We’ve seen people share files with each other. There’s Dropbox and there’s Google Drive, but they all have their limitations.
With Slack it’s different. We can provide users with an easy-to-use file-sharing service that allows them to share large files with anyone else who wants to download them, or move them between different devices, or transfer them to other people, and we can also provide users with a simple drag-and-drop interface for sharing files amongst themselves.
This is something that is impossible to do any other way – because we know that the most valuable thing you can do together is really a file sharer, not a file droper!
Table of Contents
-In today’s day and age, file sharing has become an integral part of our lives.
This is a very common question and is probably the most frequently asked one in the world. It tends to be phrased in the form “how do i share my file with other people”, which seems rather self-evident and therefore not very interesting or informative. But what if I tell you that it’s actually quite easy? What if I tell you that you don’t need to do anything at all? What if I tell you that the whole process of downloading, uploading, and transferring files between people is completely automated? In fact, all it takes is a few clicks of your mouse and an internet connection.
A file transfer can be described as a process where multiple (possible) users exchange information on different computers or devices over a common network connection. There are many possible actions that can be taken during this transfer:
- You can send files from your desktop to another computer over a network (using FTP or SSH);
- You can receive files from another computer over a network (using SFTP);
- You can send files from one computer to multiple computers via SMB (file sharing protocol) — which uses TCP port 445 for data transmission;
- You don’t even need a computer! Your smartphone, tablet or any other electronic device with WiFi and 3G connectivity can serve as an “interface” between two computers — all you have to do is tap on “Send/Receive” and let your phone know where to send/receive data. The whole transfer will take place automatically when both devices are connected;
There are many other possible ways of transferring data over networks, but for simplicity’s sake, we will assume that we are talking about network transfers between computers. This includes remote access for Windows and Mac machines, offsite backups, incremental backups, etc. We’ll also assume that we have already established some user accounts on both sides so it’s not necessary for us to create one anew on each device involved in the transfer. That said, if you’ve never done a file transfer before then check out our more advanced tutorial here: How To Transfer Files From One Computer To Another Computer, which covers creating user accounts as well as using SFTP, FTP & SSH software programs instead of just SSH.
-Whether we’re sending a large file to a friend or colleague, or downloading the latest movie from the internet, file sharing is something that we all do on a daily basis.
There is a handful of file-sharing software out there. We have seen them all (and tested some of them) so it’s time to talk about a few of the most popular ones.
Why are they popular? Because they do what we need them to do: They let us share files with others without having to go through FTP or a web browser, and they can be used in one-off cases as well (we use Dropbox as our file sharers tool).
The trouble is that not all software is created equal, even if it does the same thing. Some tools are much better than others and some offer different things for different reasons. Here is an attempt at a comparison table of the best file-sharing software so that you can know exactly what you’re looking for and choose the right tool for your needs.
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FileZilla –
This is essentially just FTP, but it lets you connect to multiple servers at once, which makes it perfect for batch transfers, uploads, downloads, and sharing large files with multiple people at once.
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HandBrake –
If you want to convert videos from one format to another then this is the tool for you. It’s also widely used by professional video editors and has lots of other useful features such as recording video and playing back audio clips directly from your computer’s hard drive. Best of all – no installation needed!
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Cyberduck –
Cyberduck is similar to FileZilla but does so much more: It lets you easily transfer files between all types of devices (including mobile phones), can send files from one computer over a network or via email or FTP, and allows you to easily search your files and find specific files in archives or folders, has built-in screen capture tools (so we can capture screenshots using just a mouse pointer), allows users to set up their own filesharing server/proxy location (called ‘Virtual Private Servers’ – VPS), supports FTP & FTPS connections on various platforms including Windows & OS X – even Linux! And Cyberduck also saves its settings in XML format which means they will work on any modern web browser making it really easy to change things like proxy settings without needing any knowledge of XML!
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Transmission –
Transmission gives us an alternative solution again, this time one that handles file transfer over HTTP as well as FTP and FTPS connections over SSH / SFTP.
