How To IPFS






IPFS Desktop
IPFS Desktop gives you all the power of IPFS.
In the convenient desktop app:
- a complete IPFS node,
- plus handy OS menubar/taskbar shortcuts and
- an all-in-one file manager,
- peer map, and
- content explorer.
Use IPFS Desktop to get acquainted with IPFS without needing to touch the terminal — or, if you’re already experienced, use the powerful menubar/taskbar shortcuts alongside the command line to make your IPFS workflow faster.
Features
IPFS Desktop combines a complete IPFS node (running go-ipfs) and the IPFS Web UI into a single, convenient desktop app — plus adds a menu to your OS menubar/system tray for easy access to a variety of common IPFS tasks.
If you already have an IPFS node on your computer, IPFS Desktop will act as a control panel and file browser for that node. If you don’t have a node, it’ll install one for you. And either way, IPFS Desktop will automatically check for updates.
Start your node at system startup and control it from your OS
IPFS Desktop enables you to stop or restart your node straight from the IPFS logo menu in your OS menubar/system tray. For Mac and Windows users, IPFS Desktop can be also be set to launch at system startup, ensuring that your node is running whenever your computer is on.
Quickly import files, folders, and screenshots to IPFS
Import files and folders to your IPFS node in a variety of convenient ways:
- Drag and drop items onto IPFS Desktop’s
Files
screen - Click the
Import
button on theFiles
screen to add items from your computer or an IPFS content ID (CID) - (Windows) Right-click a file/folder’s icon to add it to IPFS from the pop-up menu
- (Mac) Drag and drop a file/folder onto the IPFS logo in your menubar
Plus, you can use the Take Screenshot
command under the IPFS logo menu to take a screenshot, import it to your node, and copy a shareable link to your clipboard with one click.
Easily manage the contents of your node
IPFS Desktop’s Files
screen gives you an easy, familiar interface for working with the contents of your node:
- Easily rename, move, or remove files and folders
- Preview many common file formats directly in IPFS Desktop
- Copy a file/folder’s IPFS content ID (CID) or a shareable link to your clipboard
- “Pin” files to your IPFS node or (coming soon!) to a third-party pinning service
Quick download for CIDs, IPFS paths, and IPNS paths
Just want to download an IPFS content ID or IPFS/IPNS content path? Choose Download...
from the IPFS logo menu, paste it in, and you’re good to go.
Visualize your IPFS peers worldwide
Visit the Peers
screen to see what nodes you’re connected to, where they are, the connections they’re using, and more.
Explore the “Merkle Forest” of IPFS files
Use the Explore
screen to explore some example datasets — or your own files — and see firsthand how items stored on IPFS are broken down into content-addressed pieces.
Enjoy OS-wide support for IPFS files and links
IPFS Desktop enables most operating systems (Mac, Windows and some Linux flavors) to support protocols including ipfs://
, ipns://
and dweb:
. This means that if an app on your computer tries to open a link starting with one of those protocol identifiers (for example, if your web browser encounters a link to ipns://en.wikipedia-on-ipfs.org
), it’ll automatically open in IPFS Desktop.
For an even better experience with ipfs://
, ipns://
and dweb:
addresses, we also recommend installing IPFS Companion to add support in your favorite browser!
Learn IPFS commands as you go
If you’re interested in learning how to use IPFS from the command line, IPFS Desktop’s CLI Tutor Mode can show you common IPFS commands as you go. Just check the CLI Tutor Mode
box on the Settings
screen to switch on this feature.

About IPFS Companion
IPFS Companion harnesses the power of your locally running IPFS node (either through the IPFS Desktop app or the command-line daemon) directly inside your favorite Chromium-based or Firefox browser, enabling support for ipfs://
addresses, automatic IPFS gateway loading of websites and file paths, easy IPFS file import and sharing, and more.
IPFS is a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol designed to make the web faster, safer, more resilient, and more open. It enables the creation and dissemination of completely distributed sites and applications that don’t rely on centralized hosting and stay true to the original vision of an open, flat web. Visit the IPFS Project website to learn more.
IPFS Companion features
Automatically detect and redirect IPFS resources
Detect URLs with IPFS paths
IPFS Companion detects and tests requests for IPFS-like paths ( such as /ipfs/{cid}
or /ipns/{peerid_or_host-with-dnslink}
) on any website. If a path is a valid IPFS address, it is redirected to load from your local gateway. The gateway at localhost
will also automatically switch to a subdomain to provide a unique origin for each website:
https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmbWqxBEKC3P8tqsKc98xmWNzrzDtRLMiMPL8wBuTGsMnR
→http://localhost:8080/ipfs/QmbWqxBEKC3P8tqsKc98xmWNzrzDtRLMiMPL8wBuTGsMnR
→http://bafybeigdyrzt5sfp7udm7hu76uh7y26nf3efuylqabf3oclgtqy55fbzdi.ipfs.localhost:8080
Detect DNSLink-enabled URLs
IPFS Companion detects DNSLink info in the DNS records of websites. If a site uses DNSLink (a few examples are https://docs.ipfs.io, https://ipld.io, and http://tr.wikipedia-on-ipfs.org), IPFS Companion redirects the HTTP request to your local gateway:
http://docs.ipfs.io
→http://localhost:8080/ipns/docs.ipfs.io
→http://docs.ipfs.io.ipns.localhost:8080/
Detect pages with x-ipfs-path
headers
IPFS Companion also upgrades transport to IPFS if it finds the x-ipfs-path
in any HTTP response headers; this also acts as a fallback when an IPFS path is not present in the URL. Learn more.
Toggle redirects globally or per site
You can disable and re-enable local gateway redirects by several means:
- Suspend redirects globally in IPFS Companion’s preferences
- Suspend redirects per site using the toggle under “Current tab” (illustrated below) or in IPFS Companion’s preferences
- Add
x-ipfs-companion-no-redirect
to the URL itself as a hash (example) or query parameter (example)
Access frequently-used IPFS actions from your browser bar
IPFS Companion enables you to quickly and easily access common actions from your browser bar with just a few clicks:
- See how many peers you’re connected with a glance at the cube icon in your browser bar
- Check your IPFS API and gateway status by clicking the cube icon to reveal the main menu
- Right-click images and other page assets to easily add them to IPFS (including the option to preserve file names)
- Choose the Import option in the main menu for quick drag-and-drop import from a browser tab
- Pin or unpin IPFS resources (via API) directly from the main menu
- Copy shareable public gateway links, IPFS content paths, or CIDs of IPFS resources directly from the main menu
- Launch the IPFS Web UI dashboard from the main menu with a single click
- Toggle gateway redirects or switch all IPFS Companion features on/off quickly and easily from the main menu (illustrations below)
Toggle gateway redirects on a per-website basis
You can toggle redirects (of any IPFS sub-resources) for an individual website under the main menu’s Current Tab section. If that site uses DNSLink, toggling off will restore the site’s original URL, too.

Switch all IPFS Companion features on/off
To temporarily suspend all IPFS integrations (redirects, API status content scripts, protocol handlers, etc.), use the on/off button at the top of the IPFS Companion menu.
