A peer-to-peer file sharing client with background file sharing is provided in a segmented peer-to-peer file sharing network. Each file sharing participant may designate an amount of bandwidth and/or storage space for background file sharing. Peer-to-peer file sharing clients then share file data and content in the background automatically. The client may participate in additional swarms, in the background, to generally increase the number of peers in file sharing networks, thus increasing the speed of downloading desired files for other users.