FAQ: Usage

µTorrent User Manual

How do I add additional columns to a list-view?

You can select what columns you wish to see in a list-view by right-clicking the column headers. If you wish to reset all changes you've made to the columns, you can select "Reset" in that context menu.


How do I block specific peers from connecting to me?

You can create an ipfilter.dat file and load it in µTorrent, and the specified peers will be blocked.


How do I change the country flags shown in the Peers tab?

You can use flags.conf and flags.bmp to customize the country flags.


How do I change the icons in µTorrent?

You can change the icons by placing the respective interface customization file in the µTorrent settings directory in order to customize the interface. A restart is required in order for new interface icons to be loaded.


How do I change the interface language?

You can install utorrent.lng (by having µTorrent download the translation file, or by getting a copy from the download page yourself). Afterwards, select the language you wish to use from the general preferences.


How do I configure the disk cache?

The most important step is to understand how the disk cache options affect µTorrent. Options that increase memory usage decrease disk access, while options that decrease memory usage increase disk access.


How do I create my own .torrent file?

You can use the Create New Torrent feature in µTorrent to create your own .torrent file to share with other people.


How do I enable DHT?

You can enable it from the BitTorrent settings. Although DHT is enabled, not all torrent jobs might use it, as .torrent files with the 'private' flag set won't announce to the DHT network. Additionally, any torrent job that does not have DHT enabled won't be announced on DHT.


How do I enable Initial Seeding (Super Seeding)?

You can enable it from the torrent job properties. If you are not the only seeder in the swarm, you should not enable Initial Seeding.


How do I enable Local Peer Discovery?

Local Peer Discovery is enabled on a per torrent job basis. You can enable it from the torrent job properties, assuming the .torrent file does not have the 'private' flag set. To automatically enable Local Peer Discovery for any newly added torrent job, check the Enable Local Peer Discovery option in the Preferences.


How do I enable Peer Exchange?

Peer Exchange is enabled on a per torrent job basis. You can enable it from the torrent job properties, assuming the .torrent file does not have the 'private' flag set. To automatically enable Peer Exchange for any newly added torrent job, check the Enable Peer Exchange option in the Preferences.


How do I enable Protocol Encryption?

Enable Protocol Encryption in the Preferences. If your ISP is known to throttle or block BitTorrent traffic, and you find that enabling Protocol Encryption is not helping, then you may want to consider setting the encryption to "Forced" and disable legacy incoming connections.


How do I enable NAT Port Mapping Protocol (NAT-PMP)?

You can enable it from the connection preferences. Note that not all routers support NAT-PMP, in which case you will have to forward your port manually.


How do I enable Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)?

You can enable it from the connection preferences. Note that not all routers support UPnP, in which case you will have to forward your port manually.


How do I load a .torrent file from the command line?

Run the µTorrent executable with the /DIRECTORY command line option.


How do I make µTorrent allocate all the files when I start a torrent job?

Enable Pre-allocate all files in the general Preferences.


How do I make µTorrent append a !ut extension to incomplete files?

Enable Append !ut to incomplete files in the general Preferences. The option takes effect immediately after the changes to the Preferences are saved.


How do I make µTorrent auto-load .torrent files from a specified directory?

Enable the auto-load option in the Preferences and select the directory you would like to automatically load .torrent files from.


How do I make µTorrent automatically ban peers after a certain number of hashfails?

bt.ban_threshold determines the number of hashfails µTorrent takes action against it. If bt.use_ban_ratio is disabled, µTorrent will ban the peer immediately after it passes the ban threshold. Otherwise, µTorrent will look at the ratio of good to bad pieces that the peer has sent, and if it finds that the ratio is lower than bt.ban_ratio, it will then ban the peer. If enough peers in the same range are banned, and bt.use_rangeblock is enabled, µTorrent will ban the entire range, since there is a good probability that the entire range is poisoning BitTorrent swarms.


How do I make µTorrent automatically move files when a torrent job finishes?

You can enable the Move completed downloads to option in the Preferences and specify the directory you wish to move finished torrent jobs to. If you want to organize the selected directory by torrent job label, enable the Append the torrents label option.


How do I make µTorrent automatically run a program after a download finishes?

In the torrent job's properties, there is a Run Program section in the advanced section. When properly filled out, µTorrent will run the selected application immediately after the torrent job finishes downloading.


How do I make µTorrent delete files to the Recycle Bin?

Enable the Move to trash if possible option in the Remove button's context menu in the toolbar. Note that files larger than the Recycle Bin's capacity will be removed from the drive immediately (bypassing the Recycle Bin entirely).


How do I make µTorrent download files from an RSS feed?

The first step is to find a RSS feed that links to .torrent files in at least one of either its <guid>, <link>, or <enclosure> tags. After you add such a feed (making sure to provide the authentication information if necessary), you can create a Favorites filter for the feed that automatically downloads and loads the linked .torrent files from the feed that match the filter you specify. Make sure you familiarize yourself with all of the filter options, as they can be confusing. When the filter is set up properly and is enabled, µTorrent will take care of the downloading for you.


How do I make µTorrent prioritize the first and last piece of each file?

Enable bt.prio_first_last_piece in the advanced Preferences.


How do I make µTorrent start in boss-key mode?

Run µTorrent with the /HIDE command line option.


How do I make µTorrent start minimized?

Run µTorrent with the /MINIMIZED command line option.


How do I make µTorrent stop downloading and only upload?

To perform this on any and all torrent jobs, set the scheduler to seeding only mode during the times you want it to upload only.

