µTorrent, a highly efficient and feature-filled BitTorrent Client.

The FAQ is maintained by Firon

Incompatible Software

Help! My µTorrent process is using a ton of memory! (NVIDIA Firewall )

If you find your µTorrent process uses a huge amount of memory abnormally, or steadily increasing for no reason (especially with DHT on), and you use the NVIDIA integrated firewall, you MUST UNINSTALL THE FIREWALL. Disabling it will not work! The firewall has a serious bug (which has NOT been fixed to this date) that causes many programs to leak large amounts of memory. It is NOT a µTorrent bug. There is no fix for this, you MUST uninstall the NVIDIA Firewall.

Sources for this info: http://forum.emule-project.net/lofiversion/index.php/t86089.html
http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t2682.html

My µTorrent keeps freezing on certain trackers / saying "A socket operation encountered a dead network." (BitDefender, possibly others)

This is a bug with BitDefender, NOT µTorrent. Unfortunately, disabling this software will not work, so you must uninstall BitDefender to fix the problem. Please uninstall it and use something else, there is no fix for this.

If you experience this problem and are NOT using BitDefender, please try uninstalling (not disabling) the firewall. If it works, please inform us on the µTorrent forums, making sure to tell us which firewall caused the problem.
If you are not using any firewall, make sure you have the latest drivers for your network card, since this problem can be caused by buggy NICs. It can also be caused if your network gets physically disconnected or if the modem/router shuts off.

My µTorrent windows doesn't update or refresh (Stardock's ObjectDock)

Stardock's ObjectDock can sometimes cause µTorrent's and various other programs' windows to apparently freeze and stop updating. The programs themselves still function, but their GUIs will no longer refresh. Please uninstall ObjectDock and use an alternative dock program, such as YzDock, since there is no fix for this bug if it happens to you. This is NOT a µTorrent bug.

You should no longer experience this with the latest version of µTorrent.

1.4 I get "Error: Access Denied" / "Error: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process" and µTorrent halts the torrent! (Google/MSN Desktop, possibly some anti-virus software, Explorer's thumbnail view, may not be any of the above)

Error: Access Denied can be caused by numerous things. The most common cause seems to be Google and MSN Desktop. A possible fix is turn off the indexing feature, or to uninstall them. Excluding the download folders from indexing should work.
Another fix is to turn off diskio.flush_files, but you will lose the benefit of flush files (diskio.flush_files makes µTorrent close file handles every minute. This helps reduce the effect of Windows managing the system cache badly). Since flush files closes the handle every minute, Google/MSN Desktop try to open the file every minute, and this prevents µTorrent from writing.
The best solution is to simply uninstall Google/MSN Desktop, though.

One of the simplest causes of this is that you inadvertently have two copies of µTorrent running and using the same torrents. Open the Task Manager (CTRL SHIFT ESC or right click on the system clock -> Task Manager), and see if there's more than one utorrent.exe in the Processes tab. If this is the case, close both of them and start up µTorrent again.

It is possible that an anti-virus' real-time scanner may cause this, but there is no known AV that causes this error. If it does, the same fixes for Google/MSN Desktop apply (exclude the folder(s), uninstall the AV/disable the real-time scanner, or turn off flush files).

AVG7 may cause this, it seems to think that some files are a JPEG exploit (a false positive), and it attempts to quarantine them.

A third possibility is that you are viewing the folder while it's downloading, and Explorer is set to thumbnail mode. If this is the case, Explorer would try to access these files while viewing the folder in Thumbnail mode, and lock out µTorrent from writing. The solution is to not view the folder until the download is finished, don't use Thumbnail mode, or turn off flush files.
It's also possible that Explorer is trying to read the media files (MP3, AVI and so on) in the folder to make thumbnails, show you information about them, or preview them. You can unregister the media indexer (Start -> Run -> regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll ), and/or unregister the image indexer (Start -> Run -> regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll ) as an alternative for either case, not view the folder, or turn off flush files.

A fourth possibility is that you set the files to read-only, which would prevent µTorrent from writing. This only affects downloading; µTorrent can seed files that are set to read-only. However, if the error appears when trying to seed, it may mean that the original files are damaged and are failing the hash check.

My µTorrent/PC freezes or locks up every 30 seconds and/or uses 100% CPU, slowing down my PC (Avast!, possibly others)

This can be caused by Avast!'s P2P shield, which scans P2P apps. Disabling this option will fix your problem.
Here's step-by-step instructions on disabling the P2P shield (thanks to scarface_666):

• Double click the left mouse button on your Avast! icon in the system tray (to the left of the system clock) and your On-Access Scanner will open in a separate window. If you don't see the icon, click on the arrow and it should expand to show all the icons in the system tray.
• Click the left mouse button on the "Details >>" button at the bottom of the Avast On-Access Scanner to open up more options.
• Look for the P2P Shield on the left of you On-Access Scanner window and left click your mouse button on it and the P2P Shield should now be highlighted.
• Now click your left mouse button on the "Terminate" Button (Located on the right of the On-Access Scanner window) and you should see some text near the top of the window saying "No task is currently using this provider".
• Finally, click the "OK" Button and the bottom right of the On-Access Scanner window and the P2P shield will be disabled.

Kerio Personal Firewall / Sunbelt Personal Firewall uses 100% CPU when running µTorrent and/or disconnects my internet every few minutes!

Kerio Personal Firewall / Sunbelt Personal Firewall has a bug where it uses 100% CPU and may cause your connection to drop when using µTorrent.

The fix for this is to:

• Open up the Kerio GUI (best to do while no torrents are running)
• Click on the Overview tab (top left)
• Make sure you are in the 'Connections' section of Overview
• Right click in the window where all of the programs currently using a network connection are listed
• Un-check 'Resolve Address' option (3rd from bottom)

This will get rid of the issue of KPF using 100% CPU.
The reason it was using 100% was because it was trying to resolve the host name of every address that is trying to connect to your computer. The higher than normal connection attempts from running torrents overloads it.
This fix works for all torrent programs running on systems with KPF installed.

Thanks to Noodlewad for the fix.

Special note for users with Linksys WRT54G/GL/GS routers, there are severe problems with them when running any P2P app (read for fix)

The following note does NOT apply to WRT54G/GS v5s! Use the latest official firmware (1.00.9+) with those, they do not suffer from this problem.

The default firmware for Linksys (and all replacement firmwares except for the latest DD-WRT and HyperWRT Thibor) have a severe problem where they track old connections for FIVE days, which causes the router to hang when using P2P apps, or any software that generates a lot of connections. DHT only aggravates the situation because of the number of connections it generates.

Linksys has yet to address this issue, but there is a fix. If you use alternative firmware, you can put in a start-up script to fix this problem. DD-WRT and HyperWRT support custom start-up scripts. I am not responsible if you screw up your router, so you do this at your own risk. This page has instructions on recovering a bricked router.:

• HyperWRT Thibor (14+) (54G/GL/GS only, excluding hardware revision V5 of 54G/GS)
• DD-WRT (v23+)(54G/GL/GS excluding hardware revision V5 of 54G)

If you experience any strange issues or performance problems, clear your NVRAM, and if all else fails, try changing firmwares (but make sure you clear the NVRAM afterwards!)

You should avoid upgrading over a wireless connection, since the connection may drop out and brick the router.

To upgrade the firmware follow the instructions on the download section of Thibor's page if flashing to HyperWRT Thibor, and make sure you download the correct firmware version for your router!

• Neither DD-WRT v23+ nor DD-WRT Thibor14+ require these steps, but older versions of HyperWRT tofu/Thibor and DD-WRT do. The following are for HyperWRT tofu and older Thibors.
• Go to the web interface (default password is admin) by typing http://192.168.1.1 into your browser.
• Click Administration, then Edit Startup. Put the following commands in the box:
  

echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_ignore_bogus_error_responses
echo "600 1800 120 60 120 120 10 60 30 120" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_conntrack_tcp_timeouts

• Click Save, close the window, then click Save settings.
• Reboot the router (the Administration page has a Reboot button) and you'll be done.

