How to do torrenting on qBittorrent

This guide was specifically made for qBittorrent, but the process must be similar to other torrent clients like Transmission or Deluge

Installing the Torrent Client

Download qBittorrent and install it according to your operational system

My recommended approach to torrenting

This approach is recommended if you prioritize privacy

I recommend going trackerless on the torrents you’re hosting, and only depend on the DHT network

Because this way you aren’t creating a single point of failure in case you suddenly change the IP address for your torrent or change ISPs

I recommend AirVPN if you want to start hosting torrents, because at the beginning there’s gonna be a lot of uploading on your part, and you don’t want your name to be related to that (especially not in North America). Afterwards it’ll start to be more dissipated when more seeders start coming in. Because those seeders can maintain your torrent and you don’t need to be that involved in the process anymore

I also recommend AirVPN instead of MullvadVPN, because MullvadVPN has banned port-forwarding on May 2023

You’ll also need to open your ports so others can download from you

I have a guide on how to do that

Setting up your own tracker

This approach is not recommended if you prioritize privacy

This is for using your own internet as a tracker without depending on public trackers

I also recommend AirVPN if you want to set up your own tracker, just so you don’t have to share your public IP address with everyone by embedding on the tracker

1. Go to qBittorrent settings
2. Go to Advanced
3. Enable the option Enable embedded tracker
4. Enable the option Enable port forwarding for embedded tracker
5. Go to your router settings
   • To find it, go to your terminal
     • If it’s Windows, type ipconfig
     • If it’s Linux, type ifconfig
   • Find the Default Gateway of your network
     • It depends if you’re using cable or Wi-Fi
   • Type the Default Gateway IPV4 address on your browser
6. Port Foward the port 9000 to TCP
   • To check if the port 9000 is open, go to this website

Uploading the torrent files

1. Go to Tools
2. Enter on Torrent Creator
3. Input the path for your file/folder
4. Leave everything as default

If you have your own tracker, the Tracker URL should be http://your_public_ip:9000/announce

Right after this, it’ll start hosting on the DHT network

You’re all set up now, you can start sharing as many torrents as you want, while maintaining privacy with a VPN

To know more about DHT, check this article