qBittorrent has a powerful built-in torrent search engine that locates files available on various sites. Although it's open source and ad-free, it lacks a very useful feature: download scheduling.
Can torrent downloads be scheduled on qBittorrent?
At the moment, the qBittorrent client for PC It doesn't include a native scheduler for downloading torrents. This means you can't set a schedule to automatically start or stop downloads.
However, there is an alternative feature called "Alternative Speed Limits" that works like a basic scheduler.
How to schedule torrent downloads on qBittorrent?
qBittorrent allows you to set two speed limits: a primary limit and an alternate limit. To simulate a schedule, set the primary limit to the minimum (1 Kbps) and the alternate limit to the maximum.
Follow these steps to apply this setting:
Open the client qBittorrent on your Windows PC.
In the menu, select Tools > Options.
Go to the tab Speed.
Set both global upload and download limits to 1 Kib/s to minimize off-hours speed.
Sets the alternative upload and download limits to the maximum or unlimited speed for scheduled download.
Check the option Schedule the use of alternative speed limits.
Define the day and time you want the alternative limits to be activated and click on Apply.
This setting allows downloads to use maximum speed during the scheduled time using alternative limits. When this period ends, qBittorrent reduces the speed to practically paused, with the global limits set at 1 KB/s.
Does qBittorrent use alternative limits instead of global ones?
If your schedule is active but qBittorrent is still downloading at full speed, click the speedometer icon in the bottom status bar to toggle between global and alternate limits.
This button provides a quick way to switch between preset speeds and is the only practical way to schedule downloads in qBittorrent. While it's not a full-featured scheduler, it fulfills the basic function.
For a more advanced scheduling experience, consider other clients like BitTorrent or uTorrent that have built-in download scheduling features.
