want to limit how much space each person can use.
Password tip: Use a passphrase rather than a complex password - easier for family members to remember and type. Something like BlueDog-Sunny-River is long enough to be secure and simple enough to recall. Store it in a password manager or write it down somewhere safe.
Step 2: Create Personal Shared Folders
Each family member needs a shared folder that only they can access. This is where their personal backups, work documents, and private photos live. Other family members - including other adults in the house - should not have access unless explicitly granted.
On Synology DSM: Open Control Panel, then Shared Folder, then Create. Name the folder after the person (e.g. Sarah, Marcus). On the permissions step, give the person's user account Read/Write access. Give all other user accounts No access. Leave the admin account with Read/Write. Repeat for each family member.
On QNAP QTS: Open File Station, then Create Shared Folder. Name it, then on the permissions tab, set the person's account to Read/Write and leave others at No Access. Alternatively use Control Panel, then Privilege, then Shared Folders to set folder-level permissions centrally.
Step 3: Create a Household Shared Folder
The household shared folder is where content everyone can access lives: family photos, shared documents, movies and TV shows for Plex, kids' homework, and anything else the whole family uses. Everyone gets Read/Write access to this folder unless you specifically want someone (like a younger child) to have read-only access.
Create this folder the same way as the personal folders, but name it something like Family or Shared. On the permissions step, give every family member's account Read/Write access. If you want children to be able to add files but not delete others' content, consider Read/Write at the folder level but restricting delete permissions at the subfolder level - though for most families, full Read/Write on the family folder is simpler and works well.
Within the family folder, create subfolders to organise content: Photos, Movies, Documents, Kids, or whatever categories your household uses. Having the subfolder structure defined from the start avoids the messy flat folder problem where everything accumulates in one unorganised location.
Step 4: Set Up Phone Photo Backup for Everyone
Phone photo backup is one of the most valuable things a family NAS does. Every photo taken on every family member's phone backs up automatically to the NAS, without anyone needing to do anything manually. Lost, broken, or stolen phones no longer mean lost photos.
On Synology: Install Synology Photos from Package Center. It creates a Photos folder in each user's home folder on the NAS. Each family member installs the Synology Photos app on their phone, logs in with their NAS account, and enables automatic upload. Photos from each person's phone go to their personal Photos folder, not to a shared location - unless they specifically move or share photos to the family folder.
On QNAP: Install QuMagie from the App Center. The mobile app handles automatic photo upload from phones to the NAS. QuMagie includes AI-powered photo recognition and categorisation. Each user's photos are stored separately in their own folder with the option to share albums to other family members.
Disable iCloud and Google Photos if you want to use the NAS as your primary photo backup. Running both simultaneously duplicates storage costs and can create confusion about which copy is authoritative. Many families find it simpler to pick one - the NAS if they want local control and privacy, a cloud service if they want automatic redundancy and sharing. Some run both deliberately for redundancy, which is also fine.
Step 5: Map Folders as Network Drives on Each Computer
Mapping the NAS shared folders as network drives on each computer makes them appear as regular drives in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac). The personal folder appears as one drive, the family shared folder as another - just like having two separate hard drives, except they live on the NAS.
Windows: Open File Explorer, click This PC, then Map network drive. Choose a drive letter (e.g. P: for Personal, F: for Family). Enter the path in the form \\NAS-IP\Sarah where Sarah is the folder name. Check Connect using different credentials and enter the person's NAS username and password. Check Reconnect at sign-in. Repeat for the family folder using their same credentials (they already have access from Step 3).
Mac: In Finder, click Go, then Connect to Server. Enter smb://NAS-IP and click Connect. Select the shared folders you want to connect to, entering the person's NAS credentials when prompted. To make the connection persistent across reboots, add the server to your Login Items in System Settings.
Step 6: Set Up Plex or Emby for Family Movie Nights
If your family has a collection of movies, TV shows, or home videos, Plex and Emby are media servers that organise and stream that content to TVs, tablets, and phones. Both are available as packages on Synology and QNAP. Install one through the NAS package centre, point it at your media folders, and it will scan and organise the library automatically.
