diff --git a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/Core.groovy b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/Core.groovy
index f804b034..d1dacd64 100644
--- a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/Core.groovy
+++ b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/Core.groovy
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ public class Core {
     final Persona me
     final File home
     final Properties i2pOptions
+    final MuWireSettings muOptions
     
     private final TrustService trustService
     private final PersisterService persisterService
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ public class Core {
         
     public Core(MuWireSettings props, File home, String myVersion) {
         this.home = home		
+        this.muOptions = props
         log.info "Initializing I2P context"
         I2PAppContext.getGlobalContext().logManager()
         I2PAppContext.getGlobalContext()._logManager = new MuWireLogManager()
@@ -141,7 +143,7 @@ public class Core {
 		
 		
 		log.info "initializing file manager"
-		FileManager fileManager = new FileManager(eventBus)
+		FileManager fileManager = new FileManager(eventBus, props)
 		eventBus.register(FileHashedEvent.class, fileManager)
 		eventBus.register(FileLoadedEvent.class, fileManager)
 		eventBus.register(FileDownloadedEvent.class, fileManager)
diff --git a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/MuWireSettings.groovy b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/MuWireSettings.groovy
index 0636d5a1..8eef431d 100644
--- a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/MuWireSettings.groovy
+++ b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/MuWireSettings.groovy
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ class MuWireSettings {
     File downloadLocation
     String sharedFiles
     CrawlerResponse crawlerResponse
+    boolean shareDownloadedFiles
     
 	MuWireSettings() {
         this(new Properties())
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ class MuWireSettings {
         sharedFiles = props.getProperty("sharedFiles")
         downloadRetryInterval = Integer.parseInt(props.getProperty("downloadRetryInterval","15"))
         updateCheckInterval = Integer.parseInt(props.getProperty("updateCheckInterval","36"))
+        shareDownloadedFiles = Boolean.parseBoolean(props.getProperty("shareDownloadedFiles","true"))
 	}
     
     void write(OutputStream out) throws IOException {
@@ -38,6 +40,7 @@ class MuWireSettings {
         props.setProperty("downloadLocation", downloadLocation.getAbsolutePath())
         props.setProperty("downloadRetryInterval", String.valueOf(downloadRetryInterval))
         props.setProperty("updateCheckInterval", String.valueOf(updateCheckInterval))
+        props.setProperty("shareDownloadedFiles", String.valueOf(shareDownloadedFiles))
         if (sharedFiles != null)
             props.setProperty("sharedFiles", sharedFiles)
         props.store(out, "")
diff --git a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/files/FileManager.groovy b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/files/FileManager.groovy
index 88796dcf..f9110d48 100644
--- a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/files/FileManager.groovy
+++ b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/files/FileManager.groovy
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package com.muwire.core.files
 
 import com.muwire.core.EventBus
 import com.muwire.core.InfoHash
+import com.muwire.core.MuWireSettings
 import com.muwire.core.SharedFile
 import com.muwire.core.search.ResultsEvent
 import com.muwire.core.search.SearchEvent
@@ -14,18 +15,22 @@ class FileManager {
 
 
 	final EventBus eventBus
+    final MuWireSettings settings
 	final Map<InfoHash, Set<SharedFile>> rootToFiles = Collections.synchronizedMap(new HashMap<>())
 	final Map<File, SharedFile> fileToSharedFile = Collections.synchronizedMap(new HashMap<>())
 	final Map<String, Set<File>> nameToFiles = new HashMap<>()
 	final SearchIndex index = new SearchIndex()
 	
