Does Windows 10/11 support connecting two hosts over USB (A-to-A) and then sharing drives with standard file sharing? Note, I am asking specifically about USB 3, which (at the hardware/protocol level) does support host-to-host connections.

I’ve spent a couple of hours researching this question (my Google-fu is usually pretty good) but cannot find a definitive answer. There seem to be five different opinions:

• No you can’t do this in Windows, even with USB 3
• Yes, but you need a “bridged” cable (with a dongle in the middle) but that requires special software that only supports data transfer, not networking (similar to LapLink).
• Yes, there’s a bridged cable that comes with software supporting “Network Mode” – but I can’t find any references except for this one post.
• Yes, but you need a crossover cable that omits VBus, D+ and D- (those cables don’t seem to be available at all). In this case Windows will show the other PC in the “Network” section of Explorer.
• Yes, all you need is a USB 3 A-to-A cable.

I’d love to find a definitive answer.