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How to migrate torrent files from one qBittorrent cilent to another?

I have had this problem where I reinstalled my OS and qBittorrent forgot all about my downloaded torrents. I was facing a brand-new, blank page in qBIttorrent. I could not seed the files I already had. Here's how I solved it.

For me, all files downloaded from torrent go inside a single directory, without any change in their name (except some that have naming conflicts, for those that have conflicting names I create a separate folder and put both of them in it, then I'll have to change their address manually and my automation doesn't work). So here's how I do migration for those that are not exceptions:

  • Redownload all the .torrent files I have the files for.
  • Put all of them in a single directory. Now this directory contains all the .torrent files my qBittorrent client needs.
  • Press (Alt + O) inside qBittorrent (or go to Tools -> Preferences inside it).
  • From the left pane choose Downloads.
  • Under "Saving Management" change the "Default Save Path" to the folder that contains all your downloaded files in a single directory. This is where the actual downloaded files are, not where the .torrent files are. These are two separate directories.
  • Now go a little below, look for "Automatically add torrents from:"
  • Press "Add" and add your folder that has all your .torrent files in it, press "OK", now all your torrents are automatically added to qBittorrent without any hassle, directing it to look at Default Save Path for the files.

If all goes well, your qBittorrent will realize that files are already downloaded, if it doesn't, then you've probably made a mistake, or have changed the name of the folders/files.

For my method to work, or for any torrent client to realize you're pointing to an already downloaded file, it's really important not to change the file/folder names at all. The name in the torrent file and the folders/files on your PC should match. If you have changed the names or have made an arbitrary folder structure, you need to ask AI to write you a python script to reverse your directory structure (for example move everything from A B C D … Z folders back to a single directory) or if you've really changed everything, to extract the folder/file names from torrent files and automatically revert them back to normal.