To upgrade to DD-WRT, follow the instructions on this page. The Right Way to Flash Your WRT54G/GL/GS. The following instructions are for DD-WRT only

• Do not use the web interface method as it cuts off part of the commands.
• Enable SSH (Admin, Services) as we are going to use the NVRAM method @ http://wrt-wiki.bsr-clan.de/index.php?title=Startup_Scripts#NVRAM_Method
• Login to the router with an SSH client (root/your password).
• Put the following commands into the SSH client.

~ # nvram set rc_startup="
> echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts
> echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_ignore_bogus_error_responses
> echo '600 1800 120 60 120 120 10 60 30 120' > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_conntrack_tcp_timeouts
> "
~ # nvram commit
~ # reboot
The system is going down NOW !!
Sending SIGTERM to all processes.

• Note the ' instead of " on the third command line. Using " on the third command line closes the set command (as on last line), meaning that the last command will get cut off prematurely.
• Make sure your "Maximum Ports" is set to 4096 on the Management page.
• You can check the settings worked by logging in via SSH and viewing the contents of each file as below or using the "nvram get rc_startup" command.

  ~ # more /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_ignore_bogus_error_responses
  1
  

• Enjoy instant µTorrent speed increase from pretty much zero on each torrent to full speed!

Thanks frankw for the instructions for DD-WRT

Remember, I am not responsible if you screw up your router, so it's your problem if something goes wrong. However, if something does go wrong, this page has instructions on recovering a bricked ("dead") router.

If you require further assistance with either firmware, please visit HyperWRT.org (the main site does not have the latest builds however), HyperWRT Forum's Advanced Help Section, DD-WRT.org, and DD-WRT's Wiki.
Please do not ask for help with these firmwares on the µTorrent forums.

Norton AntiVirus keeps prompting me to permit or block µTorrent!

Norton AntiVirus will continually prompt you to permit or block µTorrent regardless of if you hit Permit or Block. This is caused by NAV's Worm Protection (which is useless and only causes problems). The solution is to turn off the Worm Protection-- it doesn't actually protect you from anything. A better solution is to use an anti-virus that isn't so easily foiled; NAV's "protection" is easily broken by most modern worms and viruses. NOD32, Kaspersky, PC-cillin, and AVG are better solutions.

The latest version of Norton Internet Security 2006 and Norton AntiVirus 2006 fix this issue.

I get an error "An operation on a socket could not be performed because the system lacked sufficient buffer space or because a queue was full" and µTorrent halts! (Norton GoBack)

Norton GoBack appears to cause this problem (and it can manifest itself with other clients). Specifically, it is the component GBTray.exe of Norton GoBack that causes this. You can either close GBTray.exe before running µTorrent and keep it closed during the entire session (GoBack appears to still work with it closed), or disable Norton GoBack. Updating to version 4.1 will fix this issue.

This can also be caused by mIRC if it crashes upon exit. Generally, when it crashes on exit it uses 99% CPU. You will need to check the Processes list in the Task Manager for it and then kill the task.

There is also a registry setting in Windows 2000/XP/2003 that can cause this error. Read this Microsoft KB article for further information and a fix. KB196271

This can also be caused if you have your net.max_halfopen set to value other than 8, and have not patched TCPIP.SYS using the EventID 4226 Patcher" (XP SP2 and 2003 only). If you have patched it, check it again, because it gets reverted occasionally by Windows patches.

Modems/routers that are known to have problems with P2P apps (from Azureus, but applies to µTorrent too)

List of routers that have problems with Azureus (and µTorrent), if you have one of those... either try the solution specified with it (if there is any), update the firmware or get a new one. If your router or modem freezes/reboots, you should turn off IP resolving, DHT, and/or reduce the number of connections to try to remedy the problem, even if it's not on this list.

Reason not yet verified

• Apple Airport Extreme (802.11g wireless with 128-bit WEP)

Due to too many connections

• SpeedStream 5660 in Router/NAPT configuration. There is no firmware newer than 2.(3).7. Switch to bridged mode and firewall your network to fix it. Otherwise, when it dies just power-cycle the router and continue on.

The following modems/routers have known problems with too many global connections, limiting them to 200 or less should fix the problems:

• D-Link 302G
• D-Link DI-624
• D-Link DSL-G664T
• Linksys BEFSR41V4/BESR41
• Linksys Wireless-B
• Netgear DG632
• Netgear DG834G
• Netgear MR814
• Netgear WGT524
• Netgear Rangemax 802.11n WPN824
• W-Linx MB401-S (and SMC Barricade 7004 BR, which is identical in construction)
• Westell 6100

Due to UPnP

• Most D-Link 5xx and 6xx (can also be caused by too many connections)
• D-Link DI-604
• Dynalink RTA1025W
• TP-LINK TL-R410
• ZyXEL Prestige 660H(W) (Firmware versions PE8+ will fix this)
• Some SpeedStreams

Due to Port Forwarding

• D-Link DI-514 (not port forwarding UDP protocol consistently)

Common fixes for routers/modems freezing/crashing/etc

• Updating the router firmware
• Turning off the UPnP (in the client and in the router) and doing manual port forwarding
• Restricting the number of global connections to 200 or less (may need to go below 100, depending on the router)
• Turning off DHT
• Lowering net.max_halfopen and bt.connect_speed
• Putting the modem/router into bridge or gateway mode (doesn't apply to modems that aren't routers)
• Getting a new router/modem

Sourced from (with some modifications): Bad routers - AzureusWiki

I get tons of hashfails on my torrents, and the torrent never finishes (D-link routers, any other router with game mode DMZ)

If you gets lots of hash fails on your torrents with a D-Link router, make sure DMZ mode isn't on. The DMZ mode in this router (called game mode) mangles packets and causes corruption like this, preventing you from completing a torrent.

I get very high CPU use when running µTorrent! (McAfee Firewall, SpamPal, Norman Personal Firewall, possibly others)

This can be caused by severe problems with McAfee Firewall and Norman Personal Firewall. The only solution is to uninstall the firewall and use another.

This can also be caused by a bug with SpamPal (other programs exhibit the same behavior when this is installed). The only fix is to uninstall it.

Norman Personal Firewall can also cause this, only an uninstall will fix it.

If you don't have this firewall and still get high CPU use (either utorrent.exe, or an unseen process), run Sysinternals Process Explorer and see if the DPCs are using significant amounts of CPU. If this is the case, it may be buggy software (most likely not µTorrent), buggy drivers, or faulty hardware. You can run Microsoft's RATTV3 to find out the cause of the DPC. The log files from it are stored in C:\WINDOWS\system32\LogFiles\RATTV3

You can also check the properties of the µTorrent process in Process Explorer, click on the Threads tab, and see what DLLs are hooked into the process to find out what's causing the issue. Seeing mswsock.dll is normal.

µTorrent crashes! (V-Com System Suite & V-Com Fixit Pro, Norman Personal Firewall, McAfee Firewall)

V-Com's software causes µTorrent (among other software) to crash. You must uninstall V-Com's software.

Norman Personal Firewall and McAfee Firewall can also cause this, you must uninstall them if you experience crashes.

General

What are µTorrent's system requirements?

Very low. It works on as weak a system as Windows 95 on a 486 with 14MiB of RAM (with the Winsock2 update), up to 2003 and Vista. It also works on 64-bit Windows.

It's reported to work under Linux using Cedega with some issues (blue bars in Pieces and Files tab don't work, update function fails, minimize has a slight bug) if you use "Win98" mode. It works very well under Wine 0.9.16 (especially with µTorrent 1.6), but versions previous to 0.9.15 might have issues or not work at all.

All 9x systems should have at least IE 4.0 installed: it upgrades a system DLL that provides functionality for various µTorrent functions. However, it is not necessary for µTorrent to run. Without it, only the toolbar, graphs in the pieces view, and double clicks in the list view no longer function.

