Sharing files on Linux
Learn how to send and receive files securely and easily over Meshnet on Linux.
This guide provides the information you need to start sharing files over Meshnet on Linux.
Make sure that the device you want to share files with meets the following criteria:
- The NordVPN app is running, and the Meshnet feature is enabled in the app.
- The device is connected to your Meshnet.
Note
You can add devices to your Meshnet in two ways, depending on device ownership:
- To add an external device, send an invitation via the NordVPN app with the owner's email. Ensure the invitation is accepted. See Adding external Meshnet devices on Linux.
- 1.Open the terminal.
- 2.Enter the
nordvpn meshnet peer list
command and copy the Nord name or Meshnet IP address of the device you want to share your files with. - 3.Type the
nordvpn fileshare send
command, followed by your peer device’s Nord name or Meshnet IP address and the path to the file you want to transfer, as shown:nordvpn fileshare send <peer> </path/to/your/file>Example - 4.Add more files to the transfer if needed. You can drag files from the file explorer to the terminal to paste the path. Example
The file transfer begins as soon as the recipient accepts your download request on their device.
Tip
To find your peer's Nord name faster, start typing the name and press Tab. The system will auto-complete the name with a match from online devices.
Note
You can only send files to the devices that have the file sharing permission enabled for your device. For more information, see File sharing permissions.
To display the history of transfers sent from your device, along with their ID, size, status, and other relevant details, use the following command:
nordvpn fileshare list --outgoing
The transfers in the list are arranged in chronological order, with the oldest transfers appearing first.
To receive files shared from another linked device, you can use the NordVPN notifications or the command line.
Accepting transfers using notifications
Accepting transfers using the command line
- 1.Open the terminal.
- 2.Ensure that you have enabled the NordVPN notifications by running this command:nordvpn set notify on
- 3.Have your Meshnet peer send the files.
- 4.Upon receiving the file transfer notification, select Accept within it to start the download of the transferred files.
- 1.Have your Meshnet peer send the files.
- 2.Open the terminal.
- 3.Enter the
nordvpn fileshare list
command followed by--incoming
to display incoming requests, as shown:nordvpn fileshare list --incoming - 4.Copy the ID of the file transfer request you want to accept.
- 5.Type
nordvpn fileshare accept
followed by the file transfer ID from the previous step, as shown:nordvpn fileshare accept <id>Example
Tip
The ID can be auto-completed. Start typing the initial characters of the ID and press Tab for quick suggestions.
Once a download is complete, if you have NordVPN notifications enabled, you will receive a notification about each individual downloaded file.

You can find the files shared with you by checking your computer’s default download folder location, which is typically the Downloads folder.
If you want to download only specific files from the transfer, provide the names of the files you choose to accept.
nordvpn fileshare accept <id> <file1> <file2>...
Example

Tip
To display the list of files in a particular transfer directory, enter the
nordvpn fileshare list
command followed by the transfer ID:nordvpn fileshare list <id>
You can enable automatic transfer acceptance from a specific peer. To do this, run the following command, replacing
<device>
with the peer’s Nord name or Meshnet IP:nordvpn meshnet peer auto-accept enable <device>
If you want to specify the location on your system where downloaded files will be saved, use the
--path
command option followed by the desired location and the transfer ID:nordvpn fileshare accept --path </path/to/directory> <id>
If you need to cancel a transfer while it is still in progress, there are two ways to do it:
- Using Ctrl + C
- Using the
cancel
command
The
cancel
command is typically used when the transfer is running in the background or when you are canceling from a different terminal session.To cancel a file transfer, enter the following, replacing
<id>
with the ID of the transfer you want to cancel.nordvpn fileshare cancel <id>
Example

Provide a file name if you want to cancel a specific file in the transfer, as shown:
nordvpn fileshare cancel <id> <file>
If you want to run a transfer process in the background, use the
--background
option.- When sending a file transfer, enter:nordvpn fileshare send --background <peer> </path/to/your/file>Example
- When accepting a file transfer, type:nordvpn fileshare accept --background <id>
You can access command information using the
--help
option. For example, to view helpful information about the fileshare
command, type:nordvpn fileshare --help
Last modified 10d ago