@micha_eleric said in what is auto generating LIBS path in makefile "qt creator":
did, put copy of libs in folder, and executable does not work if qt is not in home folder.
Install the Qt library version, including optional components, you wish to build with. Nothing in this directory tree needs to be changed or moved. Then the process goes:
Build application in your development environment using the qmake from intact Qt library you installed. No part of the Qt libraries are in your build directory.
Test application in your development environment. Everything is exactly where it was at build time and the run time environment matches the build time environment.
Rinse and repeat steps above until the application works.
Only then do you consider what has to be deployed in order to test the application away from the development environment before releasing it in the wild.
It is hard to help if you cannot tell the difference between building the application (which is what is failing here) and deploying the application (which is what you seem to think you are doing). If you mangle your Qt installation, or mix and match several versions, or remove files that are expected in certain places then you get to keep the broken pieces.