Change Program For Magnet Links Chrome

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Most of you must have come across magnet links at least once in your life. They are most commonly used for downloading torrents from the web which is a popular way to share files. They are also known as magnet URLs.

  1. Change Program For Magnet Links Chrome Browser
  2. Change Program For Magnet Links Chrome Download

Just upgraded to Windows 10 and every time I try to set my Protocol Handler in Chrome, (for Bitcoin, Gmail, Etc) Windows gives me a dialog box that states 'To change your default apps, go to Settings System Default Apps' but there is no way in that area of settings that I can change this behavior. Some time ago Chrome removed the checkbox to 'always open' a magnet or torrent link with an external app like qBittorrent. This was done for security reasons and it may return at some point in the future, once developers have found a way to make it more clear to users what the risks are of allowing certain links to parse whatever data the creator of the link wants to an app (that may be poorly.

The reason they are so popular is because you can copy and paste these links in plain text almost anywhere, like mails, text messages, and web. This makes it easier to share files in P2P environment. Also, there is no need to store bittorrent files on the server.

Why Magnet Links

Magnet links are more secure and remove the need to hash individual files in order to protect them against cyber threats. The .torrent file contains tracker URL, names of files to be downloaded, and hash code.

Magnet link will essentially remove the middleman and connect you directly with the source using the hash code. Your torrent client will use this hash code to find peers who are uploading the required files. There is no need to download the torrent file or even the tracker. This saves bandwidth of the hosting site as well as the users. A win-win situation.

Once you click on a magnetic link, Chrome should be able to parse the hash data and open it in your default torrent client. The problem arises when Chrome refuses to identify the magnet link and returns an error. Now you can’t download files shared by friends and peers.

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Content Settings

Since you are dealing with content here, let’s see if the content settings of your Chrome browser are set correctly. Click on the Menu icon in any Chrome tab and select Settings.

Scroll to the very bottom of the page to find the Advanced button. Click on it to reveal more options.

The first heading should be Privacy and security. Underneath it, you will find Content Settings.

You are looking for Handlers option where you will ‘allow sites to ask to become default handlers for protocols (recommended)’.

Click on it and make sure that the option is toggled on. If it is, you will see it in blue and if it is not then it will be greyed out.

This setting essentially tells Google to make a call and handle the necessary protocols, magnet links in our case, and associate it with the correct program automatically, BitTorrent in my case. You might be using another torrent client like Vuze which is cool.

If the setting was off, you need to toggle it on and visit a torrent hosting site which offers the magnet link option. Click on one of the magnet links to see if Chrome opens it with BitTorrent automatically. It may take a few seconds so don’t panic just yet.

If Chrome is not working as intended or the setting was toggled on by default but Chrome is still not playing nicely with magnet links, you will have to dig deeper into Windows' registry settings.

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Edit Registry

Sometimes, you may get an error saying ‘this file does not have an app associated with it’. Why is it happening if you have a torrent client already installed?

This is happening because Chrome or Windows is unable to detect the right application for the job. It fails to associate the magnet link with the torrent client. Duh.

Click Win+R to open the run command prompt. Here you can enter a number of commands to help you manage your PC. We will enter 'regedit' in the box.

This will open the Registry Editor in a new window. Now you must navigate to the following file location.

ComputerHKEY_CLASSES_ROOTMagnetshellopencommand

Check the screenshot below to better understand the folder structure. You may have to scroll a lot here.

In the right pane, you will see the Data column which will show the complete directory path of the BiTtorrent client. Your job here is to make sure that the BitTorrent client resides in the same directory that you see here. In my case, it must be here:

C:UsersaAppDataRoamingBitTorrentBitTorrent.exe

Notice the .exe at the end? That means it is linking to an executable file which should launch when need be. Ignore the random string of text after that. Now open C drive in a new window and begin the drilling process. Press Win+E to open My Computer directly.


In case your torrent client is located in a different folder, you will have to edit the registry entry under Name column. Select Default under Name and select Modify to be able to change the directory hierarchy that should link to your torrent client’s executable file (.exe format).

Note that the random key string at the end should remain untouched. It is there for a reason. You just have to change the folder structure and save.

Go back to the torrent site of your preference in Chrome and try opening a magnet link again. It should work now.

Chrome

Law of Attraction

While most torrent sites offer both the options, downloadable torrent file and a magnet link, Piratebay recently announced that they will discontinue hosting torrent files altogether. This, in my opinion, signifies a change that will gradually be adopted by the rest of the internet and for good reason.

