FAQ
Getting Started
How do I get Wuala?
Download Wuala here. Wuala is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
I want to install Wuala on multiple computers. Can I do that?
Yes, you can install Wuala on as many computers as you like. If you enable trading storage on multiple computers, the storage you earn will add up. For example: you can get 2.3 GB by earning 300 MB from one computer and 2 GB from another computer.
How do I create an account?
As soon as you have started Wuala a login window will appear. Here you can click on “Create a new account”. Please define your username (cannot be changed later) and your password. Please remember that your password never leaves your computer so we do not know your password. It is important to set a password hint so that you can remember your password. If you forget your password we cannot recover it.
What kind of password should I use?
Use a strong but memorable password. Your password should be easy for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess.
- Think of a sentence that you can easily remember. For example: “I like Wuala a lot!”
- Pick the first and the last letter of each word. "like" becomes "le" and the whole sentence becomes "Ilewaalt". This is already quite good for a password.
- You can further improve your password by mixing uppercase with lowercase letters and adding numbers. Take care with special characters like 'é' as they cannot easily be found on every keyboard.
Please remember: Your password is very important. Since it never leaves your computer, we do not know it. If you forget your password we cannot recover it.
What is the password hint good for?
In case you forget your password you can demand your password hint. The password hint is a sentence or question that should hint you to your password. Let’s say your password was “Venice”. In this case your password hint might be: “Where was my best vacation?”.
What is “My Files” and what can I do with it?
This is the place where all of your files are stored. Feel free to add and edit folders as you want.
What is “My Friends” and what can I do with it?
This is the place where you can see all of your friends. You can browse your friends' files by clicking on their icon to see the folders they are sharing with you.
What is "My Groups" and what can I do with it?
This is the place where you can see all of your groups. In groups you can manage files about a given topic with others. Groups are either private or public. In order to see what files a group contains, you just have to click on group's icon to see its folders.
What is "World" and what can I do with it?
This is the place where you can see all files others have made public. Here you can browse other people’s files. The world area is split into seven categories: images, videos, music, documents, other, users and groups. The "World" tab is not shown by default. You may enable it in your preferences: Tools > Options > Advanced (Win/Linux) or Wuala > Preferences > Advanced (Mac).
How do I upload a file?
Define in which folder you want to upload your file. If the folder is empty you will see the message “Add local files and folders to Wuala”, where you can click on “files” Choose your files upload them. Alternatively, you can drag and drop your files or folders or you can click on the action menu in the window toolbar. Here you will find the action “Add files…”.
How do I upload a folder?
Define in which folder you want to upload your folder. If the folder is empty you will see the message “Add local files and folders to Wuala”, where you can click on “folders”. Choose your folder and upload them. Alternatively, you can drag and drop your folders or you can click on the action menu in the window toolbar. Here you will find the action “Add files…”.
How do I open a file?
Double-click on the file.
How do I download a file?
Right click „Download“. In order to define the target folder for downloads, go to Tools > Options > Advanced (Win/Linux) or Wuala > Preferences > Advanced (Mac) and choose the option „Ask for target folder for downloads“.
How do I know when a file has finished uploading?
Each file that is being uploaded has a progress bar on the right. Furthermore you can see the file details where it says how much it has uploaded. Alternatively you can click on View > Uploads (PC/Linux) or Windows > Show Uploads (Mac). An upload window will appear showing you the progress of your uploads.
How do I know when a file has finished downloading?
Every file that is being downloaded has a progress bar on the right. Furthermore you can see the file details where it says how much it has downloaded. Alternatively, you can click on View > Downloads (PC/Linux) or Windows > Show Downloads (Mac). A download window will appear showing you the progress of your downloads. All files that have been downloaded have a little green box right next to the file. You can see this little green box when clicking on the file.
What do the colors of the folders mean?
The colors of the folders tell you about the visibility of the folder. A yellow folder is private (i.e. only you have access to it), a red folder is a folder shared with friends (i.e. specified friends or all friends in Wuala) and/or by a secret link, while a blue folder is public (i.e. everyone can see the files).
