Where does FrostWire save files?

Introducing FrostWire

FrostWire is a free and open-source BitTorrent client first released in September 2004, as a fork of LimeWire. It was initially very similar to LimeWire in functionality but over time added new features like the ability to search torrents and magnet links from within the application. According to Wikipedia, “FrostWire is a peer-to-peer file sharing client for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android devices with support for BitTorrent, Gnutella and HTTP file transfers” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FrostWire).

As an open source peer-to-peer file sharing program, FrostWire allows users to search for, download, and share various files such as music, videos, documents, and more. Some key features of FrostWire include torrent searching, media playback, library management, and network optimization tools. It provides an alternative to closed source programs and gives users more control over their file sharing experience.

Default Download Location

When you first install FrostWire on your computer, it will save any files you download to a default location on your hard drive. This default save location is usually in your user account’s Downloads folder.

For example, on Windows 10 the default save folder is:

C:\Users\[Your Username]\Downloads\FrostWire\

And on Mac OS X the default location is:

/Users/[Your Username]/Downloads/FrostWire

So unless you specifically change the download location, FrostWire will save all downloaded files to the Downloads/FrostWire folder for your user account. This keeps everything neatly organized in one place by default.

Changing the Default Location

When FrostWire is first installed, it defaults to saving downloaded files into the Downloads folder under your user account. To change this default location:

Open the FrostWire application.
Click on the menu icon in the top left corner and select “Settings”.
In the Settings screen, scroll down and click on “Select Storage Location”.

Choose the new folder you want to set as the default download location. You can navigate through your folders and drives to pick any location.
Click “Select” to confirm.

FrostWire will now save all new downloads to this custom default location instead of Downloads. Existing files in Downloads will remain there.

According to the FrostWire blog, this makes it easy to select folders on external drives for storing downloads.

Saving to External Drives

If you want FrostWire to save downloaded files directly to an external drive, like a USB flash drive or external hard drive, you can specify the external drive as the default download location in the FrostWire preferences. Just follow these steps:

Open FrostWire and click “Preferences” in the menu.

In the “Downloads” section, click “Browse” next to “Save files to.”
Navigate to your external drive, select it, and click “Open.”
FrostWire will now save all downloads directly to the external drive you selected.

This makes it easy to keep your downloads organized on a separate drive or to transfer downloads between devices. According to users on Reddit and MacRumors forums, this method works reliably for saving FrostWire downloads directly to external drives on Windows, Mac, and Linux [1] [2].

Important Folder Locations

FrostWire saves downloads and other files in specific folders on your device. Here is an overview of the key FrostWire folders:

The main Downloads folder is located at C:\Users\[username]\FrostWire\Downloads on Windows, ~/FrostWire/Downloads on Mac, and ~/FrostWire/Downloads on Linux. This is where completed downloads are saved by default.
The Incomplete folder contains partial downloads and is located at C:\Users\[username]\FrostWire\Incomplete on Windows, ~/FrostWire/Incomplete on Mac, and ~/FrostWire/Incomplete on Linux.

Torrent files are stored in the Torrents folder located at C:\Users\[username]\FrostWire\.frostwire5\torrents\ on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/FrostWire/torrents/ on Mac, and ~/.frostwire5/torrents/ on Linux.
The Torrent Data folder contains data for torrent downloads and is located at C:\Users\[username]\FrostWire\.frostwire5\torrentData\ on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/FrostWire/torrentData/ on Mac, and ~/.frostwire5/torrentData/ on Linux.

Knowing where FrostWire stores downloads and files allows you to easily access, transfer, or back up your content.

Transferring Downloads

By default, FrostWire saves downloaded files to the Downloads folder on your computer. However, you may want to move completed downloads to another location like an external hard drive or a different folder.

To transfer downloads in FrostWire, first go to the Transfers tab. Select the files you want to move and click the Transfer button. This will pop up a file explorer window where you can choose the destination location.

Alternatively, you can navigate to the folder where FrostWire saves downloads (usually Downloads). From there, you can manually move files using your operating system’s file manager.

According to one Reddit user, transfers may disappear from FrostWire after restarting your computer (source). However, the downloaded files will still be in the save location. You can find them again in FrostWire by clicking Resume next to the transfer.

In summary, FrostWire makes it easy to transfer downloads with just a couple clicks. Just be aware that transfers may disappear from the app if you restart your device, even though the files remain saved.

Sharing Downloads

One useful feature of FrostWire is the ability to easily share downloaded files with others on your local network. By default, FrostWire saves downloaded files to a private folder only accessible on your device. However, you can set your FrostWire download folder to public to enable sharing with other devices on the same Wi-Fi or wired network.

To set your download folder to public for sharing:

Open FrostWire and click on ‘Settings’ in the sidebar.
Go to ‘Downloads’ and find the ‘Save files to’ option.
Click ‘Open Folder’ which will open your file explorer to the current download location.

Right click on the folder and select ‘Properties’.
Go to the ‘Sharing’ tab and click ‘Advanced Sharing’.
Check the box for ‘Share this folder’ and give the folder a share name.

Click ‘Permissions’ and select ‘Read/Write’ access for ‘Everyone’.

Once these steps are complete, the download folder will be publicly accessible to other devices on the network. They can access it by going to ‘Network’ in their file explorer and connecting to your shared folder. This makes it easy to share files downloaded through FrostWire with multiple people or devices on your local network.

Downloading Torrents

When downloading torrents with FrostWire, the torrent files and downloaded data are saved in specific folders. By default, FrostWire will save torrent files to the “Torrents” folder within the FrostWire directory. This folder contains the .torrent files that hold the metadata about each torrent download.

The actual downloaded data from torrents is stored in a separate “Torrent Data” folder, also located in the main FrostWire directory by default. This keeps the torrent files separate from the potentially large amounts of data downloaded from peer sources.

According to FrostWire’s blog, when changing the default save location, FrostWire will create new “Downloads”, “From Device”, and “Torrents” folders in the new location. However, the downloaded torrent data is still stored in the “Torrent Data” folder within the default FrostWire directory.

If the .torrent files are lost, they can still be accessed through the FrostWire interface under the Library tab’s Torrents section according to Reddit users. This allows torrents to be resumed even if the original .torrent file is misplaced.

FrostWire for Android

The FrostWire mobile app for Android also allows users to download files directly to their device. By default, files downloaded through the FrostWire Android app are saved to the external SD card if one is available. If no SD card is present, FrostWire will save files to a folder called “FrostWire” in the device’s internal storage.

To change the default download location on FrostWire for Android, users can go to the Settings and select “Storage.” From here, tap “Change” to browse and select a new download destination folder. FrostWire will remember this custom location going forward.

It’s important to note that the Android operating system may restrict FrostWire’s access to certain folders or SD cards, so setting a custom download destination is not always possible. The app requires permission to write to external storage in order to save files anywhere besides the standard FrostWire folder.

Overall, the FrostWire Android app aims to use available external storage space for downloads whenever possible. But if no SD card is present, FrostWire will reliably save files to the internal FrostWire folder. Users do have some flexibility to redirect downloads, but may be limited by Android security constraints.

Summary

FrostWire’s default download location is in the Downloads folder under your user directory. This can be changed in the Settings to any folder location you want. You can also download files directly to external drives like USB sticks or SD cards. Some key folders FrostWire uses are:

Downloads – Default location for saved files.

Incomplete – Temp holding spot for active downloads.
Torrents – Where .torrent files are stored.

On Android, files save to either Device Storage or SD card. You can use the Share feature to transfer downloads off your device. Overall, FrostWire gives you flexibility on where to save files while also using standard locations to organize downloads.