uTorrent Proxy Setup Guide

So you're finally ready to anonymize your uTorrent downloads with a proxy? Welcome to the next level. It's more fun here.

In this uTorrent Proxy Guide we'll show you:

The benefits of using a proxy for uTorrent
The best non-logging (anonymous) proxy services for uTorrent
How to setup a proxy in uTorrent (step-by-step)
How to use uTorrent encryption without a VPN

Important Note:
This guide is for proxy setup only, not VPN. For maximum privacy you can use a VPN and proxy service together, for highly encrypted, anonymous torrents. A proxy alone will be sufficient for most users, but if you want to make your torrents as anonymous as possible checkout these VPN + Proxy setup guides:

Why use a Proxy for uTOrrent?

An anonymous torrent proxy makes it extremely difficult to trace your uTorrent downloads back to you. By routing all uploads/downloads and tracker/peer communications through a 3rd party proxy server, you can effectively hide your identity when using utorrent.

You see, every person sharing a torrent file can see the identity of every other person in the form of an IP address. Because your IP address is assigned to you by your Internet Provider, it can be directly traced back to you...

Peer IP addresses visible in uTorrent

By using a proxy, you can change the IP address that is shown to your peers, and hide your true IP address.
When you use a proxy with uTorrent, the only ip address visible to your peers will be the IP address of the proxy server you are using. Your true ip address (the one assigned by your Internet Provider) will not be visible.

We recommend using a torrent proxy service (not a free public proxy) because:

They keep no logs (no link between proxy ip address and your own)
They allow torrents
Faster speeds
You know who owns the proxy server (don't have to worry about hackers)
Socks5 proxy (not HTTP) so you don't have to worry about identity leaks. (Why are Socks proxies best for torrents?)

The Best Torrent Proxy Services

All of these providers are true Non-Logging proxy (and VPN) providers. They all allow torrent activities and will protect the identities of their users. In fact (because they keep no logs) they couldn't trace your torrent activity even if they wanted to.

Click here to get PIA for $3.33/month

Private Internet Access is an incredible value because they give you proxy + VPN service all included in a single package, all at a lower price than other providers offer for just 1 service.

They have VPN servers in 30 locations, and and a very fast proxy server in The Netherlands (perfect for torrents).

We put together a complete guide on how to use PIA with uTorrent (since they don't have their own). Don't skip the step on how to generate your PIA proxy login/password. It's very important.

Their pricing really is the best in the business. Unlimited bandwidth, no logs.
Click Here to get 1 year of VPN+Proxy Service for only $3.33/month

IPVanish (Top VPN/Proxy of 2016)

IPVanish is the fastest Torrent-friendly VPN we've tested. They also received our #1 overall ranking for 2016.

And now IPVanish includes zero-log SOCKS5 proxy service with every VPN subscription. This ultra-high bandwidth proxy server cluster is perfect for torrenting, and works flawlessly with uTorrent in our testing. IPVanish's proxy works with magnet links, DHT, and regular torrent files.

Read: Our full IPVanish review (and Socks5 proxy setup instructions)

Instant proxy setup for uTorrent

Torguard offers the most complete torrent proxy solution of any provider. Not only do you get access to over 15 proxy servers in 5 countries...

They also have their own automatic proxy installer that will instantly configure your favorite torrent software (uTorrent, Vuze, or Deluge) for Torguard's recommended proxy settings (no manual setup required).

Torguard keeps no logs. They're serious about privacy.

Torguard is a bit pricier than PIA, and VPN service is sold separately. Torrent proxy service starts as low as $4/month.

uTOrrent Proxy Setup

Now we'll show you step-by-step how to configure uTorrent to use a proxy server for all connections (maximum anonymity). These setup instructions will work for any Socks5 proxy provider, but you have to make sure you use the correct settings that are specific to that proxy provider:

Each proxy service will have it's own settings for:

Proxy Type (Socks5, HTTP, etc)
Proxy Address/Port#
Username/Password (assigned to you when you sign up)

Since we already have a guide on how to use Private Internet Access with uTorrent, we're going to do our uTorrent proxy setup with Torguard for this article.

Step #1 - uTorrent Listening Port

Open uTorrent
Go to Menu > Options > Preferences (Or hit Ctrl+P)
Go to the Connection settings (on the left side)

you should see a screen that looks something like this:

first, we want to make sure you have the correct Listening Port settings. This ensures that your router knows which computer to send your uTorrent traffic to.

