How NOT to Mount Network Folders when Opening Them?

You could not open that directory. It exists exactly to show all mounted volumes.

You can remove drives from the Desktop and Sidebar.

I don’t know how, but you can set up automount to mount them to a different folder. You’d have to search for that, or someone may chime in here

Jerry_D wrote:

Is there a way to prevent network folders to get mounted as drives each time I open them?

No. What you ask is fundamentally impossible. You cannot access a folder on a shared volume without mounting that volume first.

Jerry_D wrote:

I realize that I should rephrase my question. Please forgive my lack of clarity. While understanding the need for mounting in order to access folders or files on a shared volume, I see no need for the volume to remain mounted forever. Is there a way to automatically unmount the volume once I close the application that was accessing it?

Not really. There is no way for the system to know that you are no longer using the data.

However, there is an old auto mount mechanism that is still available. Apple took down the documentation a few years ago, but you can still find. Do a Google search for "autofs white paper". There is a reason why Apple doesn't really support this anymore. It worked, more or less, circa 2016-2017, when bound to an Active Directory SMB network. For other types of networks, you'll have to reduce your security levels and raise your hassle levels. Technically, it may be possible, but it won't be easy.

That would be as good as it gets. The same caveats apply. It's just that the system will automatically unmount these shares after you haven't used them for 10 minutes or so. Maybe.

Network shares have to mount or you won't be accessing the files on the server.

All you can do is unmount (Eject) the shares when not needed.