Buzz
In this article, Mytour will guide you on downloading BitTorrent files using uTorrent, a free peer-to-peer file-sharing program. Before downloading anything via uTorrent, you should set up protocol encryption to ensure the safety of your connection to the uTorrent program's torrent server. Remember that downloading copyrighted content without payment is piracy and a violation of copyright laws: you could face severe legal penalties.
Steps
Enable Protocol Encryption
Open uTorrent. The app features a white "µ" symbol on a turquoise background. The uTorrent window will appear.
- If you don't have uTorrent yet, you can download it for free from its official website at https://www.utorrent.com/
Click on Options on Windows or uTorrent on Mac. It is located at the top-left corner of the uTorrent window. A dropdown menu will appear.
Click on Preferences. This option is near the top of the dropdown menu. Clicking it will open the Preferences window.
Click on the BitTorrent tab. This tab is located on the left side of the Preferences window on Windows and at the top of the window on Mac.
Click on the dropdown box labeled "Protocol Encryption". This box is near the bottom of the Preferences window. It displays the text "Disabled". Clicking it will open a dropdown menu.
- On Mac, there is no dropdown menu. Instead, look for the "Outgoing Encryption" section at the bottom of the window.
Click on Enabled or Forced. This will apply protocol encryption to everything you download via uTorrent.
- Choosing Forced ensures a secure connection at all times. However, it may slow down download speeds and occasionally disrupt network connections.
Click on Apply and then press OK. Both options are located at the bottom of the window. Your changes will be saved. You can now proceed to download torrents as desired and use them with uTorrent to download files.
- For Mac users, settings are saved automatically. Simply click the red circle at the top left corner of the window.
Download with uTorrent
Find a torrent to download. A torrent is a file opened in a torrent program (in this case, uTorrent) to download data linked to that torrent (such as movies, games, PDF files, etc.). To find the torrent you want to download, visit a reliable torrent site and search for it in the search field.
- If you don't have a trusted torrent search site, you can type the name of what you want to download along with the word "torrent" and the current year (e.g., "2023") into a search engine and press ↵ Enter.
Download the torrent file. Click the Download button on your preferred site and wait for the torrent to finish downloading. Keep in mind that the design of the Download button varies across different sites: in some cases, it may not even have text and could just be a downward-pointing arrow.
- Since torrent files are essentially links to files stored online, downloading them usually takes only a few seconds.
Double-click the torrent file. Once installed, uTorrent will be set as the default torrent program on your computer. Therefore, when you double-click any torrent file, it will open in uTorrent.
- If uTorrent is not your default torrent program, click the File option in the top left corner of uTorrent (on Windows) or click the screen while uTorrent is open (on Mac), then select Add Torrent..., choose the torrent from the window, and click Open.
Press OK when prompted. This button is located at the bottom of the options window.
- You can also view the download details of the torrent here, including the file you wish to download in the list of files and the folder where you want to save the downloaded file (such as the Downloads folder).
Wait for the torrent file to start downloading. In the uTorrent window, when the text "Downloading 0.0%" appears next to the torrent name, the file is officially being downloaded.
- It may take a few minutes for the torrent to reach its maximum download speed.
Upload the torrent once the download is complete. "Seeds" are individuals who have downloaded the torrent's content and are now uploading it: thanks to seeds, you can download files via uTorrent. It is considered common courtesy to upload for at least the same amount of time you spent downloading to give back to the community.
- The torrent will automatically begin uploading after the file has been downloaded.
Tips
- If there aren't enough seeds to complete the download, you can increase the number of seeds to speed up the download or help it finish.
- Only download uTorrent from its official website. Downloading from other sources may inadvertently install malware on your computer.
- Don't forget to check the comments on the file you plan to download to ensure its safety.
Warning
- In general, downloading movies, music, games, software, or any other digital products that are typically paid for is legally equivalent to stealing the product itself.
- The standard version of uTorrent is provided free of charge and will always remain so. If a site asks for payment, do not pay or download uTorrent from that site.
