qBittorrent Windows installer requires administrator privileges #6533

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opened 2026-02-21 18:28:19 -05:00 by deekerman · 2 comments

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 18:28:19 -05:00

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Originally created by @visuve on GitHub (Dec 8, 2017).

Please add a possibility to run the installer without administrator privileges.

To make this possible:

The file associations should be written to HKCU hive
Instead of %PROGRAMFILES%\qBittorrent the default installation directory should be %APPDATA%\qBittorrent
Adding the firewall rule to allow qBittorrent would be left to the administrator to be added later

You can read more here, even though the installer technology is NSIS:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd765197(v=vs.85).aspx

Related ticket: #1376

Originally created by @visuve on GitHub (Dec 8, 2017). Please add a possibility to run the installer without administrator privileges. ![installer](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1839996/33730253-0f340c90-db88-11e7-8fff-874368c07580.png) To make this possible: 1. The file associations should be written to HKCU hive 2. Instead of ``%PROGRAMFILES%\qBittorrent`` the default installation directory should be ``%APPDATA%\qBittorrent`` 3. Adding the firewall rule to allow qBittorrent would be left to the administrator to be added later You can read more here, even though the installer technology is NSIS: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd765197(v=vs.85).aspx Related ticket: #1376

deekerman

2026-02-21 18:28:19 -05:00

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deekerman commented

2026-02-21 18:28:22 -05:00

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@Symbai commented on GitHub (Dec 11, 2017):

No, the default installation directory should be %Programfiles% as this is what Microsoft wants. The %Appdata% is for application data like user settings. And even there Microsofts wants developers to know the difference between Appdata\Local and Appdata\Roaming (which most developers dont know and dont care about).

However it is possible to create a setup requesting administrator privileges on runtime if its necesssary this solves your problem and does not violate microsoft recommendations. But why don't you just use the portable version and place it wherever you like?

@Symbai commented on GitHub (Dec 11, 2017): No, the default installation directory should be %Programfiles% as this is what Microsoft wants. The %Appdata% is for application data like user settings. And even there Microsofts wants developers to know the difference between Appdata\Local and Appdata\Roaming (which most developers dont know and dont care about). However it is possible to create a setup requesting administrator privileges on runtime if its necesssary this solves your problem and does not violate microsoft recommendations. But why don't you just use the portable version and place it wherever you like?

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 18:28:23 -05:00

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@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2020):

Use portable mode. Copy the files from an existing installation an run from somewhere you have privileges with qbittorrent.exe --portable

@FranciscoPombal commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2020): Use portable mode. Copy the files from an existing installation an run from somewhere you have privileges with `qbittorrent.exe --portable`