How do I share files and folders with friends?
Click on the folder or file you want to share. Go to the share button in the toolbar. A new window will open.
Visibility: Here you can set the visibility of the folder.
- Private: If the folder is private, only you have access to it.
- Shared: If the folder is shared, the folder is shared with selected friends in Wuala or shared by a secret link (a web link that carries a secret key) with friends who are not yet in Wuala.
- Public: If the folder is public, everyone can see the files.
Email: Share your folder by sending an email to your friends who are not yet in Wuala or who already are in Wuala.
- Private: If your folder is private (cf. Visibility), Wuala will automatically share the folder by creating a secret link. Type in your friends' email addresses by separating them with a comma, or add friends who already are in Wuala by clicking on "Add". The email will contain the secret link. By clicking on the link your friend will be able to directly access the files in the browser.
- Shared: If your folder is shared (cf. Visibility) with selected friends or by a secret link Wuala will automatically add the email address of your selected friends. Click on "Send".
Link: Get a link to send it to your friends.
- Private: If you your folder is private (cf. Visibility), you need to create a secret link or make the folder public. Click on "Publish" to make your folder public or click on "Create a secret link" to a create a secret link.
- Shared: If your folder is shared (cf. Visibility) with selected friends or by a secret link, you can simply copy the link. Just click on "copy".
- Public: If your folder is public (cf. Visibility), you can simply copy the link. Just click on "copy".
Please note:
- Those granted always get to access the whole folder. You cannot just share a single file in one folder.
- Subfolders automatically have the visibility of the parent folder.
- Public links and secret links can be accessed directly in the browser.
How do I make a file or folder public?
Click on the file you want to share. Go to the share button in the toolbar. A new window will open.
Visibility: Here you can set the visibility of the folder.
- Private: If the folder is private, only you have access to it.
- Shared: If the folder is shared, the folder is shared with selected friends in Wuala or shared by password with friends who are not yet in Wuala.
- Public: If the folder is public, everyone can see the files.
In order to make the folder public, i.e. give everyone access the folder, choose "Public".
Please note:
- Those granted always get to access the whole folder. You cannot just share a single file in one folder.
- Subfolders automatically have the visibility of the parent folder.
- Public links can be accessed directly in the browser.
How do I share a file with a group?
Under “My Groups” you will see all of your groups. In order to share a file with a group you need to add or upload the file to the specific group folder. Double-click on the group icon. You will now see the folders of the group. Choose your destination folder and upload your files. Either drag or drop your files or go to the action menu and click on “Add Files…”. Please note that you need to be a group member to post files to the group.
In order for you to have an overview of all the files you have posted to a group, you can look at the folder “Group Postings” under “My Files”. This is a special folder containing all items you have added to groups. If you have stored the same file multiple times, its storage usage is only counted once. Hence, you can post the same file to multiple groups without worrying about your storage space.
What does the toolbar tell me?
In the toolbar you see "My Files", "My Friends", "My Groups" and "World." You can use the arrows to go back and forth. There are buttons for the action menu, for the folder tree and for the share dialog. Whenever there are new files or comments, there is a new area called "New".
What are secret links?
A secret link is a link to a file or folder in Wuala that carries a secret key, e.g.: http://www.wuala.com/Luzius/Test/Link/IMG_1270.JPG?key=wuala. Share your desired folders with a secret link and send this link to anyone. The receiver will be able to access that folder. Often, this is more convenient than sharing folders with selected friends within Wuala, as you get a web link that can be opened in any browser. However, it is a little less secure as the link can be passed on. Furthermore, when you open a secret link in a web browser, it is sent to our server so we can decrypt the linked content for you.
Is there a tutorial?
Yes. Download the Quick Start Tutorial here.
- - What is Wuala?
- - How do I get Wuala?
- - How much does it cost?
- - How much storage do I get?
- - Is Wuala private and secure?
- - Does Wuala contain any malware or spyware?
- - How is Wuala different compared to other online storage services?
- - Can I access Wuala from the Web?
- - Can I edit files directly in Wuala?