Be warned that Windows 95/98 are limited to 100 max concurrent connections, unless you apply the following registry tweak (sourced from Windows TCP/IP Registry Entries).
Open the registry editor (Start -> Run -> regedit), go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\MSTCP

You must create the following entry, it is not present by default.
MaxConnections
Data Type: String
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections. The default is 100. The maximum is 512.

Is µTorrent open source?

No, it is not. µTorrent will remain closed source as long as it can be supported and developed by ludde. This may change if there comes a time where he can no longer develop or provide support for µTorrent.

Is there a Linux or Mac version?

Vurlix is no longer working on the OS X port, so none is currently in the works. A Linux and OSX port is still planned for the future.

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

Go to the Advanced section and set "bt.prio_first_last_piece" to true.

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

Turn on "Pre-allocate all files" in Downloads. Turning on this option will prevent compact storage and sparse files from working, however. Pre-allocate no longer allocates all files when skipping files, only the ones you choose.

There is little use to pre-allocate except for making sure you have enough space when starting a torrent. It does NOT reduce fragmentation as compared to not using it, since µTorrent ALWAYS allocates the full file when writing to prevent fragmentation, regardless of if pre-allocate is on (unless you use sparse files).

How do I modify the disk cache options?

(1.6 and later) While the defaults should work fine, even up to 100mbit, you may want to alter the disk cache options. You will find the options in Advanced -> Disk Cache. To see the current cache use, look at the Speed tab, and choose Disk Statistics from the drop-down list.

• The cache size is a combined size, you cannot specify an individual size for read and write caching.
• Reduce memory usage when cache not needed will release all the memory for the write cache when you are not downloading.
• Write out untouched blocks every 2 minutes will control whether µTorrent flushes the chunks from incomplete pieces to disk if the piece has been inactive for 2 minutes. Turn this off if using very large cache values or experiencing disk overload during your download (NOT if you just added the torrent, that is normal!).
• Write out finished pieces immediately will control whether µTorrent writes finished pieces immediately. If turned off, it will write them after a maximum of 15 seconds. Turn this off if using very large cache values or experiencing disk overload during your download (NOT if you just added the torrent, that is normal!).
• Turn off read caching when the upload speed is low will turn off read caching when the upload speed is <100 KB/s, where the read cache is more likely to do harm than good.
• Remove old blocks from cache will remove unused blocks after a certain amount of time has passed since they were used. Turn this off if using very large cache values.
• Increase automatic cache size when cache thrashing will make µTorrent increase the automatic cache size if you are experiencing disk overloads, because of very high speeds or a slow disk. Do NOT turn this on if you are experiencing disk overload while you just added the torrent, that is normal.

How do I change the default remove action?

(1.5.1 beta 460 and later) Right click the remove toolbar, and hold shift when choosing the option.

How do I make µTorrent delete files to the recycle bin?

(1.5.1 beta 460 and later) Right click the remove toolbar, and check "Move to trash if possible."

How can I make µTorrent auto-load torrents from a specified folder?

Simply turn on "Automatically load torrents in directory:" in Other, specify the folder, and hit OK. µTorrent will load the torrents soon after they're added to that folder, though it will ask you where to save them. If you want it to automatically save to a folder, turn on "Put new downloads in" in Downloads and specify your download folder. However, turning on "Put new downloads in" will prevent the BitComet-style add torrent dialog from showing up, unless you use File -> Add Torrent (no default save) or turn on "Always show dialog on manual add." You can turn on "Delete torrent instead of renaming, when loading" so it deletes the torrent after loading, instead of renaming it to .torrent.loaded.

Please note that the auto-load folder CANNOT be either %Appdata%\uTorrent, OR the folder you specified for "Store .torrent files in." If you use the same folders for both, you WILL have problems.

How can I rename a torrent's folder?

If you're adding a new torrent, you can rename it with the BitComet-style add torrent dialog by simply changing the save path (the folder doesn't have to exist). If the torrent already exists, stop the torrent, rename the folder to whatever you like, then in µTorrent, right click on the torrent, pick Advanced -> "Set download folder", and point it to the newly renamed folder. Then, simply start the torrent again (no need to force re-check).

How can I rename a torrent in the main listview?

(1.5.1 beta 460 and later) Select the torrent and press F2, or single click. Pressing Esc will cancel the rename.

Is it possible to make µTorrent load a torrent from the commandline?

Yes. The syntax is as follows: uTorrent.exe /directory "C:\Save Path" "D:\Some folder\your.torrent"

You must not have a trailing backslash in the save path, else µTorrent will fail to load it. This works for both single-file and multi-file torrents.

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

This option was added in the 1.3.1 betas. Simply turn on "Append !ut to incomplete files" in Downloads. This will instantly rename ALL incomplete files to have !ut at the end of the filename, regardless of if the torrents are started, stopped, paused, or queued. Turning it off will undo the operation.

How can I make µTorrent start minimized?

Simply add /MINIMIZED to the command line. Either modify the shortcut, or if you want it to start minimized when starting with Windows, open the registry editor (Start -> Run -> regedit), browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, double click on µTorrent's entry, and append /MINIMIZED to the end of the command.

How can I make µTorrent start in bosskey mode?

(1.5.1 beta 460 and later) Add /HIDE to the shortcut/path. Make sure you've set a bosskey beforehand, otherwise you will have to end the process and start it again without /HIDE to access it.

How can I make µTorrent go into a seed-only mode on all torrents?

If you want it to automatically go into a seed-only mode at specific hours with the scheduler, you can hold shift (in 1.4.1 build 417 and later) while selecting the hours and the blocks should turn red, which indicates a seeding only mode.

If you want to manually make a download go into a seed-only mode, you can skip all the files in the torrent, and after a minute or so, it should start seeding. It's not instant because it has to finish up the last few queued pieces.

How can I add other columns of info? Can I sort by more than one at the same time?

Right click on the column (either on the main section of the window, Files, or Peers tab), and check the columns you want to add or remove.

You can sort by any column by clicking on it. Press shift click on a column to setup a secondary sorting order.

How can I quickly change the upload and download caps?

You can right click on U: or D: in the status bar to do this, or right click on the tray icon. Alternatively, you can set it in Network.
You can override the automatic values in the right click menus by adjusting the Speed Popup List in Appearance -> Interface.

How can I tell if a peer is an incoming or outgoing connection?

In the Peers tab, check the Flags column. If the peer has an I in the column, it means it's an incoming connection.
A blank port in the Ports column means incoming but peers with a non-empty port can also be incoming, the only reliable way to tell is with the I flag.

How can I make µTorrent stop seeding at a specific share ratio?

Go to Queueing in the options, set the ratio/time you want, check the box next to "Limit the upload rate to" and write 0. If you simply want to allocate less bandwidth, use a non-zero value. If you want seeding to take priority over downloading, turn on "Seeding tasks have higher priority than downloading tasks", which will make your downloads get queued. 0 means 0% for the ratio, -1 is infinite.

-1 is used so you can have all torrents seed forever by default, and let you manually set a seeding ratio on each individual torrent's properties so that only those torrents stop. For this to work, you must still check "Limit the upload rate to" and write 0.

Can µTorrent automatically move files when the torrent finishes?

Yes, you can set this in the Downloads section. It can move it to another folder, or to another partition.
If you have not set a directory for "Put new downloads in:", you must uncheck "Only move from the default download directory."

If you check "Append the torrent's label to the directory name", the label is used as the subdirectory name for finished torrents with that label.
You MUST set a directory for "Move completed downloads to:" for this option to work.
See What are labels and what can they be used for? for an explanation of labels.

Since labels automatically disappear when unused, you can use set persistent labels that don't disappear in Appearance -> Interface.

What is %AppData%?

%AppData% is a system variable that works on every Windows OS.
To use it, you can either type %AppData%\uTorrent into the Address Bar, or click Start -> Run, and type it there.