This is why it is even more important to fix the magnet link error in Chrome. Make sure everything is working as it should be.

Next up: Are you using uTorrent on your desktop? Want to control it using your Android smartphone remotely? Click on the link below to learn how you can control uTorrent from anywhere in the world.


The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.

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Magnet Links are the best way to download any torrent files from the internet using an application like ‘uTorrent’. But, if you are using the Google Chrome web browser, then sometimes the magnet links become unresponsive and do not work at all.

About Magnet Link

A magnet link is kind of a hyperlink that lets users download any file or data from the P2P sharing networks mainly the torrent networks. This hyperlink functions in the serverless ecosystem and has all the information within it that the torrent client needs, in order to download a distinct file. The reason for magnet links’ popularity is due to the fact that a user can copy these links and paste them anywhere like emails, text messages and etc.

Why the Magnet Links are used over ‘.torrent’ Files

The traditional ‘.torrent’ files that the users download consist of trackers, names of files to be downloaded’, hash code, URL and takes up some amount of storage space. Sometimes, along with the downloaded ‘.torrent’ file, you can get a malicious code. However, the magnet links are safer, protective and remove the requirement to hash single files to secure them from any cyber threats.

The magnet link connects the users directly with the source of the file via a hash code. This hash code will be used by the torrent client to locate the peers who upload the requisite files. That is why there is no need to download ‘.torrent’ file and then execute it to download a file.

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How the Magnet Link not working issue occurs on Chrome?

When you click a magnet link of a file that you need to download on Google Chrome, next, the browser will analyze the hash code and launch it on the torrent client installed within the computer. Now, this problem arises when Google Chrome is unable to identify the magnet link and as a result returns an error.

How to Fix the Magnet link not working problem on Google Chrome Browser?

Here, get two specific methods to rectify the magnet link is not working issue on the Google Chrome web browser.

Change a key in the Registry

Sometimes, the given issue can be triggered due to another problem which shows the following message – “this file does not have an app associated with it”. This error message can come up due to the fact that either ‘Google Chrome’ or the ‘Windows’ OS is unable to identify the correct application i.e ‘UTorrent’ for the job. Thus the magnet link cannot be associated with the installed torrent client. Get steps here, on how to alter the registry.

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  • First, tap on the combination of ‘Windows + R’ key simultaneously, to open the ‘Run’ dialog box.
  • Inside that dialog box, type in the text “regedit” on the empty space beside the label ‘Open:’ and then press the ‘OK’ button.
  • As soon as you click on that button, then a new window with the name ‘Registry Editor’ will come up.
  • Inside that window, go to the left side and then follow the path to navigate to a ‘command’ folder location – “ComputerHKEY_CLASSES_ROOTMagnetshellopencommand”
  • Next, go to the right pane and then see the location path of the ‘UTorrent’ client within the ‘Data’ column.
  • Usually, the path where the torrent client is as follows – “C:Users(username)AppDataRoamingUTorrentUTorrent.exe”
  • Now, tap on the ‘Windows + E’ key together, to open the ‘ Windows Explorer’ folder. Then, go to the left pane and choose the ‘This PC’ section. Within this section check the location of the torrent client.
  • Now, if it is present in a different directory, then go to the ‘Registry Editor’ and change the location path of the torrent client, by right-clicking on the ‘Default’ key and then choose ‘Modify’ option.
  • At last, once the change of the path is successful, next try to download a file using a magnet link and check if this problem is there or not.

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Enable the site Settings on Google Chrome

If the site settings within the Google Chrome web browser are not active, then you can get the magnet link is not working error. The one and only answer to fix this issue is to activate the site settings of the Chrome browser. How can you do it is as follows.

  • First, on the desktop locate and double-click on the Google Chrome icon to open the same.
  • Next, go to the top right corner of the window and click on the ‘three vertical dots’. This action will open a drop-down menu with a list of options.
  • Out of all those options locate and select the one that says ‘Settings’. As soon as you do that, then a new page with the name ‘Settings’ will come up.
  • Inside that page, go to the bottom, and click on the ‘Advanced’ option. After that, move to the bottom a little more and choose the ‘Site Settings’ option, under the ‘Privacy and Security’ section.
  • Once a new page comes up with the name ‘Site Settings’, next, find and choose the ‘Handlers’ option.
  • Now, on the new ‘Handlers’ page, shift the switch to the right side of the ‘allow sites to ask to become default handlers for protocols (recommended)’ option.
  • At last, check if the magnet URL is working correctly or not.