Magnet Links No Longer Open in Brave

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Brave does not open a default Torrent app in Windows 11 when clicking on a magnet link.

When clicking on a magnet link in Brave browser on Windows, it used to offer to open the link in the torrent app set as the default in Windows settings.

Brave Version: 1.75.180 Chromium: 133.0.6943.126 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Instructions on how to fix the issue:

Step 1: Manually Register Magnet Links in Windows

  1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator:

    • Press Windows key + R, type cmd, then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch as administrator.

  2. Run this command to create the missing registry entry:
    reg add HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Magnet\shell\open\command /ve /t REG_SZ /d "\"C:\Program Files\qBittorrent\qbittorrent.exe\" \"%1\"" /f

    • If qBittorrent is installed elsewhere, update the file path accordingly.

  3. Verify the registry entry was added successfully:
    reg query HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Magnet\shell\open\command

    • It should return:
      (Default) REG_SZ "C:\Program Files\qBittorrent\qbittorrent.exe" "%1"

  4. Restart your computer.

Step 2: Manually Edit Brave’s Preferences File

Locate the Preferences File:

  1. Close Brave completely (Ctrl + Shift + Esc, end all Brave processes in Task Manager).
  2. Open File Explorer and navigate to:
    C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\
    • Replace YourUsername with your actual Windows username.
  3. Find the file named Preferences (no file extension).
  4. Make a backup copy of this file before editing it.

Modify the Preferences File:

  1. Open Preferences in Notepad++ (or any text editor).
  2. Search for "protocol_handler" (Ctrl + F).
  3. Locate the "excluded_schemes" section inside "protocol_handler".
    • If "excluded_schemes" does not exist, you must add it after the words "protocol_handler" like so…
    • "protocol_handler":{"excluded_schemes":{"magnet":false}}
  4. Save the file (do not change its format).
  5. Restart Brave.

Step 3: Test a Magnet Link

  1. Open a webpage with a magnet link.
  2. Click the magnet link—Brave should now prompt you to open qBittorrent.
  3. Check the box “Always allow”, then click Open qBittorrent.

Step 3: Testing

  1. Test a magnet link from any website.
  2. Brave should prompt you to open qBittorrent.
  3. Check the box that says “Always allow”, then click Open qBittorrent.

Backup Step: Save the Preferences File

Since this was a tricky fix and Brave may reset these settings in the future:

  • Make a backup copy of the Preferences file in a separate folder.
  • If Brave updates and stops opening magnet links, restore the Preferences backup to the file location mentioned above.

That’s It! Your magnet links should now automatically open in your default torrent app!