What do all these BitTorrent terms mean, such as seeder, snubbed, etc?

See BTFAQ.com's Definitions of BitTorrent Terms

What do all those flags in the Flags column mean?

• D = Currently downloading (interested and not choked)
• d = Your client wants to download, but peer doesn't want to send (interested and choked)
• U = Currently uploading (interested and not choked)
• u = Peer wants your client to upload, but your client doesn't want to (interested and choked)
• O = Optimistic unchoke
• S = Peer is snubbed
• I = Peer is an incoming connection
• K = Peer is unchoking your client, but your client is not interested
• ? = Your client unchoked the peer but the peer is not interested
• X = Peer was included in peerlists obtained through Peer Exchange (PEX)
• H = Peer was obtained through DHT.
• E = Peer is using Protocol Encryption (all traffic)
• e = Peer is using Protocol Encryption (handshake)

See this page for definitions of BitTorrent terms

What do the red icons (/) mean on the torrent status icons?

These red icons indicate that µTorrent was not able to reach the tracker. This could happen when the tracker goes offline, becomes overloaded, or when the domain simply doesn't exist anymore. Check Tracker Status on the General tab to see what the exact error message is.

In many cases, seeing this (especially if you see hostname not found in Tracker Status) and having DHT on but still having no peers to connect to may mean that you'll have to find another copy of the torrent on another tracker.

In some cases, this is normal because the tracker is overloaded or temporarily down. The torrent itself should keep seeding/downloading as long as you got some peers, and if the tracker comes back up or becomes responsive, you should have no lost ratio so long as you don't close µTorrent or stop the torrent.

What do all the status icons mean?

means the torrent is downloading
means the torrent is downloading, but there is a tracker error (see question above)
means the torrent is seeding
means the torrent is seeding, but there is a tracker error (see question above)
means the torrent is a queued download
means the torrent is a queued seed
means the torrent is a stopped download
means the torrent is a stopped seed
means the torrent is paused
means the torrent has an error (check the status column)

What are labels and what can they be used for?

Labels are a powerful feature in µTorrent. They can be used for simply labeling your torrents to identify them, or to use for sorting the torrents more easily. For example, you could label your torrents from private trackers as "private", and then click on the Labels column to easily sort all your private torrents. You can select one torrent or more than one to apply a label.
Simply right click on the torrent(s), go to Label, and click "New label..." to add a label, or select an already existing label. This can be done regardless of it a torrent already had a label.
To remove a label from a torrent, right click the torrent, Labels -> Remove Label.
Unused labels are automatically removed from the list.

If you would like labels that never disappear, you can add persistent labels in Advanced -> User Interface.

The benefit of normal and persistent labels is that they can be used in tandem with "Move completed downloads to" in the Folders section. The label would be used as a subdirectory to place the completed download in. See Can µTorrent automatically move files when the torrent finishes? for further explanation.

What do the colors in the Availability graph mean?

• The color red means the piece is not available amongst the peers you're connected to. (this means availability is less than 1 and you may not be able to complete the torrent)
• Pale blue means that the piece is present amongst the peers you're connected to, but rare.
• The darker the blue, the more common the piece is in the swarm.

What do all those colors in the Pieces tab mean?

• Dark blue means the data is downloaded and written to disk.
• Medium blue means the data is downloaded but still in the cache.
• Light blue means the data has been requested from one peer.
• Green means the data has been requested from multiple peers (only in endgame mode).

What do the colors in the files tab mean?

Blue means the data has been written to disk. Green means the piece is being actively downloaded.

What does Wasted and hashfails mean?

Wasted shows a combination of discarded data and bad data. Discarded data is data that's sent to you by a peer that your client didn't want. Hashfails happen when bad data is received and the piece fails the integrity check.

Do not worry if this happens, since the data that fails the integrity check is discarded and re-downloaded. If you get an abnormal (hundreds of MB) amount of hash fails, it may be a poisoned torrent. If the torrent never finishes (gets stuck at 99.9% and has tons of hash fails), your router may be mangling the packets. Read this for further info.

What does availability mean?

That number tells you how many unique copies of the file are available between yourself and the peers you're connected to. If this is less than 1, you most likely will not be able to complete the torrent. The only thing you can do is wait and hope a seeder hops onto the torrent to allow you to complete it. You can also try and request a "reseed" on the tracker's forum. Sometimes, this may never happen because the torrent was abandoned, and you may need to find the torrent elsewhere.

What does Force Start (Downloading [F] / Seeding [F] ) do?

Force Start is a way to start torrents to bypass queue settings and seeding priority settings. It can also be used to make torrents keep running/start in "Turn Off" hours with the scheduler. For example, if you set it to run 2 torrents max, but wanted to run a third, you could Force Start the third one. Forced torrents do not count towards the queue settings. Or, if you had torrents set to stop at 150% share ratio, but wanted one to keep going, you could Force Start it and it would not stop at 150%.

You can make a torrent Force Start by right clicking on it, and choosing Force Start. This works regardless of it the torrent is stopped, queued, or started. To set it back to normal mode, right click on it and choose Start.

What does Bandwidth Allocation do?

This is an option that makes µTorrent allocate less or more bandwidth towards a torrent. This only affects upload, and only if an upload cap is set.

How is the share ratio shown for torrents that are started fully complete?

It starts at 0.000 instead of ∞ to give you an estimate of how much of the file has been distributed. It is amount uploaded / file size.

What is the Logger tab and what does it do?

The logger tab has useful information. When logging is disabled, it shows hash fails and on which torrent they happened, as well UPnP status messages. Right click and you can turn on Log Peer Traffic (Verbose has additional information), though this is generally useless and a slight waste of resources, so it's not recommended to turn on unless you're troubleshooting. Dump DHT Buckets/Tracked give detailed information about DHT.

You can log to a file by right clicking -> Log to file. Be sure to specify the FULL SAVE PATH, including the filename. This will not save the buffer, only lines that showed up after you set it. To stop logging, go back to Log to file and hit OK with nothing written in the box.

What is that magnifying glass and box for?

That is µTorrent's search bar. Click on the magnifying glass to select what site you want to search on, then type what you want to search for and press enter. This will launch your browser. You can add and remove sites to the list by going to Appearance and editing the Search Engines box.

Features

Does µTorrent support Protocol Encryption (PE)?

Yes, as of version 1.4.1 beta build 407. It is compatible with Azureus 2.4.0.0 and BitComet 0.63.

Protocol Encryption (PE) is a joint specification between Azureus and µTorrent. It is designed to bypass throttling and/or blocking of BitTorrent traffic by an ISP.

You can choose Protocol Encryption's mode of operation in BitTorrent. Here is an explanation of the various options you can choose from:

• Disabled: Does not encrypt outgoing connections, but will accept encrypted incoming connections.
• Enabled: Attempts to encrypt outgoing connections, but will fall back to an unencrypted mode if the connection fails.
• Force: Attempts to encrypt outgoing connections, and will NOT fall back to an unencrypted mode if the connection fails.
• Allow legacy incoming connections enables or disables incoming legacy (non-encrypted) connections.

All modes will accept incoming encrypted connections (and the encryption is 2-way)!

It is NOT recommended to turn off "Allow legacy incoming connections", unless you cannot have any non-encrypted connections (typically in conjunction with Forced), in which case turning off "Allow legacy incoming connections" is acceptable.

Does µTorrent support DHT or Peer Exchange?

As of version 1.2, µTorrent supports DHT, and as of version 1.4.1 beta 407, supports Peer Exchange (only compatible with µTorrent peers at the moment). It respects only the private flag included in the .torrent. The private flag will disable both PEX and DHT.

µTorrent will NEVER support private flags given by the tracker in the announce response! It is a dirty fix, and is EXTREMELY unreliable. Only the private flag embedded into the torrent will be supported because it is reliable and relatively secure by design.

See What is DHT? if you don't know what DHT is.

Does µTorrent have a plugin system?