- - Does Wuala offer automatic backup?
- - What kind of files can I upload to Wuala?
- - Can I get Wuala in my language?
- - How is Wuala pronounced and what does it mean?
- - Who is behind Wuala?
- - Do I have to trade local storage for online storage?
- - How do I sign out?
- - Can I share files with friends who do not use Wuala?
- - How much does it cost?
- - How do I get Wuala?
- - I want to install Wuala on multiple computers. Can I do that?
- - How do I create an account?
- - What kind of password should I use?
- - What is the password hint good for?
- - What is “My Files” and what can I do with it?
- - What is “My Friends” and what can I do with it?
- - What is "My Groups" and what can I do with it?
- - What is "World" and what can I do with it?
- - How do I upload a file?
- - How do I upload a folder?
- - How do I open a file?
- - How do I download a file?
- - How do I know when a file has finished uploading?
- - How do I know when a file has finished downloading?
- - What do the colors of the folders mean?
- - How do I share files and folders with friends?
- - How do I make a file or folder public?
- - How do I share a file with a group?
- - What does the toolbar tell me?
- - What are secret links?
- - Is there a tutorial?
- - How do I create my profile?
- - How do I change my email address?
- - Who can see my email address?
- - I forgot my password, what now?
- - Why can't you send me my password?
- - What is the password hint?
- - How do I change my password?
- - Can I change my username?
- - How do I delete my account?
- - Can I add my real name?
- - How can I add my contact details (Homepage, Facebook, XING, etc.)?
- - What file format does Wuala accept?
- - What file size does Wuala accept?
- - How do I upload a file?
- - How do I upload a folder?
- - How do I create a new folder?
- - How do I set a thumbnail?
- - How do I rename my file?
- - How do I add tags to my file?
- - How do I add a description to my file?
- - How do I add a comment to a file?
- - How do I delete a file or folder?
- - How do I keep my files private?
- - How do I open a file?
- - How do I download a file?
- - How do I know when a file has finished uploading?
- - What do the colors of the folders mean?
- - How do I share folders and files with friends?
- - I want to share a file with a friend who is not yet in Wuala. How can I do this?
- - How do I share files with a specific group?
- - How can I make my files or folders public?
- - What happens when I share or publish a file?
- - How do I stream my files?
- - How do I copy a file?
- - How do I paste a file?
- - How do I add a file to my favorites?
- - Can I edit files directly?
- - How can I search files?
- - How are files encrypted in Wuala?
- - Where are my files stored in the Wuala network?
- - Can my files get lost?
- - Can I access my files even though I am offline?
- - What about file maintenance?
- - How do I delete a file?
- - How do I delete a folder?
- - What is the star next to my file?
- - In which periods does a maintenance start for a given file?
- - What are secret links?
- - Which special characters must not be used in the file name?
- - How do I download a file?
- - Where are the files I downloaded?
- - I am downloading multiple files. How do I know which one Wuala is downloading?
- - How do I upload a file?
- - How do I upload a folder?
- - I am uploading multiple files. How do I know which one Wuala is uploading?
- - How do I know when a file has finished uploading?
- - I quit Wuala while it was still uploading. Do I have to upload my files again?
- - I uploaded some files to Wuala while I was offline. Will it upload now that I am online again?
- - I edited some files when I was offline. Will it save the changes even though I was offline?
- - May I upload adult content?
- - What is "My Files" and what can I do with it?
- - What is the folder "Favorites" for?
- - How do I add a file to my “Favorites” folder?
- - What is the folder “Group postings" for?
- - How do I share folders and files with friends?
- - I want to share a file with a friend who is not yet in Wuala. How can I do this?
- - What exactly can other people see?
- - What should I tag as "non family friendly (18+)?
- - May I upload adult content?
- - My files are blocked! Why?
- - What is the star next to my file?
- - What are secret links?
- - What do the colors of the folders mean?
- - There are many views on my files! How can this be possible?
- - What is "My Friends" and what can I do with it?
- - How do I find friends in Wuala?
- - How do I add a friend?
- - How do I invite friends?