Plex and Emby work differently: Plex's interface is more polished and easier for family members to use without any setup on their devices. Emby is open source and more configurable but requires more initial setup. For a family NAS where simplicity matters, Plex is the more common choice. Transcoding (converting a video file from one format in real time so it plays on a device that cannot handle the original) requires a reasonably powerful NAS processor - check your model's specifications before expecting 4K transcoding to work smoothly.
Managing Quotas and Storage Limits
If storage space is a concern, both DSM and QTS support user-level storage quotas. A quota limits how much each person can store in their personal folder. Setting a quota prevents one family member from filling the entire NAS drive with downloads while leaving no space for others' backups.
On Synology, user quotas are configured under Control Panel, then User and Group, then the quota tab. On QNAP, they are under Control Panel, then Privilege, then Users, then the quota tab. Set a reasonable limit per person and communicate it - quotas applied without warning cause confusion when uploads suddenly stop working.
Related reading: our NAS buyer's guide and our NAS explainer.
Use our free NAS Sizing Wizard to get a personalised NAS recommendation.
Can I stop my kids from accessing adult content or certain folders?
Yes. Folder permissions are the primary control - if a folder is set to No Access for a child's user account, they cannot see or open it. For internet content filtering, that is a router-level function rather than a NAS function - most home routers support DNS filtering or parental controls that apply to all devices on the network. The NAS permission system controls who can access which files on the NAS itself, not what websites or streaming services are accessible.
How many user accounts can a NAS support?
Consumer Synology models support up to 2048 local users. QNAP consumer models support a similar number. For a typical household of 2-6 people, you will not approach any limit. Enterprise and rackmount models support Active Directory integration for organisations with hundreds of users. Home users never need to think about the limit.
Can family members access the NAS from outside the home?
Yes. Both Synology QuickConnect and QNAP myQNAPcloud provide remote access without requiring router configuration. Each family member installs the NAS's mobile app (DS file for Synology, Qfile for QNAP) and logs in with their own account. They can then access their personal folder and the shared family folder from anywhere with internet access. Their account permissions apply remotely - they still cannot access other family members' private folders.
What happens if someone forgets their NAS password?
You (as the NAS admin) can reset any user's password through the control panel. On Synology, go to Control Panel, then User and Group, select the user, and edit their account to set a new password. On QNAP, the process is similar through Control Panel, then Privilege, then Users. You do not need to know their old password to reset it. This is why keeping admin credentials secure and separate from regular user accounts is important.
Can I share specific photos with family members without giving full folder access?
Yes. Both Synology Photos and QNAP QuMagie support album sharing - you can select photos from your personal folder and share them as an album with specific family members or with a shareable link. The person you share with sees only what you included in the album, not your entire photo library. This is useful for sharing a holiday album or event photos without exposing all your personal photos.
How much NAS storage does a family of 4 typically need?
A rough starting estimate: phones generate 3-5GB of photos and videos per month per person. A family of 4 generates 12-20GB per month from phone cameras alone. Add PC backups (50-200GB per computer depending on content) and media files. A 4TB total NAS (which delivers 2TB usable in RAID 1 on a 2-bay, or 3TB usable in RAID 5 on a 4-bay) is a reasonable starting point. A 2-bay NAS with 2x4TB drives (4TB usable in RAID 1) handles most families comfortably for 2-3 years of growth.
Australian Buyers: What You Need to Know
Synology and QNAP consumer NAS models are widely available in Australia through Mwave, Scorptec, PLE, and Umart. Synology's DS223 and DS423+ are common 2-bay and 4-bay choices for family setups. QNAP's TS-253E and TS-464 are the equivalent QNAP options. Australian Consumer Law applies to NAS purchases from Australian retailers, covering you for warranty obligations beyond the manufacturer's standard period.
For phone backup, Australian NBN connections typically have 20-40Mbps upload speed on standard plans. Uploading 10GB of photos from a new phone will take a few minutes on the local network (which runs at Gigabit speeds), but if you are trying to restore remotely over NBN, large photo libraries can take hours. This is why the local NAS backup is the primary copy and cloud backup is the off-site insurance - restore from the NAS is fast, restore from cloud is slow but available anywhere.
Just unboxed a NAS for the first time? The first-steps guide covers physical setup, drive installation, and storage configuration before you get to user accounts.
NAS First Steps Guide