I have found a solution suiting me. QRegularExpression rexp ( "<img src=\\\"([^\\\"]{1,})([^/]{0,})/>" ); QRegularExpressionMatch match; int pos = content.indexOf ( rexp, pos + 1 ) ; if ( pos > -1 ) { match = rexp.match ( content, pos ); if ( match.isValid() ) { QString imFile = match.captured ( 1 ); } } imFile will hold the file name stored. Or as alternative for the deprecated QRegExp. The expression itself works for both. QRegExp rexp ( "<img src=\\\"([^\\\"]{1,})([^/]{0,})/>" ); int pos = content.indexOf ( rexp ); if ( pos >= 0) { QString imFile = rexp.cap ( 1 ); } Note: The indexOf with QRegularExpression may also handle the QRegularExpressionMatch since version 5.5. This would make it more compact.