Simple Ways to Download Torrents & The Most Popular Torrent Sites

Did you know that torrent sites are great for downloading large amounts of information? Many giant companies, like Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Meta, and Lionsgate use torrents to store and share data. Even gaming companies use torrents to distribute files as Starcraft did with software updates. But how can you use torrents at home? This wikiHow article teaches you how to find and download torrents with expert tips from computer and tech specialist Luigi Oppido.

How to Safely Download a Torrent

Install a BitTorrent client.
Find a link to torrent from a trusted site.
Check for .exe or .bat files and delete them if they don’t seem necessary.
Download a torrent with a high number of seeders.
Open the torrent file.
Choose a download location.
Download your content.

Section 1 of 4:

Downloading Torrent Files

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Install a torrent client. The BitTorrent protocol lets you exchange or distribute data over the Internet. There's no central server involved; data is downloaded from other users (seeders). You need a client application that will connect to the host and manage the download. There are multiple clients available for free online. Some of the more popular applications are:^{[1]
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- µTorrent
- Vuze
- qBittorrent^{[2]
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- BitTorrent
- Deluge
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Find a torrent tracker website. There are a variety of websites that list torrents. Some are more reliable than others. There are two main types of torrent trackers: Public and private trackers. Some trackers specialize in a specific type of media (i.e. movies, games, anime, etc). ^{[3]
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- Public trackers are available to anyone. These are the sites you will find when doing a web search for torrent trackers. Because of their public nature, many torrents on public trackers are tracked by copyright holders, so downloading them can result in action from your internet service provider. Torrents from these websites are also more likely to malware and viruses.
- Private trackers require invites. These sites are not accessible until another member has invited you. They often have requirements, such as sharing an equal amount of what you download. Private trackers are much less likely to result in cease-and-desist letters from copyright holders.
- According to Oppido, you should always get your torrent from a trusted source, i.e. a website or a person that you know you can trust.
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Search for your desired file. Most public trackers have every new show, movie, album, and game available, as well as popular old files.
- Use popular shorthand for finding the file you want. For example: if you need the second episode from the third season of a show, search for <show name> s03e02.
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Download a well-populated torrent. The speed at which you can download a torrent file is determined by the number of seeders available. A seeder is a torrent user that has the entire file available for downloading.^{[4]
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- Most torrent sites allow you to sort search results by the number of seeders. Look for files with a large number of seeders. Not only will you download it faster, but it is less likely that the file is fake or infected with a virus.
- The number of leechers will affect your download speed as well. A leecher is a user that is downloading but is not currently seeding. A leecher becomes a seeder when the full file has been downloaded. If there are significantly more leechers than seeders, the amount of bandwidth you receive will be lower, resulting in slower downloads.
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Choose a torrent with a good size versus quality. This is especially important for video files. Compression can affect quality, smaller files will often look and sound significantly poorer than the same video with a larger size.^{[5]
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- On the flip side, downloading a larger file can take significantly longer depending on your internet connection.
- Read as many comments as possible to determine if other users feel that the quality of the file is good and worth your time. Some trackers have a rating system that allows users to vote on if the file is good or not.
- Keep a lookout for file formats that end with ".exe" or ".bat", as those could be files that contain malicious coding. If it doesn't appear to be important files for the torrent, don't download them.
These files are slightly different than a standard torrent file. They match content based on a unique identifier that can then be accessed without the use of central trackers. A magnet link is a simple text line, and you don’t need to download a torrent file.
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Make sure that you can run the content. Torrents can be used to transfer any file type. Because of this, the file you download may be one that you are not familiar with. Read the file description and ensure that you have the necessary programs to run the file after you’ve downloaded it.
- VLC Player is a free, open-source media player that can play virtually any media file that you download.
- ISO files are disc images, and either need to be burned or mounted in a virtual drive to run them.
When you connect to other users directly, your IP address is trackable. They can see you and you can see them. To protect your privacy while downloading torrents (especially if they contain copyright content), it is recommended that you use a VPN. A VPN encrypts your online activity and hides your location. This will make it harder for others to track your online activity.
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Beware of viruses. Because torrents often exist in a legal gray area, there is no oversight as to the kinds of files that are made available. This means that hackers will embed viruses in torrents that they hope to spread to other users. These are often included in popular searches in order to get the most victims possible.^{[6]
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- Scan every file that you download for viruses.
- Try to download files that have been released by trusted sources in the community.
- Always check comments and ratings to see if anyone else experienced virus attacks with the torrent.
EXPERT TIP

Gonzalo Martinez
Computer & Phone Repair Specialist
Gonzalo Martinez is the President of CleverTech, a tech repair business in San Jose, California founded in 2014. CleverTech LLC specializes in repairing Apple products. CleverTech pursues environmental responsibility by recycling aluminum, display assemblies, and the micro components on motherboards to reuse for future repairs. On average, they save 2 lbs - 3 lbs more electronic waste daily than the average computer repair store.

