Which term describes accessing files from a computer other than the one where the files are stored.

Where a user is physically located when working with files matters in computer networking. If the user is sitting at the same machine that stores the files, access is local. If the user reaches those files from a different, separate machine, often over a network or the Internet, a different term applies.

Remote access is the term for reaching and using files, programs, or an entire computer from a location other than where that computer or storage device physically sits, for example logging into a work computer from home over the internet.

"Local access" is the opposite situation, using files directly on the machine where they are stored. "Cloud access" and "special access" are not the standard terms for this general concept; cloud access specifically refers to using storage or services hosted on remote servers over the internet, which is a related but narrower idea, while "special access" is not an established networking term.

A quick test for this kind of question: ask whether the user and the data are on the same physical machine. Different machines, connected by a network, means remote access.