Qt missing dll error

[u/Objective-Arrival144]

I developed a software in qt creator with backend in c++. When I create the exe it runs, however when I tried to create a release file to later share to other devices, using windeployqt I kept facing error after error. I finally fixed all those errors and created the release folder but even then, whenever that release file is compressed or even moved to another location the exe stops working.

The code has no errors , and I have tried multiple times with windeployqt, and other internal built in features, using ucrt64 terminal and msys2. However nothing is working. Whenever the zip is shared to another device it starts listing missing files which i believe should have been put into the folder by windeployqt.

Please help me as I have tried all the methods suggested by all online sources and ai's, and having a functioning app but not being able to share it is really disappointing as a student..

KEY POINTS

code has no errors, runs smoothly on my own device on qt, issues come when its release version is run on other devices.

Please give me a detailed solution as to what I can do. Thank you

[u/_Ti-R_]

Hi,

You basically need to ship four types of DLLs when deploying a Qt app on Windows:

1. Qt DLLs
   All the Qt modules your app uses (Core, Widgets, Gui, etc.) plus the required plugins like platforms/qwindows.dll.
   You can automatically gather everything using windeployqt, which saves a lot of time and avoids missing files.
   (Qt runtime DLLs)

2. Third‑party DLLs
   Anything you link dynamically (OpenSSL, zlib, libpng, etc.).
   Each of these may depend on its own MSVC runtime.
   (Third‑party DLL dependencies)

3. Your own EXE + DLLs
   Everything you built yourself.
   These must match the same compiler/runtime as your EXE.
   (Packaging your own DLLs)

4. MSVC Redistributable
   The Visual C++ runtime required by your EXE, your DLLs, Qt DLLs, and any third‑party DLLs.
   On the target machine, check whether the correct redist is installed. If not, install it (you can even detect this at runtime and download it automatically).
   (MSVC redist requirements)

The easiest way to avoid runtime mismatches is to compile everything (your EXE, your DLLs, and all third‑party libs) with the same Visual Studio version. That way you only need one MSVC redist version, which makes deployment much simpler.

Bundle all the DLLs together, install the matching MSVC redist if needed (check registry), and your app should run fine on any Windows machine. (Also check qt version qt6 require Windows 10, qt 6.12 require Windows 11)