Gonzalo Martinez
Computer & Phone Repair Specialist

Look for the highest number of seeders. Usually, the higher the number of seeders, the more likely it's going to be a that the torrent file isn't corrupted or doesn't have any malware content.

Section 2 of 4:

Getting the Content

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Open the torrent file. The torrent file that you download from the tracker site is very small, usually only a few KB in size. This file does not contain the content that you are downloading. The file acts as a guide for downloading pieces of the file from other clients. Use the torrent client you installed in the previous step to open the file.
- Your torrent client should be configured to automatically open torrent files. If yours is not, you can drag the torrent file into the client window to add it to the download queue.
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Set the download location. Depending on how your torrent client is configured, you may be asked where you want to save the downloaded file. Select a location that you can remember.
- According to Oppido, making sure you know where the torrents are going to be downloaded, where the torrents are functioning, and where the final file lands.
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Monitor the download. You can check the progress of your download in the torrent client. Most clients will allow you to see how many seeders you are connected to as well. Torrent clients automatically try to download at the fastest speed allowed by your connection.
- Downloading multiple files at once will slow the overall speed of each file.
- If you don’t want to use all your bandwidth on a download, right-click it and select "Bandwidth Allocation" (the wording will vary depending on your client). From here you can limit the download speed and upload speed. This is useful if you want to stream a movie while the file is downloading.
- If you are having difficulty connecting to enough seeders to download the file, you can try adding more trackers to the torrent. Do not attempt this if you are using a private tracker, as you may get banned.
  - Find a list of active trackers online and copy the list to your clipboard.
  - Right-click the torrent in your client, select Properties > General to find the list of trackers. There may be just one in the box.
  - Paste the list that you copied into the box. You need a blank line in between each tracker that you enter. Click OK and the torrent will automatically try connecting to the new trackers.
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Access your downloaded content. Once the download is complete, you can use the files that you downloaded as you normally would. If you move or delete the files, you will lose the ability to seed.
- You cannot start using the file before it is finished downloading. For example, you can’t start watching a video file before it is complete. This is because the file is downloaded in separate parts and the parts aren’t downloaded in order.
EXPERT TIP

Luigi Oppido
Computer & Tech Specialist
Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.

Luigi Oppido
Computer & Tech Specialist

Always scan your files before opening them. Make sure you have a good solid antivirus and anti-spyware program like Malwarebytes or AVG or Avast, something that can scan the file as soon as it is done and completed.

Section 3 of 4:

Seeding

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Seed after you finish downloading. Once you finish downloading the content of a torrent file, you become a seeder. This means that you are uploading data to other clients connected to the tracker.
- Seeding is what keeps a torrent community alive. Without seeders, no one can download the files. While it's not required, it is considered a courtesy to seed for some time after the download finishes.
If you are using a private community, you will most likely be expected to maintain a positive ratio with the community. This means that you will need to upload at least as much as you download.
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Leave your torrent client running in the background. Most internet service plans have slower upload speeds than download speeds. This means that uploading to maintain your ratio can take significantly longer than downloading the equivalent amount. Leave your torrent program running in the background while you go about your daily tasks, and you'll see your upload totals skyrocket.
- Running a torrent client in the background should not have a large effect on web browsing or word processing. More intensive applications such as streaming video and playing games may benefit from exiting the torrent application first.

