Sharing files on Windows
Learn how to send and receive files securely and easily over Meshnet on Windows.
This guide provides the information you need to start sharing files over Meshnet on Windows.
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 your own device, just enable Meshnet on that device. See Using Meshnet on Windows for details.
- 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 Windows for details.
You can initiate a file transfer from the NordVPN app or by using the Windows shortcut menu that appears when you right-click an object.
- 1.In your NordVPN app, do any of the following:
- Click the Downloadbutton in the upper-right corner, then click Send files.
- Go to the Meshnet tab and click Share files.
- 2.To upload your file:
- Click anywhere in the Drag and drop files here area, navigate to your file, and then click Open. You can also pick multiple files to share them together. To select items that are not next to each other, press and hold Ctrl as you click each additional file you want to select.
- Alternatively, navigate to the file location and then drag the file you want to share to the Drag and drop files here area. You can select a group of files and drag them at once.
- 3.Under Your devices or External devices, find the device you want to share with. If you have many linked devices, you may want to simplify the search by selecting the Show only devices that allow receiving files from you checkbox.
- 4.Click Send.
The file transfer begins as soon as the recipient accepts your download request on their device. See how to Receive shared files on a Windows device further in this article.
Note
You can only send files to the devices that have the file sharing permission enabled for your device. Otherwise, you’ll find a button labeled Sending not allowed in place of the Send button. For more information, see File sharing permissions.
After uploading files in the Drag and drop files here area, you can share the same attachment with multiple devices.
Click the Send button next to each device you want to share with, one at a time.
- 1.On your computer, right-click the file or folder you want to share. You can also right-click a group of files after selecting them together.
- 2.Point to Send with NordVPN Meshnet.
- 3.Select the Meshnet device you want to share the file with.
Tip
If you prefer not to have the Send with NordVPN Meshnet command in your context menu, you can easily disable it. To do this, go to Settings
> General and turn off the toggle for Show the Meshnet file sharing option in the Windows context menu.
To monitor and manage transfers that are being sent from your device, click View transfer next to the recipient’s device.
Once you’ve initiated a transfer, you can find the files that you're sharing and their transfer status under the Sent tab.
- To cancel a file transfer that is currently in the queue or in progress, click the Cancel (x) button.
- To cancel all pending or active transfers, click the three-dot menu and select Cancel all pending sent transfers or Cancel all sent transfers, respectively.
- To remove a completed file transfer from your history, click the binbutton.
- To remove all completed file transfers, click the three-dot menu and select Clear completed sent transfers.
To receive files shared from another linked device, do the following steps:
- 1.Have your Meshnet peer send the files. The file transfer request will appear as a Windows notification and also in your NordVPN app.
- 2.Optionally, select Always accept transfers from this device to automatically accept future file transfers from this sender.
- 3.Click Accept to save the file to your Downloads folder.
- 4.If the sharer attempts to send you multiple files, you will be prompted to review the files first. Click Review to open the Transfers view.Or, go to Meshnet> Share files and click View transfers next to the sender’s device.
- 5.Under Pending downloads, clear the checkboxes to the left of the files that you don’t want to download, if any.
- 6.Click Download selected.
Once the download is complete, you can find the files shared with you by doing any of the following:
- Clicking Open file location in the notification that appears when the file is downloaded.
- Going to View transfers > Downloads and clicking the folderbutton to the right of the downloaded file.
- Checking your system's default download folder location.
To monitor and manage file transfers that you’re receiving, click View transfer next to the sender’s device.
Once you’ve accepted a download request, you can view the file download status and progress under the Downloads tab.
- To cancel a file download that is currently in the queue or in progress, click the Cancel (x) button.
- To cancel all active downloads, click the three-dot menu and select Cancel all downloads.
- To clear the download history for individual files, click the binbutton to the right.
- To remove all completed file downloads, click the three-dot menu and select Clear all completed downloads.
Last modified 17d ago