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Windows Quickstart

If your torrent client runs on Windows, install cross-seed natively with npm. Do not run cross-seed in Docker Desktop for Windows if you want to use linking, partial matching, or data-based matching. Docker runs in a Linux VM, so it will not see Windows paths the same way your torrent client does.

Install​

Install Node.js 20 or newer, then install cross-seed:

npm install -g cross-seed
cross-seed --version

Ignore npm deprecation warnings if cross-seed --version prints a version. For example, a warning about prebuild-install does not mean installation failed.

Generate your config​

cross-seed gen-config

The default config directory is:

C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\cross-seed

Edit the generated config.js. Restart cross-seed after every config change.

Windows paths in config.js​

Backslashes must be escaped in JavaScript strings. Use \\ instead of \:

module.exports = {
	torrentDir: "C:\\Users\\Me\\AppData\\Local\\qBittorrent\\BT_backup",
	dataDirs: ["D:\\Torrents\\Movies", "D:\\Torrents\\TV"],
	linkDirs: ["D:\\Torrents\\cross-seed"],
	torrentClients: ["qbittorrent:http://user:pass@localhost:8080"],
};

Do not mix Windows paths with Docker/Linux paths. If qBittorrent saves to D:\Torrents\Movies, cross-seed also needs to run on Windows and see D:\Torrents\Movies.

Hardlinks only work on filesystems that support them and only within the same filesystem volume.

  • NTFS supports hardlinks.
  • exFAT does not support hardlinks.
  • A hardlink from C: to D: will fail because those are different volumes.
  • A hardlink from one network share to another is usually not supported.

To verify hardlinks in PowerShell, compare the link count or file ID:

fsutil hardlink list "D:\Torrents\Movies\Movie.mkv"
fsutil file queryfileid "D:\Torrents\Movies\Movie.mkv"
fsutil file queryfileid "D:\Torrents\cross-seed\Tracker\Movie\Movie.mkv"

Hardlinked files share the same file ID on the same NTFS volume.

Common Windows mistakes​

  • Running qBittorrent on Windows but cross-seed in Docker Desktop.
  • Using C:\Path\To\File instead of C:\\Path\\To\\File in config.js.
  • Putting linkDirs on a different drive than the source data.
  • Using an exFAT drive for linked data.
  • Editing a config file in the wrong user profile or config directory.

For Docker, Torznab, webhook, and permission checks, see Common Setup Failures.