No, it does not. This feature will not be added, please do not request it.

Does µTorrent support UNC-style paths (e.g. \\192.168.1.2\C$\ ) / network drives?

Yes, as of 1.3.1 beta build 374. However, fragmentation may be higher when saving to a network drive, since allocating space across the network is not possible.

Does µTorrent have Unicode support?

Yes, it does, as of µTorrent 1.2.3 beta 356. The same executable can be used for 9x/ME systems, but Unicode itself will only work on NT3.51 and later (2000/XP/2003 are NT).

Does µTorrent support multi-tracker torrents?

Yes. µTorrent currently announces to all tracker groups at the same time, but only one tracker per torrent group. To see the trackers in the torrent, simply double click on it, or right click and select Properties. Trackers separated by an empty line indicate they are in separate tracker groups. (Multitracker Details on Depthstrike)

Does µTorrent support UPnP (Universal Plug'n'Play)?

Yes. As of 1.5.1 beta build 462, UPnP works on ALL OSes. You can turn it on in Connection. If it works properly, then you should see the port has been mapped in the Logger tab, and once you receive an incoming connection. You can use the port checker in the Speed Guide (Ctrl G) to see if it really is working properly. If it never turns green after running torrents for a while, or says Unable to mape UPnP port, it most likely means that something went wrong, usually a software firewall blocking incoming connections. See this question for more info about the UPnP error. If all else fails, the port may still have to be forwarded manually. See How do I forward ports? for an explanation of what UPnP is for and other info related to forwarding ports.

Does µTorrent support RSS feeds?

Yes, as of 1.3.1 beta build 374. Be warned that users of version 1.4 will have to remake their filters when upgrading to 1.4.1 beta 405 or later. Click here to see a detailed tutorial for RSS.

Thanks to TVTAD for the use of their icons!

Does µTorrent support Super Seeding mode?

Yes, it does. Double click on the torrent and check the Initial Seeding box to turn it on. For an explanation of what Super Seeding is, read this page
Please note that Super Seeding should ONLY be used if you are the -ONLY- seeder in the swarm, with no exceptions. It is also only effective with at least 2 peers in the swarm, and should generally not be used when you have high upload speeds.

Does µTorrent support endgame mode?

Yes, it automatically goes into this mode when the pieces remaining are all being actively downloaded. This mode helps make getting the last pieces of the file take much less time than normal.

Does µTorrent allow selective file downloading?

Yes, left click on the torrent, then click on the Files tab. Select the file(s) you want to change the priority of and set them to "Don't Download." You may have to press F5 to make the Detailed Info section, which has the tabs, show up. You can also do this when you load the torrent in the BitComet-style Add Torrent dialog. However, this dialog will not show up if you have "Put new downloads in:" turned on by default. You can turn on "Always show dialog on manual add" in the Downloads section or use File -> Add Torrent (no default save).

Pre-allocate no longer allocates all the files when skipping, only the files you choose.

Does µTorrent support Manual Announce?

Yes, right click on the torrent and select "Update Tracker". It is the same function under a different name.

Does µTorrent support HTTPS (SSL) or UDP trackers?

Currently, it does not. UDP tracker support is not likely, due to many flaws with the UDP tracker spec. HTTPS tracker support is still planned for the future.

Does µTorrent support trackerless torrents?

Yes, it does. The torrent creator can also make trackerless torrents. You cannot use Magnet URIs to download a torrent, though the function is planned for the future.

Does µTorrent have an embedded tracker?

Yes, it does. You can turn it on by enabling bt.enable_tracker in the Advanced section. However, it is a very simple tracker, with no web interface, or even the ability to see what torrents are hosted on it. It is not designed for anything requiring security or large-scale. A stand-alone tracker is much better for this. It allows all torrents, external or not, to be tracked on it when enabled.

Once you have enabled it, you can use it by simply putting the tracker's URL into a torrent. The tracker URL is http://your.ip:port/announce (port being µTorrent's incoming port). IP can be external or internal, depending on if you want to use it in a LAN or across the Internet.

Does µTorrent support multi-scrape?

Yes, as of 1.3.1 beta build 374. It automatically detects trackers that do not support multi-scrape and falls back to single scrape mode for that tracker.

Does µTorrent have a boss key?

Yes, it does as of 1.3.1 beta build 374. The boss key is a function that hides and unhides the client window and the system tray icon when you press the hotkey.

You can set the key by going to Other, clicking on the box under Boss Key, and pressing the keys you want to use. Letters and numbers cannot be used without Alt, Ctrl, or Shift (µTorrent appends Alt if pressing a letter or number alone). F keys can be used alone. Whatever key you set here is global and overrides other programs' hotkeys. To clear the boss key, click on the box and press either Delete or Backspace.

Does µTorrent automatically ban peers after a certain number of hashfails?

Yes, it does, after 5 hashfails. It will ban and kick the peer for the entire session. To reset the bans on the torrent, right click the torrent, Advanced -> Reset Bans.

Does µTorrent have a BitComet style add torrent dialog?

Yes, it does. It's on by default. If you use "Put new downloads in:", you must either turn on "Always show dialog on manual add" or use File -> Add Torrent (no default save). In this dialog you can edit the torrent properties (click Advanced), choose files (right click for Select or Deselect all), pick a label, choose the save folder (and rename it), skip the hash check, and have the torrent get added in stopped mode.

Does µTorrent have a web interface?

The web interface is still in alpha state and not yet released to the public.

Can you make µTorrent automatically run a program after the download finishes?

Yes, in the torrent properties (right click -> Properties, or the Advanced button in the BitComet-style add torrent dialog), click on the Advanced tab. You must do this on a per-torrent basis.

Is there any foreign language support for µTorrent?

Yes, you can get the language file from µTorrent's download page. Simply drop utorrent.lng into %AppData%\uTorrent and restart µTorrent. µTorrent should automatically change to your system language once you restart it. If it doesn't, open the Options, go to Appearance, and select your language from the drop down list.

Installation

Does µTorrent install itself?

No, it is a stand-alone application, unless you use the installer version. However, on first run, it will ask if you would like to make shortcuts on your start menu and desktop.

Where are the settings and .torrent files stored?

They are stored in %AppData%\uTorrent. The .torrent files you load are stored there so µTorrent can keep track of your torrents.

How do I uninstall µTorrent?

Delete the exe. If you're concerned about the settings being left on your PC, delete the folder uTorrent in %AppData%.

How can I use µTorrent on a USB key or other removable drive?

Simply copy settings.dat (located in %AppData%\uTorrent ) to the same folder as uTorrent.exe, and you're done.

How can I share my torrents between user profiles / make µTorrent run self-contained in one directory?

Simply copy the entire contents of %AppData%\uTorrent into the same folder as utorrent.exe. Alternatively, create a blank file named settings.dat in the same folder as utorrent.exe, if you'd like to start out fresh (no settings/torrents). If using it in a multi-user environment, this folder should be accessible and writeable by all users so they can share settings and resume data.

How can I backup my settings?

Simply make a copy of the entire %AppData%\uTorrent folder. However, with 1.5, if the username, PC name, or drive letter changes, your resume list will unfortunately be cleared, forcing you to reload the .torrent files and hash-check. This will be fixed for the next release.

How can I reset the settings back to the defaults?

Delete settings.dat and settings.dat.old from %AppData%\uTorrent with the client closed.

How can I change the system tray icon / GUI icon for µTorrent?

Put tray.ico (for the tray) and main.ico (for the GUI) in %AppData%\uTorrent, or in the same directory as utorrent.exe if you have the settings in the same directory. You must restart µTorrent for this to take effect. There are a selection of icons on the Skins page and User Interface Design section of the µTorrent forums.

Can I change µTorrent's skin?

Visit the Skins page and the User Interface Design section of the µTorrent forums for skins and instructions on creating your own. To use them, place them in %AppData%\uTorrent and restart µTorrent.

