- Qt Creator Manual
- Developing with Qt Creator
- Getting Started
- Configuring Qt Creator
- Qt Creator Manual 13.0.0

User Interface ◦ Creating Projects

# Configuring Qt Creator

If you install Qt Creator as part of a Qt installation, you should be able to use it out-of-the-box, with the default settings and configuration options.

However, if you install the stand-alone Qt Creator package, build Qt Creator from sources, or install several Qt versions, you may need to tell Qt Creator where to find the Qt versions and compilers by adding the paths to them and by creating kits that use them.

To make Qt Creator behave more like your favorite code editor or IDE, you can change the settings for keyboard shortcuts, color schemes, generic highlighting, code snippets, and version control systems. In addition, you can enable and disable Qt Creator features by managing plugins.

The following sections summarize the options that you have and point you to detailed information to help you specify any required settings and to make using Qt Creator a better experience for you.

## Checking Build and Run Settings

Qt Creator is an integrated development environment (IDE) that you can use to develop Qt applications. While you can use Qt Online Installer to install Qt Creator, the stand-alone Qt Creator installer never installs Qt or any Qt tools, such as qmake. To use Qt Creator for Qt development, you also need to install a Qt version and a compiler. If you update the compiler version later, you can register it into Qt Creator.

Qt Online Installer attempts to auto-detect compilers and Qt versions. If it succeeds, the relevant kits will automatically become available in Qt Creator. If it does not, you must add the kits yourself to tell Qt Creator where everything is.

To add kits, select Preferences > Kits > Add.

For more information, see Add kits.

Each kit consists of a set of values that define one environment, such as a device, compiler, and Qt version. If Preferences > Kits > Qt Versions does not show all the installed Qt versions, select Link with Qt.

If Auto-detected still does not show the Qt version, select Add to add it manually.

For more information, see Add Qt versions.

Also check that Preferences > Kits > Compilers shows your compiler.

For more information, see Add compilers.

You can connect devices to the development PC to run, debug, and analyze applications on them from Qt Creator. You can connect the device to the development PC via USB. Additionally, you can connect Linux-based devices over a WLAN. You must also configure a connection between Qt Creator and the development PC and specify the device in a kit.

To add devices, select Preferences > Devices > Devices > Add.

For more information, see Connecting Devices.

## Changing Keyboard Shortcuts

You can use Qt Creator with your favorite keyboard shortcuts.

To view and edit all keyboard shortcuts defined in Qt Creator, select Preferences > Environment > Keyboard. For more information, see Keyboard Shortcuts.

## Changing Color Schemes

Themes enable you to customize the appearance of the Qt Creator UI: widgets, colors, and icons.

To switch themes, select Preferences > Environment > Interface, and then select a theme in the Theme field.

You can use the Qt Creator text and code editors with your favorite color scheme that defines how to highlight code elements and which background color to use. You can select one of the predefined color schemes or create custom ones. The color schemes apply to highlighting C++ files, QML files, and generic files.

To change the color scheme, select Preferences > Text Editor > Font & Colors.

For more information, see Change editor colors.

KSyntaxHighlighting offers generic highlighting. It is the syntax highlighting engine for Kate syntax definitions. Qt Creator comes with most of the commonly used syntax files, and you can download additional files.

To download and use highlight definition files, select Preferences > Text Editor > Generic Highlighter.

For more information, see Download highlight definitions.

## Adding Your Own Code Snippets

As you write code, Qt Creator suggests properties, IDs, and code snippets to complete the code. It lists context-sensitive suggestions for the statement currently under your cursor. You can add, modify, and remove snippets in the snippet editor.

To open the snippet editor, select Preferences > Text Editor > Snippets.

For more information, see Snippets.

## Configuring Version Control Systems

Qt Creator supports several version control systems. In most cases, you do not need to configure the version control in any special way to make it work with Qt Creator.

However, some configuration options are available and you can set them in Preferences > Version Control > General.

For more information about the supported functions, see Version Control Systems.

## Managing Plugins

Qt Creator comes with a set of plugins, some of which are disabled by default. You can enable disabled plugins if you need them and disable plugins you don't need.

You can download and install more plugins from Qt Marketplace or some other source, such as GitHub.

To enable and disable plugins, select Help > About Plugins.

To install plugins, select Help > About Plugins > Install Plugins.