-However, with so many different file-sharing software programs out there, it can be hard to know which one is the best for your needs.
Sharing files is a fundamental part of life. Whether it’s for work, for fun, for storing things, for getting them to other people or just in order to get your hands on some data that you’re interested in — it’s important to know how to share files with other people.
Here are some tips:
- Just put the file inside a folder and then name it something that makes sense. For example, if you have tens of gigabytes of data, the best way to share this file with many people would be by keeping it inside a folder called “data”. Those who want to read the data files can find the file by searching for “data” in their browser.
- If you are using the dropbox app (which runs on Mac OS), open up your Dropbox preferences and go through all your folders and then select “Manage Folders” and copy the folder name you want to use (in our example we named this folder “data) as your dropbox group name/folder name. It will also appear on dropbox sign-up page when you go through search options (you can also change it later). For example https://www.dropbox.com/signin/group/data?gid=97739001573
- If you don’t like Dropbox or don’t have access to it (or don’t want to), there are other ways of sharing large files with other users (for example, using Google Drive). But keep in mind that these are not perfect solutions and they may not be as secure as an encrypted email account like Gmail etc., so if possible use one of these instead: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders#file=1 https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6OZ-TpPX6qdz0p1b3JxUVMjQ2E https://docs.google.com/document//viewer?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffilesharegeek.. This should give you an idea as well as help motivate you when creating folders within Google Drive (please note that at least one person has reported being able to send large files from Dropbox onto Google Drive by clicking File > Open > Send (or File > New Folder > Send if in
-In this article, we will take a look at some of the most popular file-sharing software programs available and compare their features to help you decide which one is right for you.
I remember when I first started using the internet, a friend of mine gave me their software that was supposed to be rather simple. It was called “Share”. This software allowed me to share my files with people. It seemed to be just a simple part of the operating system and it allowed me to “share” files. This is what I did for years: I shared my time with friends who were working out of their apartments and wanted to use this software. When I got married and moved in, I didn’t want to share my home with others (and this is true today) so, I bought an ipod and started sharing files with friends who were out at clubs or wherever they went. A year later, my wife finally came up with a better idea: she bought a camera that would allow her to take pictures of people’s headshots or any other pictures she saw them taking. That’s how we got into taking pictures together.
So, what can you do now? You can always make your own service; but it will also be difficult as you will need some technical skills that are not yours (or maybe your skills are too advanced). However, if you don’t have the technical abilities or don’t want them (yet), there is another option: upload photos of your friends’ headshots onto your own website; but beware! Uploading those photos into services like Flickr will lead your friend (or any other person for that matter) to know exactly where you uploaded those pics from!
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File Sharing Software Programs
When you are working with a large file, it is common for users to copy and paste the file into different programs. There are a number of ways to do this, including Microsoft Notepad and TextEdit. These programs each have their own pros and cons, so choosing the right one for your needs is important.
Microsoft Notepad is free but less powerful than some other free software programs that are much better in other respects. It can also be slow to load large files, especially if they contain lots of images.
TextEdit may be more flexible in terms of what you can do with it, but it suffers from the same image problems as Microsoft Notepad (and the rest of these comments). It is sometimes too slow to load files and may not work properly if you need to show foreign characters that cannot be understood by your computer (in particular when using systems such as Windows 8).
The best way to decide which one of these two tools is right for you is to read up on them both and check out some reviews. Both should work well enough for most people — that’s why they’re free! — so we recommend that you try them both for yourself before making your final choice:
Note: We will be updating this post frequently over time — just don’t forget about us!
-There are a number of different file-sharing software programs available on the market today.
A new study has come out that shows how difficult it is to share large files with other people. According to the study, only 22% of large file-sharing websites are successful at downloading. This is also true for iTunes, which is also a very popular file-sharing service, but only 14% of its users are able to download a large file.
This makes it very clear that even if you can’t be bothered to distribute your own files on a website, you should still be able to enable your users to do so with your own software instead.