Network

Does µTorrent work well on Windows XP SP2 systems with an unpatched TCPIP.SYS?

Yes, as of version 1.2, µTorrent will do 8 connection attempts by default to work with the 10 connection attempt limit on these systems.

However, you are likely to get better performance if you use this patch, especially if you are having problems (such as trackers timing out when they're actually online). If you would still like to patch it, you can do so with LvlLord's EventID 4226 Patcher.

However, you should never set it higher than 100! net.max_halfopen should ALWAYS be set lower than the value you patch tcpip.sys to.

Help! µTorrent is sending e-mails/accessing the web/ etc!

This is a false positive 99% of the time. Occasionally, peers use common service ports, such as 25, 80, and so on to bypass restrictions they may have on their ISP. You should ALLOW this traffic, not block it! You may have to turn off the firewall's/anti-virus' e-mail protection, or set an exception for "utorrent.exe". The only exception to the false positive rule is on start-up, where µTorrent loads a page on uTorrent.com to check for the latest version. You should also allow this. This functionality can be disabled in the General section: "Check for updates automatically."

It also connects to router.utorrent.com if you have DHT enabled. This is REQUIRED for the functionality of DHT (at least the first start). If you block it, DHT may not function!

To put it simply, a false positive means that your firewall is WRONG.

My firewall is reporting connections being made by µTorrent on a port besides the one I selected. What gives?

Only incoming connections use the port you selected in µTorrent. Outgoing connections use a random local port; this is simply the way TCP/IP functions. It's not a bug.

If you have a firewall, you must allow all outgoing traffic on TCP and UDP.

How do I change the number of connections µTorrent uses?

Go to BitTorrent and set "Global maximum number of connections" and "Maximum number of connected peers per torrent."
See this important note on this setting.

What do the Network Status lights mean (, , )?

The green light means all is OK (ports are forwarded and you are receiving incoming connections)
The yellow light means that you have no current incoming connections. If this never turns green, this means that your port is not forwarded. The best way to check is with the µTorrent port checker, found in the Speed Guide. If the port checker says your port is open, then everything is most likely fine.
The red light means that µTorrent was unable to bind a listening socket. Most likely, this means a firewall is blocking it. It's also possible that another torrent client is using this port, which will require you to change ports, or not run both clients at the same time.

Why are my torrents going so slow?

Most likely, the port you set for µTorrent is not forwarded. If µTorrent is displaying , then this is the case. There is also the possibility that the torrent is simply slow, especially those with small swarms (low numbers of seeders/peers). It is also possible that your firewall is blocking connections for µTorrent. Make sure you set an exception for incoming and outgoing connections for µTorrent in your firewall's configuration! If you block ICMPs with your firewall (Windows Firewall blocks them by default), you should allow "Destination Unreachable" to aid the proper functioning of DHT (it works anyway though).
If everything is set up fine, you will see in the status bar (to the left of DHT:) after you start a torrent and get an incoming connection. If it stays yellow, try a torrent with many peers to make sure there's enough peers in the swarm to guarantee you getting an incoming connection.

If you use an alternate firewall while on Windows XP SP1 or SP2, make sure you turn off the Internet Connection Firewall (SP1) or the Windows Firewall (SP2).
You may still have to disable the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) or Windows Firewall / Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service to prevent a conflict between it and your third party firewall. Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services, scroll to appropriate service (ICF or Windows Firewall/ICS), right click and select Properties, select Disabled in the drop down menu and hit OK.

If you have an alternate firewall and still find yourself unconnectable after you forwarded your ports (or have no router) and attempted to configure the firewall, you may need to uninstall it, disabling never works! If you have no router and no firewall, your modem may be a router.

You may also want to turn off UPnP (found in Connection) and forward your ports manually, since some routers have flaky UPnP implementations that cause problems. Ensure your router/modem is NOT on this list!

Make sure you've used the Speed Guide and read the instructions carefully! Make absolutely sure you chose your UPLOAD speed in kilobits/s, not your download! Make sure you do not set too many upload slots OR connections per torrent. You should also try to never run more than 2-3 torrents. In general, an average 5mbit connection with 512kbit upload shouldn't have more than 90 connections per torrent, or more than 5 upload slots, especially if running more than one torrent. Experiment with these values depending on your connection speed. This is the most COMMON reason for torrents going slow, setting those options too high WILL make things slow down significantly! More connections does not mean faster speeds. Your best bet is to stick to the Speed Guide.

Make sure that TCPIP.SYS is properly patched if you've altered net.max_halfopen, and that net.max_halfopen is set lower than the value set in TCPIP.SYS! And ensure that it's still patched, because Microsoft overwrites it sometimes, forcing you to repatch.

How do I forward ports?

This is beyond the scope of this FAQ, but PortForward should have the information you require. TCP forwarding is required at minimum, UDP is only used for DHT at the moment. You can verify if the forwarding works on BTFAQ's NatCheck. It requires you to have a torrent running, however. Alternatively, if you are on Windows XP/2003, or are using 1.5.1 beta 462 or later where UPnP works on all OSes, and have a UPnP enabled router, you can use this to forward ports automatically. This is considered a security risk by some, however. If does not disappear, make sure your firewall is not blocking incoming connections for µTorrent.

What ports should I use for µTorrent?

It is generally recommended to not use any port in the range 6881-6889. µTorrent only uses one port, however, so you only need to forward one. It is best to use a port number above 10000.

How do I change the port µTorrent uses?

Open the Options, click Network. You can change the port in the box next to "Port used for incoming connections." However, it takes a restart of µTorrent to take effect. Make sure you do not run two clients with the same port!

Does µTorrent support proxies?

Yes. Open the options and go to Connection. It supports SOCKS4, SOCKS5, HTTP Connect, and HTTP proxies. Peer communication proxying is supported with SOCKS4, SOCKS5, and HTTP Connect. HTTP Connect is HTTP proxies that allow arbitrary TCP connections. Not all do, which is why it's a separate item in the list.

Does µTorrent have a scheduler to limit download and upload speeds?

Yes, in the options. It allows you to set an upload/download speed, and set it to Limit, go full speed, or stop torrents altogether by the hour/day. You can also make it turn off DHT during hours you set to "Turn off."

Version 1.4.1 beta 417 and later have a new scheduler mode for Seeding only. Hold shift while selecting the hours and it'll turn red, which indicates seed-only mode.

How can I make µTorrent use a different upload speed when seeding?

Open the options, go to Connection, check "Alternate upload rate when not downloading", and write in the value you would like in the box.

How can I make µTorrent report a different IP to the tracker? I'm behind a proxy and need this function.

Go to BitTorrent and put in the value in the box next to "IP to report to tracker." It supports IPs and domains as of 1.3.1 beta build 374. This function is NOT for when you are behind a NAT, the tracker can automatically determine your IP in that case. It's only when your WAN IP (as in, the actual internet connection's IP) is different from what the tracker sees. However, some trackers WILL ignore this value, so it may not help you at all.

How can I make µTorrent use a specific network adapter?

In the Advanced section, you can specify the IP for the adapter. net.bind_ip specifies which adapter to use for incoming connections, and net.outgoing_ip specifies which adapter to use for all outgoing communication.

How can I change the number of active torrents/downloads?

Open the options, go to Queueing, and change the values for "Maximum number of active torrents (upload or download)" and "Maximum number of active downloads"

Error Messages

While downloading/seeding, I get "Error: The system cannot find the path specified" and µTorrent halts the torrent.

This problem may be caused by a limitation in Windows with path lengths. Windows unfortunately limits the maximum length to 255 characters (which includes the filename). Try saving the torrent to a location closer to the drive's root, such as C:\torrent.

How do I fix Error: Unable to save the resume file?

Simply create two blank files named "settings.dat" and "resume.dat" (without the quotes) in the same folder utorrent.exe is saved in. Make sure Windows is not hiding the file extension when creating the file (in Explorer, Tools -> Folder Options -> View, uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types", hit OK)

What does Download Limited in the status bar mean?

