qBittorrent, a popular torrent client, is very popular. Is qBittorrent secure?
The bottom line is that qBittorrent can be trusted. We’ll explain what you should do to ensure you can safely use QBittorrent for downloading movies, TV shows and music.
Is qBittorrent safe to use?
Yes, qBittorrent can be used as a secure torrent client as long as it is downloaded from the official website. Open-source means that anyone can review the code and verify there are no bugs. qBittorrent does not use ads. It’s legal to use qBittorrent, provided you don’t copyrighted material.
Multiple Reddit threads on torrenting and safe clients were checked. Redditors recommended qBittorrent to be one of the most secure torrenting apps.
Is qBittorrent safe to download?
It is safe to download qBittorrent from the official site. However, third-party sources may not be as safe. There’s always a possibility that the uploader might have altered the file if you downloaded qBittorrent via a shady website. For example, they might have infected the file with malware.
While using several antivirus programs, we downloaded qBittorrent many times from the official website. We seldom saw alerts. We rarely saw any alerts.
How to Use qBittorrent Securely
Although qBittorrent can be trusted, it is not secure. You need to take extra precautions to ensure your safety while using it. Here are our recommendations:
Use VPNs
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is an online service that hides IP addresses and encrypts Internet traffic. Here’s how it works:
- It hides your IP so that copyright trolls cannot see it in torrent swarm. They can’t track you ISP and send angry letters without your IP.
- The swarm of hackers can’t see your IP address, so they won’t be able to use it to attack your network.
- VPNs encrypt your traffic and stop ISPs slowing it down. If they don’t know which online services are you using, they cannot throttle your speed.
- VPNs conceal your browsing habits. Your ISP won’t be able to see torrent trackers.
- VPNs can have ad-blockers which prevent connections to fake websites – such as malicious torrent trackers.
NordVPN is our top-rated torrenting VPN. It supports P2P traffic over 4,600+ servers and works well with qBittorrent. It offers strong encryption, a no-logs audit, leak protection, and even a kill switch. You can also read our guide to learn more about other qBittorrent VPNs.
How to Use QBittorrent With VPNs:
- Install qBittorrent.
- A good P2P VPN is recommended. NordVPN is our recommendation.
- NordVPN’s App is available for download and installation.
- To connect to a VPN server, use the app
- Start downloading torrents. As long as you are connected to qBittorrent’s servers, NordVPN will automatically be used with qBittorrent.
Use an antivirus
Although qBittorrent can be used safely, torrents that you download may contain malware. Malicious actors could upload malware and trick you into downloading it. They can infect your computer if you open them and interact with them.
Antivirus software is the best way to protect yourself from malware infections. Antivirus programs automatically remove malware-related files and codes from the computer when they detect them.
When downloading torrents, you should use an antivirus that includes a VPN. This protects your computer from viruses and keeps your torrenting private.
Enable Anonymous Mode
Anonymous Mode, a feature of qBittorrent that hides certain information about you, is available in the client. The latest update states that Anonymous Mode erases any data concerning the:
- Agent
- Peer-ID
- Listening ports
- IP addresses
You can enable Anonymous Mode by visiting Tools > Option > BitTorrent, and clicking the box next “Enable anonymity Mode.”
Although Anonymous Mode by qBittorrent is safe, it should not be used to replace a VPN. Anonymous Mode cannot encrypt traffic. The qBittorrent developers stated that Anonymous Mode can’t encrypt your traffic.
If you enable Anonymous Mode, you may experience errors like “client isn’t on whitelist” on private trackers. This is because Anonymous Mode scrubs torrent client data. Only enable it if you use public tracks.
Other Tips
You can also do other things to ensure your safety while torrenting. These tips are covered in detail in our guide. Make sure you read it.
FAQs
Here you will find answers to common questions regarding qBittorent safety and how to use it. You can also leave comments if you have any other questions.
Is qBittorrent Safer Than uTorrent?
The majority of torrent users agree that qBittorrent is safer than uTorrent . You can download both torrent clients from the official source. HTML3_ qBittorrent is more trusted because it’s open source and doesn’t have in-app ads. Devs at uTorrent once included a crypto miner in the app.
Why do Antivirus Programs Flag QBittorrent As a Malicious file?
Antivirus software will often flag qBittorrent (Potentially Unwanted Application) as a PUA. This is because antivirus software detects qBittorrent to be a false positive. It means that the antivirus incorrectly believes that qBittorrent, a legitimate program, is malicious.
It’s normal for this to happen. We didn’t find any issues when we tested the qBittorrent application with several antivirus programs. Malwarebytes is recommended by Redditors because it doesn’t make false positive errors.
Remember to always download qBittorrent from the official website to ensure safety. Use only official sources.
What are the Best Settings for QBittorrent’s ?
You can use qBittorrent safely, but you have some settings that you can adjust to increase speed and security. This quick list of qBittorrent’s “best settings” was compiled from multiple Reddit threads and Quora threads.
- Make sure there is no global rate limits. Set them up to the infinity symbol.
- Below Rate Limits These are two ways to get rid slow peers or peers who download but don’t seed.
- Limit the rate of uTP protocol.
- Limit rate to peers on the LAN.
- Make sure that qBittorrent uses a port higher than 10,000 Redditors suggest it should be 49.152 or higher.
- The BitTorrent section contains that enable PEX, DHT and Local Peer Discovery to find more peers in the swarm.
- Turn off torrent encryption in BitTorrent. This will limit the number and types of peers that you can connect with. Your torrent traffic will be encrypted automatically if you use a VPN.
- To stop qBittorrent throttling your internet speeds, disable uTP Go to Tools > Option > Connection, and select TCP as the Peer connection protocol option.
How do you set up qBittorrent using a VPN?
You can use qBittorrent as a VPN by installing a VPN app and connecting to a P2P VPN server. Then you can start using the torrent client. There are no manual setups required. Only exception to this rule is when you use a VPN’s SOCKS5 Proxy. You must then follow the setup instructions provided by your VPN provider.
How do you connect qBittorrent with a VPN?
To link qBittorrent with a VPN, go to Options > Advanced and select the VPN adapter in the drop-down menu beside “Network interface.”
If you do this, then qBittorrent will not download torrents from your computer unless you are connected to a VPN.
It’s not necessary to bind qBittorrent with a VPN. Because it works at an app level, NordVPN’s torrenting kill switch is particularly effective. You can tell NordVPN which apps should not be allowed to use the Internet if you lose your VPN connection.
If you are worried about losing your connection to a VPN server, you should not bind qBittorrent with the VPN client. You can reduce that risk by setting up the VPN app to run automatically and connect to a VPN server whenever your operating system starts.