- - How do I see my friends' files?
- - How do I add a friend to a list?
- - How do I remove a friend from a list?
- - How do I see all of my friends?
- - Some kind of stranger wants to be my friend! What now?
- - How do I remove a friend?
- - What is "My Groups" and what can I do with it?
- - What is the difference between a public and a private group?
- - How do I create a group?
- - How do I invite people to a group?
- - How do I keep a group private?
- - How do I share files with a specific group?
- - How do I know what files I have added to a group?
- - How can I join a specific group?
- - How can I search for groups?
- - How can I manage the roles and permissions of my group?
- - I want to know my role and my permission of the group. Where can I find out?
- - How do I know when a group has new files?
- - How do I know when someone has added a comment to my files?
- - I have created private group and want to make the profile public again. How can I do this?
- - I have created a public group, but want to make it private. Can I do this?
- - I want to delete the group, but can't! Why?
- - I've created a private group and want to make it public. Can I do this?
- - What are recently viewed files?
- - How can I set a secret weblink for my private group?
- - About what do I get notified?
- - I don't want to get notified! How can I turn off the notifications?
- - How do I know when someone shares a file with me?
- - How do I know when someone has added a comment to my files?
- - How do I know when a group has new files?
- - There are so many new files! I can’t look at all of them. What should I do?
- - Can I install Wuala on multiple computers?
- - Can I login at multiple computers at the same time?
- - What happens when multiple users trade storage at the same time?
- - How much online storage do I get?
- - Where do I see how much storage I have?
- - Where do I see how much online storage I have used?
- - Where is my data actually stored?
- - What about the availability of my files?
- - How can I get more online storage?
- - Are other files stored on my computer?
- - Can my data get lost?
- - Can I transfer storage from one account to another?
- - My online storage has expired. What now?
- - What is trading storage about? Do I have to trade?
- - What happens when I trade storage?
- - How do I trade storage?
- - What are the requirements for trading storage?
- - When can I start trading storage?
- - Why can I not trade storage?
- - Why does my internet connection not allow me to trade storage?
- - How is the amount of earned storage calculated?
- - What happens to my data if my earned storage decreases again?
- - What happens when multiple users trade storage on the same computer?
- - What if I enable “trading storage” and a fragment of an illegal file is stored on my computer?
- - I trade storage. Will I become a Pro user?
- - I have Wuala installed on multiple computers. How does this affect my storage?
- - I have problems with trading storage!
- - Can I earn money by trading storage and then selling it?
- - I don't want to trade nor buy. What now?
- - I'm currently trading storage. However, I'm going on vacation and will have to shut down my computer. What now?
- - Why is the amount of earned storage increasing only slowly?
- - What does my connection type mean?
- - How can I improve my connection to earn more storage?
- - Which IP-Port does Wuala use when trading storage?
- - How much storage can I trade?
- - Is Wuala free?
- - Is this a perpetual subscription?
- - What if I don’t renew my subscription next year?
- - Which payment options are supported?
- - I don’t have a credit card, how can I pay?
- - When will the storage be available?
- - Isn’t selling storage against the philosophy of a distributed storage system?
- - Who provides the storage?
- - Where is my data actually stored?
- - What about security and privacy?
- - What about availability and guarantees?
- - Can I earn money by trading storage and then selling it?
- - I want additional storage but I'd rather trade than buy. How do I do that?
- - I don't want to buy nor trade. What now?
- - Can I transfer storage from one account to another?
- - I am a pro user. In my profile it says how much I trade and how much I bought. Can I turn that off?
- - What happens to my files when my pro membership expires?
- - How do I become a pro member?
- - When does my pro member membership expire?
- - I am a pro user. In my profile it says how much I trade and how much I bought. Can I turn that off?
- - Which additional features do I get as a Pro user?
- - What happens to my files when my pro membership expires?
- - How much bandwidth does Wuala consume?
- - Why is my uptime so low?
- - What is filesystem integration?
- - How does the filesystem integration work?
- - How do I know if the filesystem integration works?
- - Can other computers access my files on the wuala drive?