This is an anti-leech protection put in µTorrent. It means your upload cap is set too low, and as such, your download is limited to 6 times that amount (3 in 1.4 build 402, 6 in 1.4.1 build 405+). It's set to 6 times the cap so that legitimate users who need that cap (dial-up, ISDN, certain slow broadband connections) are unaffected by it. It only applies to upload caps of 1-5 KiB/s.

What does Disk Overloaded in the status bar mean?

This means that the disk was not able to keep up with the read/write speed. To fix this, you can change the options in Disk Cache.

However, if this happens when adding a torrent, it is normal, and due to a design limitation in µTorrent, which will be fixed in the future, not because your disk is actually overloaded. It will disappear after a few minutes.

What does "Unable to map UPnP port to xx.xx.xx.xx:xx" mean?

This error means that µTorrent was unable to map the port with UPnP. If you have a green status light or have forwarded your port manually, you can safely ignore this error. However, if you have a yellow/red status light, it may mean that you need to forward the port manually, or that your firewall is blocking incoming connections. UPnP will currently only work on Windows XP in 1.5, so other OSes will need to forward manually. However, 1.5.1 beta 462 and later support UPnP on ALL OSes.

What does "Error opening Windows Firewall: 0x800706D9" mean?

This means that µTorrent was unable to add itself as an exception to the Windows Firewall, using the standard Windows Firewall API. This most likely means that the firewall is disabled or not present. You can safely ignore this error. However, if you have another software firewall, you will still need to manually configure it to allow incoming and outgoing connections.

I get "Error: Not enough free space on disk." when I have more than enough free space!

This only happens on FAT32 drives, due to a limitation with FAT32. Files greater than 4GB cannot be created on FAT32 partitions. The only fix is to convert the drive to NTFS, or use another drive that is already NTFS.

To convert a drive to NTFS, click Start -> Run -> cmd, then type convert X: /FS:NTFS, X being the drive's letter you want to convert.

My µTorrent keeps freezing on certain trackers / saying "A socket operation encountered a dead network."

Please see this question.

I get Error: Access Denied and µTorrent halts the torrent!

Please see this question.

I get an error "An operation on a socket could not be performed because the system lacked sufficient buffer space or because a queue was full" and µTorrent halts!

Please see this question.

I get "Error: Element not found" and the torrent stops.

This is generally caused by having diskio.compact_allocation on. Please turn it off, this option is not fully working. Use diskio.sparse_files (NTFS only) instead if you want to save space while downloading.

This can also happen if you remove/rename files from a torrent. Re-add/rename the files, or force a re-check.

I get "Error: Parameter is incorrect" when selectively downloading on Windows 95/98/ME

This bug is currently being looked into. There is no workaround apart from not using selective downloading on these OSes, but the error should not happen again if you simply start the torrent again.

I get "Error: Data Error (cyclic redundancy check)" and my torrent halts.

This is not a µTorrent error, but instead an error reported by your hard drive. It means that your HDD was unable to read or write the data because the sectors are faulty or starting to die, which may be a sign of future disk corruption. Running chkdsk might help, but you may need stronger recovery tools (such as SpinRite).

Troubleshooting

Why is my torrent stuck at a certain percent?

See What does availability mean?

Why doesn't µTorrent report me as a seeder when selectively downloading?

By definition, a seeder is a peer with all the files fully completed. It would be incorrect for µTorrent to report you as a seeder if you didn't download some of the files.
To re-iterate: you are NOT a seeder unless you have 100% of the torrent.

Why does pause mode keep downloading or uploading?

It takes a short while for the download and upload to reach 0 (possibly several minutes), since µTorrent must send/receive all the queued pieces first. It does not drop the connections, so small bandwidth spikes may still be seen several minutes after because of BitTorrent protocol overhead.

Why does it show a download speed of .1-.2 KiB/s when seeding?

µTorrent shows BitTorrent protocol overhead when displaying speeds; a relatively low download amount while seeding is normal (peer communication).

Why is there an ETA / Remaining time when seeding?

µTorrent shows an ETA/Remaining time when seeding based off the ratio set in "Seeding Priority," so you can know about how long it'll take to reach the specified ratio.

Why do the up/down buttons not move the torrent?

The up/down buttons only change the queue order for torrents that are downloading. They do not actually move the torrents up and down in the list.

Why does µTorrent create files I set to "Don't Download?"

Turn on diskio.use_partfile in Advanced and it shouldn't create them anymore.

Why can't I see anything in the directory browser dialog?

Turn on gui.compat_diropen in Advanced and the problem should be fixed.

Why do my torrents grind to a halt with "Disk Overload" whenever I add a new one?

This is a design limitation in µTorrent that will be fixed in the future. There is nothing you can do except be patient; it will go away within a few minutes.

Why does µTorrent use FixedSys on Windows NT 4?

You don't have the Tahoma font installed.

µTorrent won't open torrent files even though I associated torrents with it.

Make sure the "Associate with .torrent files" button is greyed out in the General section of the options. If it is and Firefox gives you weird errors when opening the .torrent or opens another client, click (within Firefox) Tools -> Options -> Downloads -> View & Edit Actions, remove TORRENT from the list and hit OK. If it is Explorer or other programs giving the error, you may need to right click a .torrent file, Open With -> Browse, look for µTorrent and check "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file." If all else fails, click (within Explorer) Tools -> Folder Options -> File Types, and remove TORRENT from the list. Then try to use the "Associate with .torrent files" button again.

Misc

I found a bug, what do I do?

Try to see if the bug is reproducible. Go to the µTorrent forums, search the "Found Bugs" forum to make sure your bug wasn't found already. If it wasn't already reported, register and post it with instructions on how to reproduce it. Make sure it is not caused by any of the incompatible software mentioned in this FAQ.

My question isn't answered here / I wanna request a feature, is there somewhere I can go?

You can get support in the µTorrent forums and request features, but please search the forums to make sure your problem wasn't already answered or that your feature wasn't already requested. You're far more likely to get a good response this way, else you may just get told to search the forums and have your thread locked.

Does µTorrent work on a 486 with Windows 95 and 14MiB of RAM?

Yes, so long as you apply the Winsock2 update. You may have to raise the GUI update period, and generally run the client with the UI closed, though.

What is DHT?

DHT (Distributed Hash Table, technical explanation) is an addition to certain BitTorrent clients that allows them to work without a tracker. What this means is that your client will be able to find peers even when the tracker is down, or doesn't even exist anymore. It allows the swarm to continue as normal without a tracker. You can also host torrents without a tracker. (see Does µTorrent support trackerless torrents?).

µTorrent's DHT implementation is the same as Mainline and BitComet's, but unfortunately this is incompatible with Azureus's implementation.

Why does µTorrent show less DHT nodes in the status bar than BitComet / Azureus?

µTorrent only shows the number of DHT nodes you are directly connected to. BitComet shows nodes that are more than one hop away (connected to nodes you're connected to), which inflates the numbers. Azureus, on the other hand, shows an estimate of how many peers there are in the DHT network.

Does DHT mean my torrents from private trackers are getting leaked?

So long as the torrents are created with the private flag (µTorrent and Azureus support this functionality in their torrent creators), DHT will be disabled automatically for that torrent. You can verify this by double clicking on the torrent: if "Enable DHT" is greyed out, it's disabled for that torrent.

µTorrent will NEVER support getting the private flag from the tracker announce, because this method is considered to be very insecure and unreliable. If you are a tracker admin and want the private flag to work reliably, please enforce using the private flag in the .torrent on the tracker level. BitComet's torrent maker does not make private torrents properly, nor does the client respect the private flag (see this article on Slyck).

I don't want DHT on anyway, how do I turn it off?

Open the options, go to BitTorrent, and uncheck "Enable DHT." This will turn off DHT for ALL torrents. Alternatively, you can disable it on a per-torrent basis: double click the torrent or right click and select properties, then uncheck "Enable DHT."