-	FileManager(EventBus eventBus) {
+	FileManager(EventBus eventBus, MuWireSettings settings) {
+        this.settings = settings
 		this.eventBus = eventBus
 	}
 	
 	void onFileHashedEvent(FileHashedEvent e) {
-		if (e.sharedFile != null)
-			addToIndex(e.sharedFile)
+        if (settings.shareDownloadedFiles) {
+            if (e.sharedFile != null)
+                addToIndex(e.sharedFile)
+        }
 	}
 	
 	void onFileLoadedEvent(FileLoadedEvent e) {
diff --git a/gui/griffon-app/controllers/com/muwire/gui/OptionsController.groovy b/gui/griffon-app/controllers/com/muwire/gui/OptionsController.groovy
index 9b6b9fdc..a7d12c28 100644
--- a/gui/griffon-app/controllers/com/muwire/gui/OptionsController.groovy
+++ b/gui/griffon-app/controllers/com/muwire/gui/OptionsController.groovy
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ class OptionsController {
         boolean onlyTrusted = view.allowUntrustedCheckbox.model.isSelected()
         model.onlyTrusted = onlyTrusted
         settings.setAllowUntrusted(!onlyTrusted)
+        
+        boolean shareDownloaded = view.shareDownloadedCheckbox.model.isSelected()
+        model.shareDownloadedFiles = shareDownloaded
+        settings.shareDownloadedFiles = shareDownloaded
                         
         File settingsFile = new File(core.home, "MuWire.properties")
         settingsFile.withOutputStream { 
diff --git a/gui/griffon-app/models/com/muwire/gui/MainFrameModel.groovy b/gui/griffon-app/models/com/muwire/gui/MainFrameModel.groovy
index 4747e862..b0093a18 100644
--- a/gui/griffon-app/models/com/muwire/gui/MainFrameModel.groovy
+++ b/gui/griffon-app/models/com/muwire/gui/MainFrameModel.groovy
@@ -265,6 +265,8 @@ class MainFrameModel {
     }
     
     void onFileDownloadedEvent(FileDownloadedEvent e) {
+        if (!core.muOptions.shareDownloadedFiles)
+            return
         infoHashes.add(e.downloadedFile.infoHash)
         runInsideUIAsync {
             shared << e.downloadedFile
diff --git a/gui/griffon-app/models/com/muwire/gui/OptionsModel.groovy b/gui/griffon-app/models/com/muwire/gui/OptionsModel.groovy
index 00f23e53..5627d1ca 100644
--- a/gui/griffon-app/models/com/muwire/gui/OptionsModel.groovy
+++ b/gui/griffon-app/models/com/muwire/gui/OptionsModel.groovy
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ class OptionsModel {
     @Observable String downloadRetryInterval 
     @Observable String updateCheckInterval
     @Observable boolean onlyTrusted
+    @Observable boolean shareDownloadedFiles
     
     // i2p options
     @Observable String inboundLength
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ class OptionsModel {
         downloadRetryInterval = settings.downloadRetryInterval
         updateCheckInterval = settings.updateCheckInterval
         onlyTrusted = !settings.allowUntrusted()
+        shareDownloadedFiles = settings.shareDownloadedFiles
         
         Core core = application.context.get("core")
         inboundLength = core.i2pOptions["inbound.length"]
diff --git a/gui/griffon-app/views/com/muwire/gui/OptionsView.groovy b/gui/griffon-app/views/com/muwire/gui/OptionsView.groovy
index ab2a8f35..f6a3e635 100644
--- a/gui/griffon-app/views/com/muwire/gui/OptionsView.groovy
+++ b/gui/griffon-app/views/com/muwire/gui/OptionsView.groovy
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ class OptionsView {
     def retryField
     def updateField
     def allowUntrustedCheckbox
+    def shareDownloadedCheckbox
     
     def inboundLengthField
     def inboundQuantityField
@@ -54,6 +55,9 @@ class OptionsView {
 
             label(text : "Only allow trusted connections", constraints : gbc(gridx: 0, gridy : 2))
             allowUntrustedCheckbox = checkBox(selected : bind {model.onlyTrusted}, constraints : gbc(gridx: 1, gridy : 2))
+            
+            label(text : "Share downloaded files", constraints : gbc(gridx : 0, gridy:3))
+            shareDownloadedCheckbox = checkBox(selected : bind {model.shareDownloadedFiles}, constraints : gbc(gridx :1, gridy:3))
                         
         }
         i = builder.panel {