Section 4 of 4:

Popular Torrent Sites

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1337x. Unlike other torrent sites, this one has a dedicated group of uploaders and bots who refresh content daily on the site. 1337x has a wide variety of things to download, including movies, TV shows, and music.
- There are, however, some fake and untrustworthy links that you need to be careful not to click.
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RARBG. This site has a very active community that specializes in gathering high-quality videos.
- There are plenty of ads on this site, so be prepared!
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The Pirate Bay. This is probably the most established torrent with the largest database, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best resource. However, the site has tons of seeders and uploaders, so you'll most likely be able to get whatever you're looking for.
- TPB is banned in several countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Turkey, the UAE, and the UK.
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Limetorrents. Limetorrents has a massive library of content across a variety of media types. It even claims to be bigger than The Pirate Bay. You can browse torrents by date added, size, number of seeders, number of leeches, and the health of a torrent.
- LimeTorrent has a variety of mirror pages for different countries and for specific types of content.
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Torlock. If you're concerned about safety, Torlock is notable in it's one of the few torrent sites that only hosts verified torrents. It has a financial reward system for users that report fake and malicious torrents. It features a variety of content across a variety of media types.
- Just because Torlock actively removes fake and malicious torrents, doesn't mean you won't download any. It just means the risk has been reduced. You still need to take precautions. There is also a lot of intrusive ads on the website.
ISO specializes in disk images (i.e. ISO files). You can find a variety of games and software here, as well as movies, music, books, and other types of media types.
If you are looking for a private torrent site to join, IPTorrents is one such site. To join, you must be invited by another member, or you can donate to the site if they have membership slots available.
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YTS. This torrent site is great for high-quality downloads, but it has been involved in some lawsuits and ended up giving up user information to authorities in the past. Make sure you use a VPN if you download from this site.
- YTS specializes in movie downloads, so you won't find any music, games, or other software.
EZTV is a website that specializes in TV shows, so you won't find much in the way of music, software, or games. However, it features a massive list of current and old TV shows. You can download individual episodes or entire seasons.
AniDex is a website that specializes in anime and manga. You can find a vast variety of anime, live-action videos, manga, comics, pictures, and more.
CroTorrents is a torrent site that specializes in PC games. You can find a vast variety of PC games on this website. If you can't find the game you are looking for, you can put in a request for it.
If you would rather avoid downloading illegal content, PublicDomainTorrents host a variety of content that is freely available via the public domain. You can find a variety of classic movies here.

Community Q&A

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Question

Occasionally, I download something that will play on my computer, but not on the TV from the memory device. Can I convert the said item, or do I need to download specific file types?

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The file may be in a format incompatible with your TV, or requires CODECs (COmpression/DECompression interface to play encoded video or sound) that are loaded on your computer, but not built into the TV. You could convert the file to MP4 or AVI format using free tools such as VLC Player.

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How can I download FIFA 2017?

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Community Answer

Go to a torrent tracking website, search for the torrent file, then download it. After downloading, use your torrent file manager (uTorrent is good for professional downloading for free), and then extract your FIFA 2017 video files into any folder you'd like.

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Do I need to have the client running in the background in order to use the files?

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No. If you have downloaded them, you can just open the files from the folder they were saved to. There is no need to have the client running in the background.

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Tips

Stick to downloading torrents that have a large user base. This means downloading only those torrents that many people have downloaded and uploaded, or that have been active for a long time. The logic here is that nobody will seed a torrent that has a virus in it and therefore the torrent won't be very popular. Be wary of the week-old torrent with one or two people seeding it.

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There are Torrent search engines that search the popular torrent tracking sites. This saves you time by not having to search each individual site.

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Most torrent programs will resume the download process automatically when you start them back up. If the download doesn't resume automatically, there should be an option to start downloading by either right-clicking on the file and choosing Start, or a button somewhere in the program.

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Warnings

Keep your virus protection program up to date. Software downloaded from unknown sources on the Internet can be home to some pretty nasty viruses. There are free anti-virus applications, as well as top-of-the-line apps such as Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG, and Avast. If you do happen to get a virus, remove it (see Remove a Virus).

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As with any bandwidth-intensive application, make sure you know how much data you've transferred if your ISP implements a quota system (e.g., 90 GB/month). Remember that finished torrents are seeded (uploaded to others) when the torrent job is running and you might exceed your ISP quota unintentionally.

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In most countries, using torrents to download copyrighted material is against the law.

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In certain jurisdictions it is illegal to download content through peer-to-peer networks such as BitTorrent.

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Torrenting is a bandwidth-intensive act that is frowned upon by some ISPs, leading them to throttle any torrent traffic, slowing down your downloads, or even stopping them altogether. Traffic encryption can solve this, but it may or may not work in your specific circumstances.

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