Where apps hide your files

Transmission's download folder and torrent records

Updated 2026-10-28 · 6 min read

Transmission saves finished files to your Downloads folder, but the records that let it resume and seed live in your hidden Library. Here is where each is, how to change the folder, and how to move it all.

The location

Downloaded files go to your Downloads folder unless you change it:

~/Downloads

Transmission's own data, the copies of your torrents and the progress records, is kept apart from the downloads:

~/Library/Application Support/Transmission

The app's settings are in a preferences file:

~/Library/Preferences/org.m0k.transmission.plist

Transmission's documentation gives all three. The Library folder is hidden in Finder, so choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and paste the path, or run:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Transmission

To open a downloaded file's folder from the app, select the transfer and choose Transfers > Show in Finder (⌘R).

Change where downloads go

In Transmission, press ⌘, to open its settings window (the app menu item reads Preferences in Transmission's interface files; newer macOS versions may show it as Settings), click Transfers in the toolbar and open the Adding tab. These labels come from the app's own interface files:

• Default location: a menu with Same as torrent file, a custom folder, or Other. This is where new transfers save.
• Keep incomplete files in: a separate folder for unfinished downloads, with the option Append .part to incomplete files.
• Watch for torrent files in: a folder Transmission monitors and adds torrents from automatically.
• Trash original torrent files: moves the .torrent file you opened to the Trash after Transmission has taken a copy.

When you add a torrent, a window can also let you choose the folder for that one transfer, which is controlled by Display a window when opening a torrent file. The default location is applied to transfers added afterwards, not to ones already in the list.

Move a torrent that is already downloading

Do not move the files in Finder: Transmission would report them missing. Select the transfer and choose File > Move Data File To… (it is also in the transfer's right-click menu). Transmission moves the data and carries on from the new place. If you already moved files by hand, the simplest fix is to move them back to where Transmission expects them, then choose Transfers > Verify Local Data to check.

What is in the Application Support folder

Item	What it holds
Torrents	A copy of each .torrent file you added
Resume	One .resume file per torrent, with its state, such as which pieces are done and where the data was saved
blocklists	Blocklists, with Transmission's converted .bin copies
Transfers.plist	The Mac app's own list of transfers

Transmission's documentation writes torrents and resume in lower case because that is what Linux builds use; the source code gives Mac and Windows builds the capitalised Torrents and Resume. Transmission 4 names the files in both after the torrent's info hash, a long hexadecimal string, and renames older files that used the torrent's name plus part of the hash. So you cannot spot a torrent's record by its title. List your own folder to check:

ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/Transmission

Where the settings are

On a Mac, Transmission stores its settings in the plist, not in the settings.json file that the documentation describes for its other clients. Do not edit the plist directly. The documentation recommends the defaults command with the domain org.m0k.transmission, and says to quit and reopen Transmission for a change to apply. To read one key without changing anything, defaults read org.m0k.transmission DownloadFolder prints the current download folder (it prints an error if you have not changed the default).

Back up, and the order that matters

A usable backup needs two halves: the data you downloaded, and the records that tell Transmission about it.

1. Quit Transmission.
2. Copy ~/Library/Application Support/Transmission and the plist to a safe place.
3. Copy the download folder as well, if you want to keep seeding.
4. On the new Mac, install Transmission, open it once, quit, then put the folder and plist back.
5. Place the downloads at the same path as before, then start Transmission and use Verify Local Data if a transfer shows as missing.

The Torrents and Resume records are what let Transmission recognise a transfer and carry on from where it was. Keep them with the downloaded data, and expect to run Verify Local Data on anything that looks incomplete after a move.

Removing torrents and freeing space

Removing a transfer from the list does not delete the downloaded data unless you tell it to. The Transfers menu has Remove From List, which keeps the files, and Remove and Trash Data File, whose confirmation asks whether to remove the transfer from the list and trash the data file, so read the prompt before you confirm. The Torrents and Resume records belong to torrents still in the list, and deleting them by hand will make those transfers vanish or stop resuming, so leave them to the app.

To see what is large, run du -sh ~/Downloads/* | sort -h, which only reads sizes.

Why a normal search misses these files

~/Library is hidden in Finder, and Spotlight and Finder searches leave it out of normal results. Incomplete files can be in a different folder from finished ones, and a .part suffix changes the name you remember.

Finding it again

If a download vanished from the folder you expected, type part of its name into Everywhere: the match includes any copy still ending in .part in the incomplete folder. Type .torrent to find the original torrent files you downloaded. Press ⌘↵ to reveal the match in Finder. Downloads is a protected folder, so Everywhere finds files there once it has Full Disk Access; the Application Support folder is covered without it. It matches names only, not what is inside a file.

Common questions

Where does Transmission save downloads on a Mac?

In ~/Downloads by default. Change it in the settings window (⌘,) under Transfers, Adding, using the Default location menu.

Where are Transmission's torrent and resume files?

In ~/Library/Application Support/Transmission, in the Torrents and Resume folders, named by each torrent's info hash in Transmission 4. The settings are in ~/Library/Preferences/org.m0k.transmission.plist.

How do I move a Transmission download to another folder?

Select the transfer and choose File > Move Data File To. Moving files in Finder makes Transmission report them as missing.

How do I move Transmission to a new Mac?

Quit it, copy the Application Support folder, the plist and your download folder, then restore them in the same places. Use Verify Local Data if a transfer shows as missing.