# Step 2: Share your directory
<a name="step2_share_directory"></a>

Use the following procedures to begin the directory sharing workflow from within the directory owner account. 

**Note**  
Directory sharing is a Regional feature of Amazon Managed Microsoft AD. If you are using [Multi-Region replication](ms_ad_configure_multi_region_replication.md), the following procedures must be applied separately in each Region. For more information, see [Global vs Regional features](multi-region-global-region-features.md).

**To share your directory from the directory owner account**

1. Sign into the Amazon Web Services Management Console with administrator credentials in the directory owner account and open the [Amazon Directory Service console](https://console.amazonaws.cn/directoryservicev2/) at https://console.amazonaws.cn/directoryservicev2/.

1. In the navigation pane, choose **Directories**.

1. Choose the directory ID of the Amazon Managed Microsoft AD directory that you want to share.

1. On the **Directory details** page, do one of the following:
   + If you have multiple Regions showing under **Multi-Region replication**, select the Region where you want to share your directory, and then choose the **Scale & share** tab. For more information, see [Primary vs additional Regions](multi-region-global-primary-additional.md).
   + If you do not have any Regions showing under **Multi-Region replication**, choose the **Scale & share** tab.

1. In the **Shared directories** section, choose **Actions**, and then choose **Create new shared directory**.

1. On the **Choose which Amazon Web Services accounts to share with** page, choose one of the following sharing methods depending on your business needs:

   1. **Share this directory with Amazon Web Services accounts inside your organization** – With this option you can select the Amazon Web Services accounts you want to share your directory with from a list showing all the Amazon Web Services accounts inside your Amazon organization. You must enable trusted access with Amazon Directory Service before you share a directory. For more information, see [How to enable or disable trusted access](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/organizations/latest/userguide/orgs_integrate_services.html#orgs_how-to-enable-disable-trusted-access).
**Note**  
To use this option, your organization must have **All features** enabled, and your directory must be in the organization management account.

      1. Under **Amazon Web Services accounts in your organization**, select the Amazon Web Services accounts that you want to share the directory with and click **Add**. 

      1. Review the pricing details, and then choose **Share**.

      1. Proceed to [Step 4](step4_test_ec2_access.md) in this guide. Because all Amazon Web Services accounts are in the same organization, you do not need to follow Step 3.

   1. **Share this directory with other Amazon Web Services accounts** - With this option, you can share a directory with accounts inside or outside your Amazon organization. You can also use this option when your directory is not a member of an Amazon organization and you want to share with another Amazon Web Services account.

      1. In **Amazon Web Services account ID(s)**, enter all the Amazon Web Services account IDs that you want to share the directory with, and then click **Add**.

      1. In **Send a note**, type a message to the administrator in the other Amazon Web Services account. 

      1. Review the pricing details, and then choose **Share**.

      1. Proceed to Step 3. 

**Next Step**

[Step 3: Accept shared directory invite - Optional](step3_accept_invite.md)