[Bill415]

Instead of disconnecting the external SSD from my laptop and connecting it directly to the Xbox, is there a way to have Kodi access the movie files on the external ssd?

[jf92]

It's possible, yes, but you will have to set up some form of a file server.  You can set your laptop up to do this, but it will have to remain on at all times the connected SSD is being used.  For this reason, many people use small computers such as raspberry pi's as a file server,  to minimize power consumption.  Here is a brief video explaining how to set up a simple file server over LAN.  There are other options such as plex, but for the situation you described the solution in the video is adequate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yREBMpLC...x=9&t=637s