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Adding torrents
This page shows every way to give Rookparcel a torrent: a .torrent file, a magnet link, a web address, drag and drop, your browser and file manager, and a watched folder. It also explains the Add New Torrent window, where you pick the folder and the files before the download starts.
| What you have | What to do |
|---|---|
A .torrent file on your computer |
File > Add Torrent... (Ctrl+O), or the first toolbar button. You can pick several files at once. |
| A magnet link | File > Add Torrent from URL... (Ctrl+U) and paste it. |
A web address of a .torrent file (http:// or https://) |
File > Add Torrent from URL... and paste it. Rookparcel downloads the file and adds it. |
A .torrent file in Explorer |
Drag it onto the Rookparcel window, or double-click it if Rookparcel opens .torrent files. |
| A magnet link in your browser | Click it, if Rookparcel opens magnet links. |
Many .torrent files that arrive over time |
Let Rookparcel watch a folder. See A watched folder. |
| A search result | See Searching for torrents. |
The tray icon's right-click menu also has Add Torrent... and Add Torrent from URL....
- Copy the magnet link or the address of the
.torrentfile. - Choose File > Add Torrent from URL.... When the clipboard holds a link that starts with
magnet:,http://orhttps://, the box is already filled in. - Click OK.
An address is downloaded in the background, through your proxy when Preferences > Connection sends tracker connections through one. Some sites answer the address with a magnet link instead of a file; Rookparcel follows that too. If the download fails, a message says "Could not download" with the address and the reason.
Drop one or more .torrent files from Explorer onto the main window. Each one is added as if you had picked it with Add Torrent....
Rookparcel can be the program Windows uses for .torrent files and magnet: links. Turn this on in Options > Preferences > General with Associate with .torrent files and Associate with magnet: links, or in the Setup Guide. See Tray, notifications and startup for the details, including what to do when Windows keeps another program.
When Rookparcel is already running and you open a torrent from your browser or Explorer, the running Rookparcel takes it. With Activate the program window on (Preferences > UI Settings, on by default), the main window comes to the front as well; with it off, only the Add New Torrent window appears.
You can also start Rookparcel with torrents on the command line: rookparcel.exe file.torrent "magnet:?xt=...". Each .torrent path, magnet: link and http(s):// address is added. If Rookparcel is already running, they go to the running window.
If the running Rookparcel was started with administrator rights, Windows does not let a second copy hand it a torrent. Rookparcel then tells you so; add the torrent from the running window, or start Rookparcel without administrator rights.
With Show a window that displays the files inside the torrent on (Preferences > UI Settings, on by default), this window opens for every torrent you add. Turned off, torrents are added at once with the default folder and all files.
For a magnet link, the window opens once the torrent's file list has arrived from other peers. Until then the torrent waits in the list as "Downloading metadata". It writes nothing to disk while it waits. If you quit Rookparcel before the list arrives, the window comes back at the next start.
The folder the torrent's files go into. The list holds the default download folder (from Preferences > Directories > Put new downloads in:) and the last ten folders you used. Type a path or click ... to pick one. A folder that does not exist yet is created. The free space on that drive is shown after the size below.
Name: the name of the torrent's folder, or of its only file. Changing it renames the folder or file on disk.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Skip hash check | Treats the files already in the folder as complete, without checking them. Use it only when you know the data is complete and correct, for example after copying it from another computer. Greyed out for a magnet link: its files were already checked when the file list arrived. |
| Start torrent | On: the torrent goes into the queue and starts as the queue allows. Off: it is added stopped. It starts ticked unless Don't start the download automatically is on in Preferences > UI Settings. |
| Add to top of queue | Puts the torrent first in the queue, so it starts before the others. |
| Label: | Gives the torrent a label. Pick one in use or type a new one. See Managing torrents. |
The top lines show the torrent's Name:, Comment:, Size: and Date:. The size says how much of the torrent you have selected, for example "1.20 GB of 3.40 GB selected", followed by the free disk space.
The file list shows the torrent's folders and files as a tree, each with a check box, its size and its priority.
- Untick a file to skip it. A folder whose files are partly ticked shows "Mixed".
- Select All and Select None tick or untick everything.
- Click a folder's icon, or double-click it, to open or close it. Right and Left (or + and - on the number pad) do the same; Space ticks or unticks the selected rows.
- Right-click selected rows for High Priority, Normal Priority, Low Priority, Don't Download, Check and Uncheck. Choosing a priority ticks the files; Don't Download unticks them.
You can change the file choices and priorities later in the Files tab.
OK adds the torrent with your choices. Cancel adds nothing; for a magnet link it removes the waiting torrent. Ticking Don't show this again turns off Show a window that displays the files inside the torrent, so later torrents are added without this window. Turn it back on in Preferences > UI Settings.
Rookparcel remembers the window's size.
To add torrents without downloading anything until you say so, turn on Don't start the download automatically in Options > Preferences > UI Settings. New torrents are added stopped and outside the queue. Start them with Start when you are ready. In the Add New Torrent window this shows as Start torrent being unticked.
If you add a torrent that is already in the list, Rookparcel says "... is already in the torrent list." and adds nothing.
Rookparcel can watch a folder and add every new .torrent file put there:
- Open Options > Preferences > Directories.
- Tick Automatically load .torrents from: and choose the folder.
- Optionally tick Delete loaded .torrents.
- Click OK.
Rookparcel adds a new file a few seconds after it stops changing, without the Add New Torrent window. A loaded file is renamed to .torrent.loaded, or deleted when Delete loaded .torrents is on. Problems are written to the Logger tab.
The same page can keep a copy of every added .torrent file (Store .torrents in:). See Disk and storage and the Preferences reference.
- The same menu items, shortcuts and Add New Torrent window.
-
Add Torrent from URL fills in a link from the clipboard the same way. Text that is not a
magnet:link or anhttp(s)://address gives "Not a link Rookparcel can add". - The GTK window does not accept dropped files. Use File > Add Torrent..., or open the file with Rookparcel from your file manager.
- On Linux and BSD, the file associations are under Desktop Integration on Preferences > General. In a Flatpak, choose the default program in your desktop's settings instead. See Tray, notifications and startup.
-
Add Torrent uploads one or more
.torrentfiles from the computer the browser runs on; Add URL asks for a magnet link or an address. A bare info-hash is taken as a magnet link too. - You can drop
.torrentfiles or a magnet link onto the page, or paste a magnet link anywhere outside a text box. - The same Add New Torrent window opens in the page. Save In is a folder on the server, typed as a path.
- On a phone, Add URL is in the More menu (⋯).
See Web UI. In a window connected with File > Connect to Remote..., the ... button in Add New Torrent is greyed out: type a folder on the server. See Remote control.