Windows 10: Can't change protocol association for magnet links to something else than Chrome

submitted by /u/Poilaucul
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:)

 

Can't change magnet protocol URI program

When going to default programs for protocols, it has google chrome set as the default program for these links. I want the default to be my torrent program, but the only option available is google chrome.

I've tried making an update here "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Magnet\shell\open\command" like some articles have suggested and put in my torrent client, but it does not fix the issue and chrome still stays the default protocol in settings.

 

Win10: magnet uri protocol missing

In "Choose default apps by Protocol", there is no "Magnet" protocol, and no action is taken when "magnet:" URI is entered or linked in the browser.

Description:

qBittorrent had been the default application for Magnet URIs however due to the Torch browser's poor install implementation, it asserts itself as the default for the magnet protocol even though told not to.

Due to the insane method that Windows10 uses to set defaults, qBittorrent isn't a valid "app" selection for changing from Torch to something else -- this is a serious, serious functionality flaw in Windows10, imho -- I had no choice but to uninstall the
Torch browser, under the assumption that once it was out of the way, Windows would a) default back to qBittorrent or b) default back to an unselected handling method and I could assign qBittorrent through the popup dialog as I had done previously.

However, this was not the case.

• In the configuration section "Choose default apps by Protocol", the Magnet protocol is missing.
• In a browser, using the "magnet:" protocol or clicking on a magnetic link produces
  no reaction. No choice dialog or other behavior.

I surmise that the browser is handing this information off to the OS but the OS has forgotten what to do about it, so nothing happens. It feels like a registry entry is a bit confused and need to be reset/restored/reconstructed.

Really need a way to repair this; handling magnet uris by hand is surprisingly frustrating in very, very short order.

 

Windows 10 Disabled Magnet Links!?

Have you tried either reinstalling the software or checking the file association settings?