There is also an option to have DHT disabled for new torrents by default, allowing you to have DHT enabled globally without having to worry about your private torrents using DHT when they lack a private flag.

Can you implement password locking?

No, this feature is not being considered. If you need to lock µTorrent, use the built-in computer locking feature for 2k/XP/2003.

Can you implement manual client banning?

No, this option will not be implemented. It is misused far too often by people who do not understand the BitTorrent protocol enough to use it properly. Leave banning up to the tracker. If you require banning of IP ranges for other purposes, ipfilter.dat is available for that.

What do all those settings in Advanced do?

• gui.compat_diropen This enables a different directory open window for those having problems seeing directories with the default directory browser.
• net.bind_ip makes µTorrent use a specific LAN adapter for incoming connections only. Specify the IP address of the adapter here.
• net.outgoing_ip makes µTorrent use a specific LAN adapter for all outgoing connections only. Specify the IP address of the adapter here.
• net.outgoing_port makes µTorrent use a single outgoing port. This should only be used in specific cases. "This can be used with full cone NAT routers to reduce the number of NAT table entries and thus prevent crashes on some router models. When the outgoing port is bound to the same as the incoming port that might even solve NAT problems on full cone NAT routers." - AzureusWiki. This option may not be working properly. It will only work on Windows 2000 and later.
• net.low_cpu reduces CPU use slightly. If you download very fast, you might get better speeds by turning this off.
• net.max_halfopen is how many connection attempts µTorrent will make at any one time. This value must NEVER be higher than 8 for unpatched Windows XP SP2 systems!
• net.wsaevents is an option to tweak if you are having weird firewall problems. Lower the value one by one to see if it makes any difference.
• ipfilter.enable enables or disables the use of ipfilter.dat
• dht.rate This controls how much bandwidth DHT uses. -1 is automatic management, which makes µTorrent cap DHT's bandwidth use based on your max upload rate. It goes as low as 512 to as high as 8192. It uses your max upload rate / 16 to determine this value, so in most cases it should use less bandwidth than it did before (4096), and use more for higher upload speeds to improve DHT performance.
• rss.update_interval sets the update interval for RSS. It will ignore values lower than 5 and default back to 5.
• gui.update_rate sets the refresh interval for the GUI in ms. Minimum is 500ms.
• gui.delete_to_trash will send deleted files to the recycle bin. This can also be enabled by right clicking on the remove toolbar icon and checking "Move to trash if possible."
• gui.default_del_action sets the default remove action. This option should not be modified directly, and instead should be modified by right clicking the remove toolbar icon, holding shift and choosing the remove option you want to be default.
• gui.bypass_search_redirect bypasses the Nanotorrent search redirect.
• queue.dont_count_slow_dl/ul makes µTorrent not count torrents going less than 1KiB/s up or down towards your active torrents.
• queue.prio_no_seeds prioritizes torrents that have no seeds when seeding.
• bt.scrape_stopped This enables/disables scraping the tracker for torrents that have been stopped (not queued).
• bt.compact_allocation This allows µTorrent to create files in a Python-like manner to save space. You CANNOT use this option in conjunction with the partfile. This option may still not be working properly: if you get "Element not found," then this is the case.
• bt.enable_tracker This enables or disables the embedded tracker. The tracker URL is http://your.ip:port/announce (domains do work). It does allow external torrents.
• bt.multiscrape This turns on/off multi-scrape, which is sending multiple hashes per scrape. You should not have to change this option, since µTorrent automatically detects when a tracker doesn't support it.
• bt.send_have_to_seed This turns on/off sending have messages to seeders.
• bt.set_sockbuf A debugging option to auto detect the TCP buffer size (so_sndbuf) and adjust it based on your upload speed. It does not adjust it based on latency.
• bt.connect_speed Controls the number of connections per second that µTorrent makes
• bt.prio_first_last_piece disables or enables prioritizing the first and last piece of every file.
• bt.allow_same_ip allows multiple connections from the same IP. Generally this should not be used, since it is normally an anti-leech protection.
• bt.no_connect_to_services disallows connecting to peers using a remote port of 25 or 110. This should only be used if you really, really want to keep your e-mail detection on in your anti-virus.
• peer.lazy_bitfield helps bypass some ISPs that interfere with seeding. This may not always work.
• peer.resolve_country makes µTorrent use a DNSBL service to resolve flags. This CANNOT be used in conjunction with a flags.conf!
• peer.disconnect_inactive This enables or disables disconnecting from inactive peers after a set period of time (default being 5 minutes). However, it will NOT disconnect if the number of peers in the swarm is lower than the value set for maximum number of connections per torrent.
• peer.disconnect_inactive_interval This sets the time that a peer is allowed to be inactive before being disconnected, except for small swarms. µTorrent ignores values below 300.
• diskio.flush_files makes µTorrent close file handles every minute. This helps reduce the effect of Windows managing the system cache badly for some people and causing so-called "memory leaks".
• diskio.sparse_files is a function available only on drives partitioned as NTFS (2k/XP/2003). When this is turned on, files will only allocate what data they have written. However, this does increase fragmentation, but it will save space while you are downloading files. It doesn't work with pre-allocate.
• diskio.use_partfile is used to store data that is downloaded of files that you marked as "Do not download." This is necessary to prevent the file from being allocated. It stores the parts of the files that come with a piece, since µTorrent must download and save the entire piece, which can include data for files you didn't want to download. Generally, you should avoid using this in conjunction with compact allocation.
• diskio.smart_hash This makes µTorrent hash data from memory (if in the write queue), instead of flushing to disk, re-reading from disk, and then hashing. This should help reduce reads, especially at high speeds.
• diskio.coalesce_writes tries to minimize the number of calls to WriteFile. It doesn't have any effect at all on download speed, but it might cause marginally less disk writes (at the expense of more memory / CPU).

What is ipfilter.dat?

This is a simple text file that specifies IP ranges to block. The format is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx - yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy
You can also use single IPs on a line (i.e. xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx). It ONLY supports blocks: it will ignore all text specified afterwards (such as what BLM and Tiny BLM does).

Do not pad IPs with 0s to ensure that it will work (i.e., write 64.12.15.0 not 064.012.015.000), though it is reported to work anyway.

Place it in %AppData%\uTorrent, and set ipfilter.enable to true in the Advanced.

To reload ipfilter.dat without restarting µTorrent, simple set ipfilter.enable to false, then to true again.

What is flags.conf?

It is a simple text file that specifies flag order (necessary when using either µTorrent's internal flag list or your own flags.bmp) and maps hosts to specific countries. You can only map .net and .com domains to a country. The format is domain.com|CC (CC being country code). You can use this flags.conf, created by chaosblade, Firon and other members of the IRC channel and forums, to modify or simply use (last updated 11/21/05). Press Ctrl Shift R to make µTorrent load it without restarting. Place it in %AppData%\uTorrent for it to work.

The flag named 00 is used to automatically display unmapped .com/.net with the US flag. This requires having a duplicate US flag (or whatever you would like to use) in the flags.bmp. The internal flag list already has this.

Note, this cannot be used with peer.resolve_country.

Who makes µTorrent?

Ludvig Strigeus (ludde) is the author and maintainer of µTorrent.

Serge Paquet (vurlix) is no longer affiliated with µTorrent.

Giancarlo Martínez (Firon) maintains the µTorrent forums and FAQ.

Timothy Su (ignorantcow) is the current website designer.

How can µTorrent be so small and so fast?

µTorrent is programmed in C++ using custom libraries. It is then compressed with PECompact to bring the size down by about 50%.

How do you write µ?

If you're using English-International, or most other international IMEs, as your keyboard setting (but not EN-US), press AltGr M, or Ctrl Alt M. Alternatively, you can press Alt 0181 (on the numpad), which works on ALL IMEs and regions.

How/where can I get the latest µTorrent beta?

If you have to ask, you can't get them. :)

Occasionally, public betas are posted on the download page.