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Windows Guide

QtPass builds on Windows using MSVC, qmake and nmake.

MinGW is not supported with nmake.

Install QtPass

Using Chocolatey (recommended)

Run in Administrator PowerShell:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

choco install vcredist140 -y
choco install qtpass -y

Or download from releases

Download the latest .exe installer from GitHub Releases

Install GPG

QtPass requires GPG for encryption. Install Gpg4win.

Key generation can take a long time (especially RSA 4096-bit keys) - this is normal.

Building from Source

Use Qt 6 on Windows. Qt 5.15 cannot be compiled by a current MSVC: it defines QT_MAKE_CHECKED_ARRAY_ITERATOR as stdext::make_checked_array_iterator, which Microsoft has removed from its STL, so qlist.h fails with error C2653: 'stdext': is not a class or namespace name. CI only tests Qt 5.15 on Linux.

Quick start

From any cmd.exe — this loads the MSVC x64 environment, picks an MSVC Qt and builds:

git clone https://github.com/IJHack/QtPass.git
cd QtPass
scripts\build-windows.cmd

Pass a target to do something else, for example scripts\build-windows.cmd check or scripts\build-windows.cmd distclean. Set QT_DIR to choose a specific Qt:

set QT_DIR=C:\Qt\6.8.0\msvc2022_64

The script checks each prerequisite and explains what is wrong rather than letting the build fail deep inside Qt headers. The manual steps below do the same thing by hand.

Step 1: Install dependencies

Run in Administrator PowerShell:

choco install -y git python visualstudio2022buildtools visualstudio2022-workload-vctools

Step 2: Install Qt

Install an MSVC build of Qt (not MinGW).

Do not use mingw_64. It will not work with nmake.

Run in normal PowerShell:

py -m pip install --user -U aqtinstall
py -m aqt install-qt -O C:\Qt windows desktop 6.8.0 win64_msvc2022_64

Any install prefix works — -O C:\Qt is only an example. scripts\build-windows.cmd searches C:\Qt, R:\Qt, D:\Qt and %USERPROFILE%\Qt, or use QT_DIR to point it anywhere.

Step 3: Open a shell with MSVC environment

Open a Developer Command Prompt for VS 2022 or run:

"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\BuildTools\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat" -arch=amd64 -host_arch=amd64

Then set (adjust the Qt path to your install):

set PATH=C:\Qt\6.8.0\msvc2022_64\bin;C:\Program Files\Git\bin;%PATH%
set QMAKESPEC=
set QTDIR=

Verify the shell before building — these two checks catch the mistakes that otherwise surface as confusing compiler errors:

where qmake
qmake -query QT_VERSION
cl
  • qmake must resolve inside your Qt msvc*_64\bin, and report a 6.x version. If a Python distribution is installed, its Qt often comes first on PATH — Anaconda ships Qt 5.15 as E:\...\anaconda3\Library\bin\qmake.exe and will hijack the build. Prepending the Qt bin directory, as above, fixes it.
  • cl must print for x64. A 32-bit shell fails later at link time with LNK1112.

Step 4: Clone and build

git clone https://github.com/IJHack/QtPass.git
cd QtPass

If you previously built with another Qt version or toolchain:

del .qmake.stash

Then build:

qmake -spec win32-msvc
nmake
nmake check TESTARGS="--platform offscreen"

Running tests

Two Windows-specific gotchas:

  • nmake check stops at the first failing test binary, so later results are never reached. nmake /K does not help, because qmake's recursive rules invoke nmake without it.
  • QtTest output is lost when redirected or piped on Windows. Use -o to capture it; the exit code is reliable either way.

To run one test and read its output:

cd tests\auto\totp
release\tst_totp.exe -o results.txt,txt --platform offscreen
type results.txt

Add a test function name to narrow it further, e.g. release\tst_totp.exe generateRfc6238Vectors -o results.txt,txt.

Notes

  • qmake must come from msvc2022_64, not mingw_64
  • Qt 6 is required; Qt 5.15 does not compile with a current MSVC (see above)
  • nmake requires the MSVC environment (VsDevCmd.bat)
  • tests expect bash (provided by Git for Windows)
  • refreshing localization/*.ts is the explicit lupdate target (nmake lupdate); a plain qmake run leaves them alone

First Run

  1. Launch QtPass
  2. Click "Autodetect" to find GPG and Git
  3. Set your password store location (default: %APPDATA%\password-store)
  4. Or select an existing pass store folder

Configure GPG Key

  1. Go to Config → User to select your GPG key
  2. If using for the first time, generate a key with Config → Generate GPG key

Initialize Password Store (if new)

  1. Click File → Initialize
  2. Select your GPG key(s) for encryption
  3. Your .gpg-id file will be created

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
"GnuPG not found" Install Gpg4win, restart QtPass, or set path manually in Config
"Signature does not exist" Ensure your GPG key is in the .gpg-id file via Config → Users
Git not working Use Git Credential Manager for HTTPS authentication
App doesn't start Install vcredist140 (Visual C++ Redistributable)
QMAKE_MSC_VER isn't set delete .qmake.stash and rerun qmake
'stdext': is not a class or namespace name / make_checked_array_iterator' : identifier not found qmake is a Qt 5.15 build, often Anaconda's on PATH. Qt 5.15 cannot compile with a current MSVC - use Qt 6. Check with where qmake
LNK1112: module machine type 'x64' conflicts with target machine type 'x86' 32-bit MSVC shell. Use VsDevCmd.bat -arch=amd64 -host_arch=amd64, or scripts\build-windows.cmd
uic/rcc/lrelease run from an unexpected directory Another Qt is earlier on PATH. Prepend your Qt bin (Step 3) or use scripts\build-windows.cmd
nmake check reports no test output Expected on Windows - QtTest output is lost when redirected. Run the test binary with -o results.txt,txt
nmake fails with Unix commands (test, mkdir -p) Wrong Qt variant installed (MinGW instead of MSVC) - reinstall using MSVC Qt build
Should find Bash in PATH ensure C:\Program Files\Git\bin is on PATH
cl not found MSVC environment not loaded - run VsDevCmd.bat

Build fails with weird errors

Clean and reconfigure:

del .qmake.stash
nmake distclean
qmake