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Building Passwords from source code

Windows Guide

Building Passwords from source code can feel intimidating, especially if you're new to open‑source projects or haven’t worked with Qt before. But don’t worry. This page isn’t a deep technical deep dive; it’s a recipe. Follow it step‑by‑step and you’ll have the application built and running without any trouble.

Step 1 - Download the source code

Start by cloning the repository using the Git CMD application.

If you don’t already have Git installed, download it from: https://gitforwindows.org

Once Git is installed, open Git CMD from the Start menu. This launches a command prompt with all the Git tools ready to use.

Run the following commands in the Git CMD window:

cd %temp%
git clone https://github.com/sysal1280/passwords.git

If everything is working correctly, you’ll see output similar to this:

Cloning into 'passwords'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 2316, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (31/31), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (20/20), done.
remote: Total 2316 (delta 16), reused 18 (delta 11), pack-reused 2285 (from 2)
Receiving objects: 100% (2316/2316), 2.49 MiB | 4.89 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (1609/1609), done.

At this point, the source code has been successfully downloaded.

Step 2 - Download Qt Binaries

Qt is open source and free to use. Download the installer from: https://www.qt.io/development/download-qt-installer-oss

Choose the Windows installer (.exe) that matches your system and run it. During setup, select the latest Qt 6 release (6.0 or newer) and include the Developer Tools, but deselect Qt Creator. Qt Creator isn’t required to build Passwords, and selecting Custom Installation makes it easy to uncheck it.

Qt currently requires a free account to use the installer. While this may change in the future, it’s a quick process and shouldn’t be a barrier, Qt is widely used and well‑supported. If you prefer, you can also register with a temporary email address.

Step 3 - Let's compile and build some software

After installing Qt, you’ll find a shortcut similar to:

Qt 6.x.x for Desktop (MinGW x64) Command Prompt in the Start menu. Launch that App and you'll be taken to a Qt command prompt. This one has the compiler in it for you to use.

Here's a list of commands to run

cd %temp%\passwords
"C:\Qt\Tools\CMake_64\bin\cmake.exe" -B build -G "MinGW Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
"C:\Qt\Tools\CMake_64\bin\cmake.exe" --build build

You'll see a lot of output from the commands, but the key pieces of information to look out for are when the program is being compiled you will see output similar to this:

C:\Users\test\AppData\Local\Temp\passwords>"C:\Qt\Tools\CMake_64\bin\cmake.exe" --build build
[  0%] Built target password_autogen_timestamp_deps
[  3%] Automatic MOC and UIC for target password
[  3%] Built target password_autogen
[  7%] Automatic RCC for resources/resources.qrc
[ 11%] Automatic RCC for resources/wordlists/wordlist.qrc
[ 14%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/password_autogen/mocs_compilation.cpp.obj
[ 18%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/aboutdialog.cpp.obj
[ 22%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/categorydialog.cpp.obj
[ 25%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/categoryproperties.cpp.obj
[ 29%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/dataobfuscator.cpp.obj
[ 33%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/debugutils.cpp.obj
[ 37%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/droplabel.cpp.obj
[ 40%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/gpgcheck.cpp.obj
[ 44%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/logindialog.cpp.obj
[ 48%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/main.cpp.obj
[ 51%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/mainwindow.cpp.obj
[ 55%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/newpassworddialog.cpp.obj
[ 59%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/passworddialog.cpp.obj
[ 62%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/passwordgenerator.cpp.obj
[ 66%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/preferencesdialog.cpp.obj
[ 70%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/randomnoisedialog.cpp.obj
[ 74%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/settings.cpp.obj
[ 77%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/termsdialog.cpp.obj
[ 81%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/src/watermarkedtreewidget.cpp.obj
[ 85%] Building RC object CMakeFiles/password.dir/resources/appicon.rc.obj
[ 88%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/password_autogen/3YJK5W5UP7/qrc_resources.cpp.obj
[ 92%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/password.dir/password_autogen/YUFKSYIBPX/qrc_wordlist.cpp.obj
[ 96%] Linking CXX executable password.exe
[100%] Built target password

Once this step is done, Passwords has been compiled. Congratulations.

Step 4 - Identifying dependencies and bringing it all together

Passwords has several dependencies that need to be gathered alongside the executable. This step creates a directory called deploy and places the compiled password.exe and all required dependency files into it so the program can run correctly.

mkdir %temp%\passwords\deploy
copy %temp%\passwords\build\password.exe %temp%\passwords\deploy
windeployqt6.exe %temp%\passwords\deploy\password.exe

After running these commands, you will have a folder at %temp%\passwords\deploy containing the compiled Passwords executable along with all of its required dependencies, ready for use.

You can copy the contents of the deploy directory anywhere you like, but all files must remain together and in the same directory structure for the application to function properly.

Step 5 - Cleanup (optional)

None of the build tools you installed to build Passwords are needed anymore. You can safely uninstall Git and Qt. If the Qt installer does not fully remove the C:\Qt directory, you can delete it manually.

Once you have copied the deploy directory to another location, the entire %temp%\passwords directory can also be deleted.