-Each program has its own unique set of features and benefits that make it ideal for different situations.
Shareware is another name for Freeware, and it is the practice of offering free software that has only a limited feature set but offers a way of helping you test, learn or experiment with it. It is often used to introduce yourself to people who are interested in your product or service. (It should be noted that while the practice is old, the name itself isn’t: it was first used around the time of DOS and was originally called “shareware”.)
It originated in Europe when CFS (Creative Computing Software) became popular because it allowed users to share their music files with friends. However, as more people started using this technology as a way of sharing files with people who were not willing to pay for copies, other companies came along:
Shareware can work on several levels:
- The product itself should be shareware – that means it is free and gives you some rights over its use (more on this below)
- The user interface should allow sharing of software with other people if you want to and there are tools made specifically for doing so. (These are called share-and-use tools )
- The software can also be free but not shareware: we’re talking about programs here; not digital goods like music or movies.
Most good companies don’t offer both, to begin with: they offer one or the other depending on what they are trying to sell. For example, if they want to sell large file storage then they will probably offer only shareware. On the other hand, if they want an ESET Security solution then they may have a lot of upfront costs in terms of licensing fees and license keys but will probably offer all their products as shareware too. If everyone knows that these items are available as shareware then nobody will actually buy them because there is no direct benefit from buying them outright — which means no money is lost from marketing efforts. But if nobody knows that ESET Security is available as shareware then nobody will buy it because no direct benefit from buying it exists either. As such, some companies choose between offering both features depending on what their customers want and not depending on how much marketing effort a company tries to put towards getting those customers into buying their products outright instead of just trying to get them into paying for them indirectly through trial/membership/freemium models like we do here at MacRumors.
-Some of the most popular file sharing software programs include
If you’re the kind of person who just wants to share files with your friends and family, you can find file-sharing software that does exactly what you want it to do. From Microsoft OneDrive for $4.99 per month to BitTorrent for free, there are a lot of options available.
But what if most of your friends happen to be computer nerds, who love to use software that does more than just present a list of files every time they open it? What if they’re also into photography and video editing, with their own collection of creative tools? What if they have tons of photos and videos from vacations or training sessions — but no way to get those images onto their computers? What if they want to store the photos on their phone but want the ability to transfer them without getting frustrated with a lot of data transfers?
This is where desktop apps like My Gallery or Dropbox come in — these apps let you share large documents or videos with people who need them without having a lot of technical knowledge associated with them (though some applications do offer additional functionality).
My Gallery is an app that makes it easy for people like this. It allows you to send files directly through its email service (the Mac App Store version is free) and, once someone opens the email containing the file, it will automatically open in My Gallery. The only caveat is that you have to allow other people access; otherwise, it will refuse access.
Dropbox is another option, which often offers more functionality than My Gallery and offers better user support (though this requires an extra $5 per month purchase). You can use Dropbox as an alternative storage solution for many different types of files: pictures, music, videos etc …or as a way to collaborate on projects between people outside your organization (in fact Dropbox encourages collaboration between users by default). You can easily back up all your files from your personal account/disks/Dropbox onto someone else’s account/disks/Dropbox so that you don’t lose anything even if something goes wrong when one person tries deleting something in order to create space on another person’s account. The idea behind this is not just saving space but ensuring security too; what happens if someone deletes something accidentally? Even though no one has access any more than before — when someone deletes something from their account it can’t be recovered because there’s no way for anyone else on the internet back then who has the same password then today’s
*Dropbox: Dropbox is a cloud-based storage service that allows users to upload and share files online. Files are stored securely in the cloud and can be accessed from anywhere using an internet connection. Dropbox also offers a variety of features such as real-time syncing, version history, and collaboration tools.
What’s the easiest way to share a large file with other people? Share a large file with other people. Dropbox is probably the best option for this. It’s secure, it’s private, it’s easy to use and it allows you to set up sharing abilities that anyone can access.
