Quick start#

New to Qt? Check also the Frequently Asked Questions section at the end of this page. In case you own a Qt License, please refer to Commercial Distribution.

Note

Having Qt installed in your system will not interfere with your PySide6 installation if you do it via pip install, because the Python packages (wheels) include already Qt binaries. Most notably, style plugins from the system won’t have any effect on PySide applications.

Requirements#

Before you can install Qt for Python, first you must install the following software:

  • Python 3.7+,

  • We highly recommend using a virtual environment, such as venv or virtualenv and avoid installing PySide6 via pip in your system.

Note

For Windows users, please use the interpreter from https://python.org/download rather than the one installed from the Microsoft Store.

Installation#

  • Creating and activating an environment You can do this by running the following on a terminal:

    • Create environment (Your Python executable might be called python3):

      python -m venv env

    • Activate the environment (Linux and macOS):

      source env/bin/activate

    • Activate the environment (Windows):

      env\Scripts\activate.bat

    Check this animation on how to do it:

    Installation GIF

  • Installing PySide6

    Now you are ready to install the Qt for Python packages using pip. From the terminal, run the following command:

    • For the latest version:

      pip install pyside6

    • For a specific version, like 6.4.1:

      pip install pyside6==6.4.1

    • It is also possible to install a specific snapshot from our servers. To do so, you can use the following command:

      pip install --index-url=https://download.qt.io/snapshots/ci/pyside/6.4/latest pyside6 --trusted-host download.qt.io

    Note

    Starting with 6.4.3, PySide6 can be used from inside a conda environment, but any manual changes you make to the qt.conf file will be ignored. If you want to set custom values to the Qt configuration, set them in a qt6.conf file instead. Read more about qt.conf.

  • Test your installation

    Now that you have Qt for Python installed, test your setup by running the following Python constructs to print version information:

    import PySide6.QtCore

# Prints PySide6 version
print(PySide6.__version__)

# Prints the Qt version used to compile PySide6
print(PySide6.QtCore.__version__)

Note

For more information about what’s included in the pyside6 package, check Package Details.

Create a Simple Qt Widgets Application#

Your Qt for Python setup is ready. You can explore it further by developing a simple application that prints “Hello World” in several languages. The following instructions will guide you through the development process:

  • Imports

    Create a new file named hello_world.py, and add the following imports to it.:

    import sys
import random
from PySide6 import QtCore, QtWidgets, QtGui

    The PySide6 Python module provides access to the Qt APIs as its submodule. In this case, you are importing the QtCore, QtWidgets, and QtGui submodules.

  • Main Class

    Define a class named MyWidget, which extends QWidget and includes a QPushButton and QLabel.:

    class MyWidget(QtWidgets.QWidget):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()

        self.hello = ["Hallo Welt", "Hei maailma", "Hola Mundo", "Привет мир"]

        self.button = QtWidgets.QPushButton("Click me!")
        self.text = QtWidgets.QLabel("Hello World",
                                     alignment=QtCore.Qt.AlignCenter)

        self.layout = QtWidgets.QVBoxLayout(self)
        self.layout.addWidget(self.text)
        self.layout.addWidget(self.button)

        self.button.clicked.connect(self.magic)

    @QtCore.Slot()
    def magic(self):
        self.text.setText(random.choice(self.hello))

    The MyWidget class has the magic member function that randomly chooses an item from the hello list. When you click the button, the magic function is called.

  • Application execution

    Now, add a main function where you instantiate MyWidget and show it.:

    if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = QtWidgets.QApplication([])

    widget = MyWidget()
    widget.resize(800, 600)
    widget.show()

    sys.exit(app.exec())

    Run your example by writing the following command: python hello_world.py.

    Try clicking the button at the bottom to see which greeting you get.

    Hello World application

Create a Simple Quick Application#

To do the same using Qt Quick:

  • Imports

    Create a new file named hello_world_quick.py, and add the following imports to it.:

    import sys
from PySide6.QtGui import QGuiApplication
from PySide6.QtQml import QQmlApplicationEngine

  • Declarative UI

    The UI can be described in the QML language (assigned to a Python variable):

    QML = """
import QtQuick
import QtQuick.Controls
import QtQuick.Layouts

Window {
    width: 300
    height: 200
    visible: true
    title: "Hello World"

    readonly property list<string> texts: ["Hallo Welt", "Hei maailma",
                                           "Hola Mundo", "Привет мир"]

    function setText() {
        var i = Math.round(Math.random() * 3)
        text.text = texts[i]
    }

    ColumnLayout {
        anchors.fill:  parent

        Text {
            id: text
            text: "Hello World"
            Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
        }
        Button {
            text: "Click me"
            Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
            onClicked:  setText()
        }
    }
}
"""

    Note

    Keep in mind ideally this content should go into a qml file, but for simplicity, we are using a string variable.

  • Application execution

    Now, add a main function where you instantiate a QQmlApplicationEngine and load the QML:

    if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = QGuiApplication(sys.argv)
    engine = QQmlApplicationEngine()
    engine.loadData(QML.encode('utf-8'))
    if not engine.rootObjects():
        sys.exit(-1)
    exit_code = app.exec()
    del engine
    sys.exit(exit_code)

    Note

    This is a simplified example. Normally, the QML code should be in a separate .qml file, which can be edited by design tools.

Frequently Asked Questions#

Here you can find a couple of common questions and situations that will clarify questions before you start programming.

What is Qt

Qt, QML, Widgets… What is the difference?

Compatible IDEs

Which IDEs are compatible with PySide?

Binding Generation

What is Shiboken?

File types

File Types in PySide

App distribution

Distributing your application to other systems and platforms

Why Qt for Python?

As a Qt/C++ developer, why should I consider Qt for Python?