If you have port forwarding for uTorrent configured on your router:

Uncheck NAT-PMP and UPnP port maping
Uncheck randomize port
Make sure the 'incoming port #' is the same port you forwarded in your routers settings

(If you don't know what port forwarding is, or haven't set it up...don't use these settings)

If you haven't set up port forwarding:

Use the settings shown in the image above (port # doesn't matter)
If you have trouble connecting to peers, enable UPnP as well
If you still can't connect to peers, then you'll have to setup port forwarding.

Step #2 - Utorrent Proxy Server Settings

Locate the 'proxy server' section (still under the 'connection tab)
Select your proxy type (for Torguard and PIA this is Socks5)
Tick all 3 boxes (Authentication, Hostname lookups, Peer-to-Peer)
Enter the proxy server address (may be URL or IP address. Depends on proxy provider)
Enter Port # (depends on provider. For Torguard - use 1085 or 1090)
Enter Username/Password - (Assigned to you by your proxy service)

For Torguard, your settings will look like this:

It's critical that you have all 3 boxes ticked. Authentication allows you to enter your username/password (otherwise it will be grayed out). The other 2 boxes ensure that all uTorrent communication uses the proxy server, not your normal connection).

Step #3 - uTorrent Proxy Privacy Settings

The Proxy Privacy settings are the last section on the 'Connection' settings page.

Tick all boxes

it should look look like this...

This disables all the common leaks that can accidentally route torrent traffic outside your proxy tunnel.
Zero leaks = maximum security

Step #4 - Check your PRoxy Setup/Verify your IP

Once your proxy setup is complete, it's critical that you verify the proxy is working.

You need to make sure:

You can connect to peers and download torrents
Your torrent IP has changed to the proxy IP (not your own)

To complete step #2, use our How to check your torrent IP (for free) guide. It will show you step-by-step how to check what ip address is being shown to your torrent peers (and how to verify it's different from your normal IP address).

Step #5 - DHT Settings (Optional)

DHT (Distributed Hash Table) technology allows you to find additional peers by asking your current peers if they know of any additional peers you aren't already connected to. DHT means you don't have to rely on a tracker to find peers, and you will have more available peers by using DHT, instead of just a tracker.

The downside of DHT is it's another potential way your identity can leak. uTorrent should route all DHT requests through the proxy tunnel, but if your priority is maxim safety instead of maximum speed, you can disable it.

We will show you our recommended settings for DHT enabled, and Disabled:

To Access DHT Settings:
Still in the preferences menu (Menu > Options > Preferences) go to the Bittorrent tab (on the left)

To Enable DHT (Faster torrents, more peers)
Change your settings to look like this (don't worry about the encryption section)

Recommend DHT Settings (Ignore 'Protocol Encryption' settings)

To Disable DHT (More Secure)

Change your settings to match these:

DHT Disabled

Step #6 - uTorrent Encryption (Optional)

Using encryption for torrents has several benefits:

It stops your Internet Provider from seeing what you're downloading
It prevents torrent throttling (so your speeds should be faster)

There are a couple different ways to add encryption to uTorrent:

#1 - Use a VPN
The best way, is to use a VPN with uTorrent. This gives incredibly strong encryption without reducing your number of available peers.

#2 - Use Utorrent's Built-In Encryption ability
If you don't want pay for VPN service, you can use uTorrent's built-in encryption capability. The downside of this method, is if you want to force encryption for all connections, you will only be able to connect to other peers that have encryption enabled as well. This could reduce your total number of available peers by 75% or more.

If you still want optional encryption, but you don't want to reduce your # of peers, you can 'Enable Encryption' without 'Forcing' it. This means you will use an encrypted connection when possible, but you still allow unencrypted connections to peers that don't have encryption enabled.

Here's how to enable encryption within uTorrent:
We'll show two different setup options:

Forced Encryption (More secure, reduced # of peers)
Enabled Encryption (Less secure, all peers available)

To access the Encryption settings, go to Menu > Options > Preferences > Bittorrent (tab) The encryption settings are at the bottom.

uTorrent 'Forced' Encryption settings

'Forced' Encryption

'Enabled' Encryption Settings

'Enabled' Encryption

Additional Resources

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If you want more information on anonymous torrents, or need some help picking the perfect VPN service for your torrents, here are some excellent articles you'll want to check out.