File Sharing

Configure and manage your shared files and folders in Nicotine+

Nicotine+ allows you to share files with other users on the Soulseek network. You can configure multiple shared folders with different permission levels to control who can access your files.

Share Permission Levels

Nicotine+ supports three permission levels for sharing files:

Public Shares: Available to all users on the network

Buddy Shares: Only accessible to users on your buddy list

Trusted Shares: Restricted to trusted buddies only

Setting Up Shares

1. Add a Shared Folder

   Navigate to the sharing preferences and click “Add Folder” to select a directory you want to share.

2. Choose Permission Level

   Select the appropriate permission level:

   • Public for general sharing
   • Buddy to restrict to friends
   • Trusted for your most trusted contacts
3. Configure Virtual Name

   Assign a virtual name to your share. This is what other users will see instead of your actual folder path. Virtual names are automatically sanitized to:

   • Remove invalid characters like slashes
   • Ensure uniqueness across all your shares
   • Default to the folder name if not specified
4. Scan Your Shares

   Click “Rescan” to build the file database. Nicotine+ will:

   • Index all files and folders
   • Extract audio metadata (bitrate, sample rate, duration)
   • Create a searchable word index
   • Support files up to 4GB in size

Share Scanning Process

When you rescan your shares, Nicotine+ performs several operations:

What happens during a scan?

1. File Discovery: Scans all directories and subdirectories
2. Metadata Extraction: Reads audio file tags (MP3, FLAC, OGG, etc.)
3. Database Building: Creates optimized database files (.dbn format)
4. Word Indexing: Builds search index for fast lookups
5. Compression: Generates compressed share lists for quick transfers

Rescan Options

Regular Rescan

Updates your share database while preserving existing data. Only modified files are re-indexed.

Use when: You’ve added or removed files from existing shared folders

Rebuild Shares

Completely rebuilds your share database from scratch.

Use when: You experience database corruption or want to force a complete refresh

Automatic Rescan

Configure automatic rescanning:

• On Startup: Rescan shares when Nicotine+ launches
• Daily Schedule: Set a specific time for automatic rescans

Share Filters

Control which files are excluded from sharing using filters:

Examples:
*.tmp          - Exclude all temporary files
*.db           - Exclude database files
Private\*      - Exclude entire "Private" folder
*backup*       - Exclude files with "backup" in the name

Filters use wildcard patterns. Add \ at the end to filter entire folders.

File Type Detection

Nicotine+ automatically categorizes files by type:

Supported File Types

• Audio: MP3, FLAC, OGG, WAV, AAC, OPUS, WMA, and 40+ formats
• Video: MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, WEBM, and more
• Images: JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP, SVG, TIFF
• Archives: ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZ
• Documents: PDF, DOC, EPUB, TXT
• Executables: EXE, APK, DMG, DEB

Database Management

Share data is stored in custom database files:

Database files are located in your Nicotine+ data folder:

• publicfiles.dbn - Public share file index
• buddyfiles.dbn - Buddy share file index
• trustedfiles.dbn - Trusted share file index
• words.dbn - Search word index
• lowercasepaths.dbn - Case-insensitive path lookup

Database Errors

If you encounter database version errors:

1. Backup Your Shares

   Note your shared folder paths and settings

2. Delete Database Files

   Remove all .dbn files from your data folder

3. Rebuild Shares

   Perform a complete share rebuild

Share Statistics

Nicotine+ tracks and displays:

• Total number of shared files
• Total number of shared folders
• Combined size of all shares
• Share statistics sent to server for your profile

Only public and optionally buddy shares count toward your server statistics. Trusted shares remain private.

Hidden Files

On Windows, Nicotine+ automatically excludes:

• Files marked with the hidden attribute
• System folders (with exceptions for drive roots)

Best Practices

Organize Your Shares:

• Use clear, descriptive virtual names
• Group related content in dedicated folders
• Separate public and private content
• Use buddy/trusted shares for exclusive content

Performance Tips:

• Avoid sharing folders with extremely deep nesting
• Exclude system and cache folders
• Schedule automatic rescans during off-peak hours
• Monitor share database size (shown in preferences)

Revealing Shares to Different Users

You can configure whether buddy and trusted shares are visible:

• Reveal Buddy Shares: Make buddy-level shares visible to all users
• Reveal Trusted Shares: Make trusted-level shares visible to buddies

Reveal settings affect what others can browse and download. Use with caution to maintain privacy.

Troubleshooting

Shares Not Appearing

1. Check that shares are mounted and accessible
2. Verify folder permissions (read access required)
3. Ensure rescan completed successfully
4. Check share filters aren’t excluding content

Slow Scan Performance

• Reduce number of shared files
• Exclude large folders with temporary files
• Use share filters to skip unnecessary files
• Ensure disk isn’t heavily used during scan

Character Encoding Issues

Nicotine+ handles non-ASCII filenames by:

• Using UTF-8 encoding throughout
• Converting backslashes in filenames to sentinels
• Supporting international characters in file names
• Providing fallback for legacy client compatibility