OnionShare is an open source tool for securely and anonymously sending and receiving files using Tor onion services. It works by starting a web server directly on your computer and making it accessible as an unguessable Tor web address that others can load in Tor Browser to download files from you, or upload files to you. It doesn’t require setting up a separate server, using a third party file-sharing service, or even logging into an account.
Unlike services like email, Google Drive, DropBox, WeTransfer, or nearly any other way people typically send files to each other, when you use OnionShare you don’t give any companies access to the files that you’re sharing. So long as you share the unguessable web address in a secure way (like pasting it in an encrypted messaging app), no one but you and the person you’re sharing with can access the files.
– OnionShare, GitHub page
In this short intro I will just illustrate the very basic use of this tool for you guys.
1) Download & Install
Go to https://onionshare.org/ and download the latest version for your computer. You have a MacOS, Windows and Linux versions to choose from.
After downloading it simply click through installation and you’re ready to run it.
2) Run it
Run by clicking on the OnionShare icon.
You will see a short message saying that it is connecting to Tor network.
And that’s it.
Now you can…
3a) Start sharing files
This is what you’ll be presented with:
Simply drag some files you want to securely send to a specific person and drop it to the window:
Then, click Start sharing and…
you will be presented with onion address your friend needs to type in Tor browser or Brave browser (click “New private window with Tor” from the menu and you get Tor capability in Brave).
You can of course also
3b) Receive files
To do that, simply click on “Receive files” and this is what you’ll see:
After clicking “Start Receive mode”…
.. the other party can simply run their Tor browser of Brave (Private browsing with Tor) and start uploading using this simple user interface within browser:
Wish you happy and safe sharing.
Link to my Keybase invitation: keybase.io/inv/f39c332683