In addition to being secure and private, Dropbox also allows you to set up custom sharing. For example, you can give some of your files to a specific person or group of people and specify what they can do with them as long as they have the right permissions. The default is that the person or group of people gets access to everything in those folders but doesn’t see anything else (like your photos).
If you want more control over who sees things and when they see things, however, Dropbox has you covered. You can configure who sees what and when. If you want your friends and family (or even random strangers) access to any file at any time (say, if you’re running late for an important meeting), go ahead and give them access rights on all files (and optionally restrict them from being able to delete any of those files).
*Google Drive: Google Drive is another cloud-based storage service that offers users similar features to Dropbox. Users can store files in the cloud and access them from anywhere using an internet connection. Google Drive also offers real-time syncing, version history, and collaboration tools.
In the last decade, there has been a proliferation of file sharing services that claim to offer robust file storage and retrieval. The most popular one is Google Drive , which offers a one-click upload for websites and documents. A user can use any computer to upload files into Drive, starting with a local hard drive on their own computer.
However, many users are still not able to store large files in Google Drive. They don’t have enough free space on their computers or they don’t want to pay too much for their data storage. For these users, there are some other options:
disk sharing : share an external hard disk with another user. Dropbox is also an option. It enables you to share your data with a few other people easily and securely, but it is somewhat slow compared to Google Drive as it works only between two computers on the same network (it does not work between different networks).
: share an external hard disk with another user. Dropbox is also an option. It enables you to share your data with a few other people easily and securely, but it is somewhat slow compared to Google Drive as it works only between two computers on the same network (it does not work between different networks). cloud storage : Google offers storage through its new cloud service Project Fi , which will provide users access via any device that has access to the internet . However, this requires using Google’s own apps on your phone or tablet instead of Apple’s iOS or Android apps . Thus, avoiding many of the limitations posed by software-as-a-service companies like Dropbox . This whole scenario can be done in theory and in practice thanks to third-party services such as Dropbox and Box .
: Google offers storage through its new cloud service , which will provide users access via any device that has access to the internet . However, this requires using Google’s own apps on your phone or tablet instead of Apple’s iOS or Android apps . Thus, avoiding many of the limitations posed by software-as-a-service companies like and . This whole scenario can be done in theory and in practice thanks to third-party services such as Dropbox and Box . peer-to-peer : Users can exchange files directly without going through any server at all; however this means that direct file sharing tends towards being slow because everyone needs everyone else’s IP address (which may require them all signing up for email accounts) just like when sending emails; so
*OneDrive: OneDrive is a cloud-based storage service from Microsoft that offers users similar features to Dropbox and Google Drive. Users can store files in the cloud and access them from anywhere using an internet connection. OneDrive also offers real-time syncing, version history, and collaboration tools.
One of the most valuable tools that Users have is is a great example of the power of the cloud. User has the option to store their files in their local computer and access them from anywhere, which makes them a much better use for sharing files than if they were stored on an external hard drive or external cloud drive.
For users, this is just another reason to get into the cloud: there are many benefits such as access to a huge amount of storage space, real-time sync, and so on. For developers, it’s an opportunity to experiment with new kinds of APIs and services that could be useful for optimizing performance and so on.
As we’ve mentioned before: This is not “just another web app”. It’s built around Microsoft Azure , which is one of the best clouds for users and developers (depending on your need). Setting up OneDrive isn’t complicated at all (in fact it might be even easier than installing an application onto your Windows PC), but the learning curve can be steep if you are coming from something like Dropbox or Google Drive .
*iCloud: iCloud is a cloud-based storage service from Apple that offers users similar features to Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. Users can store files in the cloud and access them from anywhere using an internet connection. iCloud also offers real-time syncing, version history, and collaboration tools.
if you’re like most of the people I know, you’re probably aware of how cloud-based file storage works. Some people call it “cloud storage,” others prefer to think of it as “remote file sharing” (in other words, a way for users to share and store files on someone else’s hard drive). In simple terms, a user can access files stored in the cloud from any computer.
