How to Create a Torrent and Share Your Own Files

Create a torrent in qBittorrent

This example uses the desktop version of qBittorrent and a folder of files you own, such as recordings of a workshop you organized. Decide exactly what belongs in the release before opening the creator.

Put the finished files in one stable location. Remove private notes, temporary exports, and anything you do not intend to distribute. Give the folder a clear name.
Open Tools → Torrent Creator. Use Select file for one file or Select folder for a collection. These controls are present in qBittorrent's desktop creator.
Choose the torrent format. For broad compatibility with older clients, V1 is a practical choice. Use hybrid or V2 when you have checked what your recipients support.
Set up peer discovery. For public sharing, use an appropriate tracker supplied by a service you are authorized to use, or confirm both sides can use DHT. Do not mark it private unless you are publishing through a private tracker that requires that setting.
Enable Start seeding immediately. Save the resulting .torrent somewhere you can find it. Wait for the creation process to finish.
Check the new transfer. Your client should recognize the original files as complete and be ready to upload them. Keep those files in place and leave the client running.
Send the torrent and test it. Ask a recipient on another connection to add it and confirm that data arrives. Share a magnet link instead if your client offers one and that suits the recipient.

qBittorrent's sharing guide documents its Torrent Creator and immediate-seeding option. Its embedded tracker is an additional hosting setup, not a requirement for every torrent you create.

What you have created, and what you have not

A .torrent file describes content and lets clients verify the data they receive. It is separate from the content itself. The original BitTorrent specification defines this metadata and the piece-based transfer process.

If your workshop folder contains several gigabytes of video, sending the small torrent document does not send those gigabytes. Your computer, or another complete source, still needs to supply them.

That distinction explains a common first attempt: you create a torrent, send the link, close your laptop, and your recipient waits at zero. The metadata exists, but the source has gone offline.

Treat creation and distribution as two separate jobs. The first defines a particular release. The second keeps that release available long enough for other people to obtain it. If you only need to send a small document to one person, a normal file transfer may be simpler.

Prepare a folder you will not need to edit

Before creating the torrent, open the folder and review it as a recipient would. Are the file names understandable? Is there a README explaining the contents? Have you included only the versions you mean to release?

For a workshop, a useful layout might be:

workshop-2026-10/
  README.txt
  session-01.mp4
  session-02.mp4
  slides.pdf

Check the README for permission to redistribute the materials and any attribution you want recipients to preserve. Do not include an address book, attendee list, or private planning document just because it happens to be in the same working directory.

Use a release folder rather than your live editing folder. Continue making changes elsewhere if you need to prepare a later version. That way, a routine video export or slide revision does not accidentally change the files you are still seeding.

File names are visible in torrent metadata. If a name contains information you would not publish, fix it before creation. Marking a torrent private is not a substitute for reviewing what you are sharing.

Which creator settings matter?

You do not have to tune every field to publish a useful first torrent. Focus on the source, compatibility, discovery, and seeding.

V1, V2, or hybrid

V1 is the original torrent format. V2 changes how file data is described and verified. A hybrid torrent carries information for both, allowing compatible clients to use the appropriate format. The details are specified in BEP 52.

Choose for the people who will download the files. If you control both ends, you can check compatibility directly. If you are sharing with an unknown mixture of clients, avoid assuming everyone has support for a newer format.

The format choice does not compress your files or convert your videos. Your recipients still receive the content you selected.

Piece size

The creator divides the transfer into pieces for checking and sharing. Unless you have a specific distribution requirement, keep its proposed piece size for your first release.

Changing this is not a general speed switch. You will learn more from testing an actual download than from repeatedly rebuilding a torrent with different piece sizes before anyone has tried it.

Tracker URLs

A tracker helps participants find one another. It does not store the workshop videos for you. Use a suitable announce address, not the home page of a normal website.

For public sharing, DHT provides another way to discover peers. It depends on participating clients and network access, so verify it works in the intended setup. Our tracker and discovery guide explains the distinction.

The private checkbox

The private flag restricts discovery to the designated tracker, as defined in BEP 27. It is appropriate when an authorized private tracker tells you to use it.

It does not password-protect the folder or encrypt its contents. For a first public release, accidentally enabling it can remove the discovery route you were relying on.

Keep the first complete copy available

After creation, check that the client is seeding the existing data. If it instead appears to be downloading your own files, stop and inspect the selected save path before creating another torrent.

The location needs to match the content layout. A folder containing the release and the release folder itself are different path choices. Inspect the expected file names, then use the client's recheck feature after correcting the location.

Do not remove or rename source files while sharing them. If you need to move the release, use the client's supported location-changing workflow and verify it still recognizes the complete data afterward.

Keep the computer awake, connected, and running the client while the first recipients download. Once others have complete copies and continue seeding, availability no longer depends only on your machine. Our seeding guide explains what happens after a download completes.

Test from a different connection

A torrent appearing in your own client is only the start of the test. Ask someone authorized to receive the files to add it from another network and report what happens.

Use a short test checklist:

Does the recipient see the expected file list?
Does the client connect to a peer?
Does the downloaded amount increase?
Does the transfer finish and verify?
Can the recipient open the finished files?

If you test only on the same local network, local discovery can hide a problem that distant recipients will encounter. An outside test exercises the route you actually need.

For a large release, start with a small sample of your own material. Work out the workflow and connectivity before asking someone to wait through a full transfer. Once that succeeds, create the final torrent from the final release folder.

Why a newly created torrent might not download

Your client is not seeding

Check whether the transfer is paused, queued, or missing its source data. A freshly created torrent does not guarantee that the application has an active upload ready for it.

Look at the reported completion and any file errors. Fix the source location first if the client cannot find the release.

The recipient cannot find you

Confirm that both sides have a working discovery method for this torrent. A trackerless public torrent needs functioning DHT discovery; a private torrent needs its designated tracker.

If a magnet never loads its file list, send the .torrent document as a diagnostic step. It already contains metadata, so it removes the peer-metadata exchange from the test. It still does not solve a lack of reachable content sources.

You find peers, but no useful connection forms

Review network restrictions and the client's connection information. When both sides cannot accept incoming connections, reachability may be the obstacle. Consult the client's networking documentation rather than disabling a firewall wholesale.

Compare against a known-good legal torrent to distinguish a general client problem from your new release. The slow or stuck download guide covers that investigation.

The files changed after creation

Restore the exact release files if you still have them. If the content has intentionally changed, create a new release and a new torrent. Tell recipients which version to use rather than silently replacing files under the old description.

Send instructions along with the torrent

A recipient who has never used BitTorrent may double-click the document and expect a video. Include a short note naming the release, describing its contents, and explaining that they need a torrent client to retrieve it.

Link them to how to open a torrent file if needed. State how long you expect to keep the original source online, and invite them to report a failed download before that window closes.

Good sharing instructions make the release easier to use. They also give you a clearer problem report than “the link does nothing.”

Sources

Checked on 21 October 2026.