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How to Fix uTorrent Stuck on Connecting to Peers

Instead of crying, try these tips

Written by: Ben Stockton

Posted on: March 22nd, 2020 in: Help Desk

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One of the most annoying issues to
plague uTorrent users is an issue with Daily Email Newsletter
connectivity. Sometimes, clients like
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uTorrent get stuck on “connecting to
peers” error, where the BitTorrent
client cannot connect to other
BitTorrent users. A uTorrent not
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connecting to peers error means a
user can’t begin downloading a
torrent. Featured Posts

There are a couple of reasons why 4 Situations When Live Location

this error can occur. Sometimes, the Sharing Could Save a Life

problem is down to the client or the internet connection, but it can also be caused by
problems with a torrent le itself. If uTorrent is stuck on “connecting to peers” for 12 Chromebook Tips And Tricks
you, here are a couple of ways you can x the problem.

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Check Your Firewall and Enable Port Mapping
A problem with uTorrent not connecting to peers can often be due to your system or How to Fix a Windows 10
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network rewall. For BitTorrent clients like uTorrent to work correctly, they require
open network ports to allow incoming and outgoing traf c. If the ports that uTorrent
uses are blocked, you can’t download your torrent le (or share it with others). How to Install Fonts on Android

A good way around this is to use port forwarding (or port mapping). You can set up
port forwarding to forward traf c to the BitTorrent ports to your PC (and vice versa),
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allowing uTorrent to make a stable connection. Resolution in Windows 10

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If your network router has automatic port forwarding options like UPnP (Universal
destination le system” Error
Plug and Play) and NAT PMP (Network Port Mapping Protocol) available, uTorrent
can take advantage of these to forward bypass rewall restrictions and connect your
PC to torrent seeders and downloaders automatically. How To Use Google Tag Manager
To Analyze Your Website Traf c
You can check this setting is active by opening the uTorrent client and pressing
Options > Preferences, then making sure the Enable UPnP port mapping and Enable
NAT-PMP port mapping options are enabled. You should also ensure that the Enable
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Windows Firewall exception checkbox is enabled to allow uTorrent connections
through your Windows rewall.

Run a uTorrent Settings Test

When a uTorrent gets stuck on connecting to peers, it could point to a problem with
your network con guration. To help you, the uTorrent client includes a setup guide
that will check your network and con gure uTorrent’s settings to the most optimal
con guration.

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To run the uTorrent setup guide, open the uTorrent client and click Options > Setup
guide. From here, make sure the Network and Bandwidth checkboxes are enabled
and select the server nearest to your location from the Bandwidth drop-down menu.
Press Run Tests to begin the tests.  

The uTorrent setup guide will run. Once it has completed, the results of your tests
will be listed under each section. Press Save and Close to save any recommended
changes to your con guration.

Hide Your uTorrent Tra c

BitTorrent has a reputation—and not a very good one. To most people, it means illegal
le sharing, which is why internet service providers will (where possible) block and
severely limit the capability of users downloading or uploading BitTorrent les.

To get around this problem, you can hide your BitTorrent traf c using uTorrent’s
BitTorrent protocol encryption. Technically, uTorrent doesn’t encrypt the traf c, but it
will help to bypass the kind of traf c shaping that ISPs use to automatically disrupt
BitTorrent le sharing—the kind of problem that stops uTorrent connecting to peers.

To enable BitTorrent protocol encryption in uTorrent, press Options > Preferences in

the uTorrent client. From here, click the BitTorrent tab, then make sure to choose
Enabled from the Protocol Encryption drop-down menu. Press OK to save.

If you’re still having problems, change the protocol encryption from Enabled to
Forced to ensure that protocol encryption is always used.

Using a VPN? Switch To a BitTorrent Friendly

Server
Many users will prefer to use a virtual private network (VPN) to bypass ISP
restrictions or to maintain their anonymity while downloading or sharing BitTorrent
les. Unfortunately, not all VPNs are equal—some will actively block BitTorrent
connections on all or certain servers, depending on the VPN provider.

If you’re using a VPN to download or share BitTorrent les, you may need to check
whether the server you’re connecting to (and indeed, the VPN provider itself) allows
BitTorrent connections. If they don’t, they may use the same kind of tools that ISP
uses to block BitTorrent traf c and stop uTorrent connecting to peers.

Check with your VPN provider and, if it does offer BitTorrent-friendly servers, make
sure to connect to these when using uTorrent to download or share your les.
NordVPN, a popular VPN provider, labels these servers as P2P servers, for instance.

If the connection is still problematic, make sure to run the uTorrent setup guide again
to alter your connecting settings (Options > Setup guide).

Is Your Torrent File Dead? Torrenting Files with

No Seeds Available
While uTorrent is certainly a capable BitTorrent client, it can’t resurrect the dead—
dead Torrent les, that is. If a BitTorrent le is no longer being shared and has no
seeders to match with, then you can’t download it.

That means that uTorrent is stuck on “connecting to peers” until other users begin to
seed the le you’ve chosen to download again. Your only option in this scenario is to
try and nd another, similar torrent le to the one you’re attempting to download.

Of course, no seeds doesn’t necessarily mean that your torrent le is dead—but it’s a
likely and possible cause.

Try Another BitTorrent Client

uTorrent is a memorable name in the BitTorrent business, but it’s certainly not the
client it used to be. If uTorrent is not connecting to peers, it might be worth looking at
alternative BitTorrent clients to see if the problem is with the software and not with
the le.

You can try options like qBittorrent for free on all major operating systems or, if you’d
prefer to use a mobile BitTorrent client, you could download torrents on a smartphone
using a client like Flud.

This isn’t a miracle x, of course. If uTorrent can’t make a connection, it points to a

problem with your internet connection or con guration, but if uTorrent itself is being
blocked, then trying an alternative client could resolve the issue.

Resolving Your uTorrent Issues

If your uTorrent is stuck on the “connecting to peers” error, these xes should help
you resolve the problem and get your torrent client working. BitTorrent isn’t just
about downloading les, however. If you’ve got a large enough le to share, you could
think about making your own torrent le to distribute it to your audience.

Don’t forget to keep your PC safe when you’re using uTorrent, especially if you’re
downloading torrent les from sources you don’t fully trust. To lower the risks, you
should consider scanning for malware on your Windows PC on a regular basis.

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Ben Stockton is a freelance technology writer based in the United Kingdom. In a

past life, Ben was a college lecturer in the UK, training teens and adults. Since
leaving the classroom, Ben has taken his teaching experience and applied it to
writing tech how-to guides and tutorials, specialising in Linux, Windows, and
Android. He has a degree in History and a postgraduate quali cation in Computing.
Read Ben's Full Bio

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