A number of companies and services have come up with ways to make this process easier – Dropbox has its own version of this kind of sharing, but nobody else has done it quite like their software. Their service is so good that they have more than 10 million users already.
But not everyone wants to use Dropbox or any other cloud-based storage service. This is where Apple comes in: their iCloud service allows users to share their files with colleagues or friends without needing a lot of technical knowledge or even having an internet connection.
I should mention that iCloud is also integrated seamlessly into iOS 7 on iPhones and iPods (AppleInsider says that the feature will not be available on iPads).
This means you can take your photos, videos, music and documents with you wherever you go—for free—so long as your device is connected to the internet. And if you ever forget your password, iCloud will automatically reset it in a matter of seconds when you reconnect to the internet (you don’t need to enter a new passcode).
But what if there’s no internet connection? Even if there is – many users just don’t want to switch back and forth between mobile devices whenever they need access to their files: they’d rather sync all their stuff right now instead (and then return later when they’re ready). That’s where Dropbox comes in: If you don’t want to use iCloud but still want your stuff synced all the time, creating an account and installing Dropbox is as easy as downloading an app from the App Store (iOS 7 only). Then once your account has been created and linked to your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch, using Apple’s built-in mobile Safari web browser will allow you to browse through your folders on any device connected via Wi-Fi or cellular data connection even if there isn’t an internet connection available at the time.
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Comparison of Features
In this post, I’m going to discuss the differences between the file-sharing services offered in Slack, Google Drive, and Dropbox. Just to be clear, these are not ways of sharing large files. These are ways of transferring files into other people’s accounts.
The following is a short list of features (in a programming language) that you can use to share files with other people:
Code Sharing: Several languages have syntax for code sharing (e.g. ncurses, Python, or Ruby). In order for a program to share code between users, it must know about all other programs on your machine (if your user does not have a copy of another program, then it must ask them if they want to share code). If there is any change in one user’s copy of another program, the new version will be written back into the shared file.
File-Sharing: Of course, if you just want to transfer files from one place to another, you don’t need this feature at all. However, if you want to transfer data from one person’s computer to another person’s computer using an SSH connection (or similar) then this feature is useful enough that some third-party services offer it as a feature on their own platform and others provide plugins for existing services that support it as a default option.
Exchange Features: This one is a bit more complicated; however there are several different kinds of file exchange which can be used together or isolated from each other depending on what kind you’re after (e.g. Dropbox vs Google Drive vs Slack vs Filezilla). Here’s some information about these kinds of file shares:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qY5XA79GzWxoDlwVpJSTCn1AETGk_Cv_t90F60f2Q/edit#gid=0 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qY5XA79GzWxoDlwVpJSTCn1AETGk_Cv_t90F60f2Q/#gid=0 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qY5XA79GzWxoDlwVpJSTCn1AETGk_Cv_t90F60
-Now that we’ve looked at some of the most popular file-sharing software programs available, let’s compare their features to see which one is right for you.
In general, file sharing has a bad reputation. It’s been around for ages, and most people have at least heard of it. It’s not that people don’t like sharing files (they do), but they feel they should be able to use the service they want — not that it should be a thing you need to put into your “must-do” list.
Many companies also fail to realize that their customers are not just IT geeks who want to be able to collaborate on “micro-projects”: their customers are more likely to be data scientists who need access to large datasets, an army of data analysts, UX designers (who are always using file sharing), and developers who use software such as Git and GitHub in their day-to-day work.
So what can you do? You can share files with:
- Other developers or users of your code
- Other developers or users of your code
- The people you work with within the company/project you work in (as long as it’s open-source)
- Your users (employees) and former employees (if you no longer work for them)
How does this work? In other words, what tools can we use? How do we make this easy? Not all tools are created equal. Some tools offer great features but lack usability or usability is critical — one designer might think a tool is great because it allows her developer to collaborate on a project but another might think the tool is much less useful if she only uses it as part of her job rather than as part of her personal life. We provide information about how to set up Github and Google Drive, so other options will be covered separately.