To perform this on a specific torrent job, stop the torrent job, select all of its files in the Files tab, then select "Don't Download." µTorrent might continue to download pieces if there are any left incomplete (you can check the Pieces tab), but afterwards, it won't request any new pieces to download from other peers.


How do I make µTorrent stop seeding a torrent job at a specific share ratio?

Set the Limit the upload rate to option to 0. Now, whenever any torrent job reaches the seeding goal, it will be stopped.


How do I make µTorrent use my proxy?

You can fill in the proxy information in the Connection preferences. Unless you are sure your proxy server can handle the load, you should refrain from using the proxy server for peer-to-peer connections.


How do I manually announce to trackers?

The Update Tracker feature in the torrent job context menu can be used to update all trackers in the selected torrent job(s). Alternatively, specific trackers can be updated via the Trackers tab context menu. Although an anti-hammer feature has been put in place to prevent abuse of the feature, manual update of the tracker should still be avoided where not absolutely necessary in order to minimize strain on trackers.


How do I move a torrent job to the top or bottom of the queue?

Hold Shift on your keyboard while pressing the Move Up Queue toolbar button to move the selected torrent job(s) to the top of the queue. Hold Shift on your keyboard while pressing the Move Down Queue toolbar button to move the selected torrent job(s) to the bottom of the queue. The respective move up/down queue items from the torrent jobs list context menu behave in the same way when Shift is held while the menu item is selected.


How do I quickly change the upload and download limits?

The global transfer rate limits can be quickly set from the status bar context menu. If visible, the global transfer rate limits can also be quickly controlled from the system tray context menu.

For to quickly change the transfer rate limits of specific torrent jobs, select the torrent jobs you would like to modify, then right-click it and use the Bandwidth Allocation menu.


How do I rename a torrent job in the torrent jobs list?

A torrent job can be renamed in the list by slow double-clicking on the torrent job, or by pressing F2 on the keyboard while the torrent job is selected. To cancel the renaming, you should press Esc on the keyboard. To confirm the change, you should press Enter on the keyboard, or use the mouse to click anywhere else on the torrent jobs list.


How do I rename a torrent job's download directory?

In the Add Torrent Jobs dialog, you can edit the target directory before confirming the save location. If you wish to rename or move an existing torrent job's current location on disk:

  1. Stop the torrent job whose contents you wish to move.
  2. Rename or move the torrent contents.
  3. Use Set Download Location... from the torrent jobs list context menu to select the new location.
  4. If µTorrent doesn't automatically recheck the file, and you wish to confirm the integrity of the files, force a re-check on the torrent job.

How do I run multiple instances of µTorrent simultaneously?

To run multiple instances of µTorrent, you can run each new instance with the /RECOVER command line option. Because of the possibility of conflicts, you should perform the following before running multiple instances:

  1. Create a new folder containing an encapsulated installations of µTorrent (you should copy the executable).
  2. Create a shortcut for this copy of the executable.
  3. Edit the shortcut's target by adding /RECOVER to the end of the "Target" path, outside of any quotation marks, and separated from the executable path by a space.
  4. Run the shortcut to open a new instance of µTorrent.
  5. Configure this instance of µTorrent to use a different listening port (and different alternative listening port if applicable).
  6. If applicable, forward the port(s) for this instance in your router and firewall.

Because bandwidth must be split for each instance, you should probably run the Setup Guide again for each instance, but select appropriate portions of your connection's maximum upload rate for each instance you run.


How do I set a boss-key up?

A boss-key can be set from the privacy preferences. After setting it and confirming the changes, µTorrent's visibility can be toggled by pressing the selected key combination.


How do I set the default torrent job Remove action?

The default Remove action can be set by right-clicking the Remove button in the toolbar, holding Shift on the keyboard, then left-clicking one of the four possible options. Alternatively, the default behavior can be configured by setting gui.default_del_action appropriately.


How do I set the download location for torrent jobs added via magnet URI?

With magnet URIs, µTorrent does not have a copy of the info dictionary on hand, so it does not know the name or the contents. Consequently, it must wait to find a source with the dictionary, which may sometimes take a long time. Because of this, µTorrent uses the default download location as the destination for the files (in case it happens to find the info dictionary when the user is not available to set the download location manually). If no default download location is set, µTorrent will use %UserProfile%\My Documents\Downloads as the destination.


How do I skip certain files in a torrent job?

Files can be skipped in the Files list in the Add New Torrent dialog. Alternatively, files can be skipped via the Files tab context menu.


How do I sort by more than one column in a list-view?

You can sort by any column by left-clicking on its header. To sort on another column as a secondary sort order, hold Shift on the keyboard while left-clicking on the column header you wish to use as the secondary sort criterion.


How do I use the embedded tracker?

Enable bt.enable_tracker in the advanced preferences. Make sure you carefully read the description of the option.


How do I use the scheduler to control transfer rates?

The most important step is to understand how the scheduler options affect µTorrent. The rest is as simple as clicking on the time slot you wish to set up to the color corresponding to the effect you want for the time slot.


How do I use the Web UI?

Enable the Web UI, and µTorrent should automatically install it for you. Afterwards, fill in the username and password you would like to use to log into the web interface. If you wish to use a different listening port from the normal listening port for the web interface, specify it in the Alternative listening port field. Additionally, if you wish to allow only specific IP address to access your web interface, fill in the restriction field accordingly.


What are labels and what can they be used for?

Labels are used as a powerful tool for torrent job organization in µTorrent. They can make torrent job identification and sorting much easier for you.

To set a label for a torrent job, use the Label submenu in the torrent job's context menu. A benefit of using labels is that they can also be used to organize torrent contents (not just torrent jobs) with the Move completed downloads to option.