- - How can I limit the amount of memory Wuala uses?
- - How do I know if I'm online or not?
- - Are there any Linux packages?
- - I found a bug in Wuala! Where do I report it?
- - Which temporary directory does Wuala use? Can I change this?
- - How do I uninstall Wuala?
- - Wuala and 64bit Gentoo Linux
- - What is the compatibility mode?
- - The Dokan File System Integration doesn't start
- - What is Dokan?
- - I'm behind a proxy. Can I use Wuala?
- - Are other files stored on my computer?
- - How are files encrypted in Wuala?
- - What happens when I share or publish a file?
- - What technologies do you use for encryption?
- - How do I change my password?
- - I forgot my password, what now?
- - Why can’t you send me my password?
- - What is the password hint?
- - Can I change my username?
- - Who can see my email address?
- - What if I enable “trading storage” and a fragment of an illegal file is stored on my computer?
- - I have witnessed abuse. Who should I contact?
- - Virus sharing through Wuala. Is this possible?
- - Is Wuala legal?
- - I stumbled upon inappropriate material. Where do I report it?
- - What are secret links?
- - Are weblinks indexable or crawlable by search engines?
- - Where are your servers located?
- - Why does Wuala use 128-Bit AES and not 256-Bit AES for encryption?
- - Is there a developer API?
- - Do you plan to open the source code?
- - I found a bug in Wuala! Where do I report it?
- - Where do I get the release notes?
- - What are you working on?
- - I have installed Wuala, but cannot start it. Why?
- - It says that I use XY of storage, but I do not have any files stored!
- - My files are blocked! Why?
- - Help! I still don't get it?!?
- - There's a problem with Wuala. What's the current status?
- - I cannot edit my files. Why?
- - Wuala crashed repeatedly on startup. What can I do?
- - My storage quota seems to be wrong!
- - It says: "Could not sign in to Wuala. Please make sure that your internet connection is working". What now?
- - Buttons do not react on mouse click (Linux)
- - What's going on?
- - Who is LaCie?
- - Why are you merging with LaCie?
- - How do Wuala and LaCie match?
- - What are the terms of the merger?
- - How does this affect me as a user?
- - Can I still sign up for a new account?
- - How will the merger affect the privacy?
- - I've bought online storage! What will happen now?
- - I'm trading storage! What will happen now?
- - I want to buy storage. Will there be any pricing changes?
- - What will happen when the first product is released? Can I then only use Wuala with a LaCie product?
- - Will there be staffing changes at Wuala?
- - Will you still listen to the community?
- - Where can I get a Wuala Gift Card?
- - Where can I buy a Wuala Gift Card?
- - What can I do with a Wuala Gift Card?
- - How do I redeem a Wuala Gift Card?
- - My Wuala Gift Card is not being accepted. What now?
- - I have redeemed my Wuala Gift Card, but the storage has not been updated. What now?
- - I still have a question.
- - What is the referral program?
- - How can I refer Wuala to my friends?
- - How much additional storage will I get?
- - How much storage will my friend get?
- - Will I get notified when my friends have signed up?
- - Can I get more than 3 GB or 6 GB?
- - What happens if my friends don't sign up?
- - Will my friends be added to “My friends” automatically?
- - What happens if my friend signs up with a different email address than the one I used for sending the referral?
- - Will the storage I earned through inviting expire?
- - How do I get the feature File Versioning?
- - What is File Versioning?
- - How can I access previous versions of my files?
- - What is the feature "Time Travel"?
- - How will my storage be counted?
- - How do I get the backup feature?
- - What can I do with the backup feature?
- - How can I backup a folder?
- - How do I configure a scheduled backup?
- - I want to backup my files right now. Can I do this?
- - What happens when I change a file in my source folder?
- - Can I edit files in my source folder (on computer)?
- - Can I share my backup folder (on Wuala) with my friends?
- - What If I lose my connection to Wuala during a backup?
- - What if my computer is not turned on during a backup?
- - What if Wuala is not running during a scheduled backup?
- - What is the filter in the backup settings?
- - How do I change the source folder?