Download torrents safely

Downloading torrents can be dangerous — you could expose yourself to viruses, malware, and hackers. A good VPN can help to protect you against all these threats.

I tested multiple VPNs and compiled a list of reliable services to protect you while torrenting. My top recommendation, ExpressVPN, offers a global network of P2P servers optimized for fast file-sharing plus you can try it out for free for 30 days.

Make sure the content you access is copyright-free, and use a VPN to keep your personal data and identity safe from third-party hackers, fellow peers, and advertisers on the site. Download torrents safely with ExpressVPN. Download torrents with ExpressVPN. When you participate in P2P file-sharing, your IP address is public, which means both your ISP and cybercriminals can trace your activities back to you. If you want to learn how to set up a VPN, jump down to the section below for a simple step-by-step guide.

Stay safe with ExpressVPN. Many popular torrenting sites host both legal and illegal content. Download legal torrents with ExpressVPN. To participate in P2P sharing online, you need to download a torrent client. A torrent client is an app or browser extension that accesses, downloads, and manages torrent files on your device. Try ExpressVPN today. A seed or seeder is a user with a torrent file fully downloaded and open in their client.

They are now sharing this file with other users. If a torrent file has many seeds, it means users download parts of the file from more than one person, speeding up the process. The bigger the number of users both seeders and leechers with the file in their torrent client, the more likely it is to be safe. Tip: Each torrent website and client has a different way of labeling trustworthy users.

Always check the number of seeds next to each file and only download files with the most seeders. Download ExpressVPN now. The comments are used to either praise safe files or warn others against downloading an infected program. You can find the comments by scrolling down on the file you want to seed.

To see if a torrent is safe to download, simply check if your chosen file has many positive comments. However, while torrents with many seeds are likely to have many comments, some less popular files may not. Be careful of scam comments and trolls. Hackers often leave overly negative or positive reviews to trick others into downloading their files.

Download ExpressVPN to stay safe online. Sandbox environment is an application that creates a separate, virtual space on your device, which you can use to check torrenting files for malicious software. This allows you to recognize and delete harmful programs without harming your device.

To avoid the risk of creating a backdoor to your device for hackers, always install and open files in a sandbox environment. Learn more Downloading torrents is one of the easiest ways to get any file you want. Unfortunately, the nature of torrent transfers means it's very easy to get viruses, or to get caught transferring illegal content. If you take some precautions, you can significantly decrease your risk of virus infection and mitigate the risk of getting caught.

Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers. Please log in with your username or email to continue. No account yet? Create an account. Edit this Article. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article parts. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Part 1. Ensure that you have an antivirus installed.

A good antivirus will help protect against malicious torrents. Windows comes with Windows Defender, which is perfectly sufficient for catching most viruses. You can enable Windows Defender from the Control Panel as long as you don't have any other antivirus program installed. If you'd prefer, you can install a third-party antivirus instead, such as BitDefender or Kaspersky. Regardless of what you choose, you should only have one antivirus program installed at a time.

See How to Install an Antivirus for instructions on picking and installing an antivirus program. Look for torrents with lots of seeders. Lots of seeders generally means that the torrent is free from viruses. This is because others have checked and found no viruses, and then start sharing it. While this certainly is not a guarantee, it can help you whittle down the list.

A lot of seeders will also result in a faster transfer. Check the comments before downloading. This isn't a bullet-proof solution, but the comments section of the torrent can help you determine if it contains any viruses. If there are a lot of comments but nothing about a potential virus, then chances are better that it doesn't have one. If lots of comments talk about viruses, you probably want to avoid that torrent. Avoid file types that are prone to viruses.

A good antivirus can be used to scan downloaded files and check for malicious code. However, their role goes beyond that. The most popular anti-malware software actively scans your computer and warns you as soon as you download a problematic file. The good news is that you can begin using an antivirus without paying anything.

There are numerous interesting options out there, so you can do a research and pick the one you feel is the best.

To help you to get started, we recommend reading our article on the best free antivirus to use in Even before you start downloading a torrent file, you can discover plenty of useful information about its quality. Thanks to the helpful community of torrent users, you can discover whether a torrent is worth downloading before opening it in a torrent client.

Keep on reading to learn more. Torrents that have several times more seeders than leechers are usually quick to download. This is because a lot of people are sharing the fully downloaded file, which leaves a lot of space for leechers to jump in. However, it is also an indication that a torrent is safe.

In addition, it has around 5, seeders and 2, leechers. Those people have worked hard and should be rewarded so whenever possible pay to see a movie or to play a game and reward those creators. Yes, this is a good conversation to have.

But nonetheless, the most important is to remember to torrent safely, by using — as you said — a good torrent client and a VPN. They both work just fine. Torrenting without vpn is just not a good idea. And most have 2 or 3 year plans that are very inexpensive and a no-brainer.

Why not invest a few bucks monthly to stay safe online? I want to know how to hide torrenting from your isp because I just learned they know pretty much everything you do online and I hate that.

Also how do I hide my IP address when torrenting for free? Is that even possible? Thanks a lot. Torrenting without vpn and I mean a paid one is just not a smart move. Also make sure to pick a safe torrent downloader like BitTorrent or uTorrent.

The combo between a good vpn and a safe way to torrent will keep you protected and hide your ip from anyone, not just your isp. What are you using for torrenting? Which is the safest torrenting program? Is it good and should I use it? Or should I use something else? Ok guys. Will take your advice and from now on torrenting without vpn is out of the question.

BitTorrent is probably the safest torrenting program out there. But, no matter what program you end up using try to also use a VPN for torrenting so you can stay safe. Is streaming illegal? Why do people do it? Can you make that much money from the ads shown on such sites? Do they earn so much money to make it ok for them. Or look for the movie on torrents, and using a safe torrent downloader, download the movie with a vpn and watch it.

Torrenting without vpn is not good, always use one. What do you guys think about torrenting without vpn? Is it that dangerous? Is that really needed? I have mixed feelings about this because I have friends that have been torrenting for years and nothing bad has happened to them.

So, is it worth it to invest in a vpn and which is the best vpn for torrenting? Oh, and can I maybe use a free vpn for torrenting and if yes, which one would you recommend? You can use a free vpn for anything else but torrenting. But you should know that a free option will never be as good as a paid one. Is torrenting on android safe? I just want to download a few movies and lots of music. Thanks and see you later, guys. Just go with a cheaper option and there are plenty of them, and make sure you are safe while torrenting.

Thank you for the reply. Which is the best vpn for android from these two? Or is there another one that is better? Also, is there a safe torrent downloader that I should be using with this VPN? As I write this there are 6. But how do you download a torrent file to your computer anonymously and without leaving footprints that would lead right to you?

However, there are ways to download torrent files completely anonymous, without letting anyone know that you downloaded anything. Let me just share the best way I know how to safely download torrents without getting caught and setting off any red flags. How awesome would it be if you could just ask someone to download the torrent you like and then just get the file from them? Well, there is a service that does exactly that.