To use libqrencode library in CMakeLists.txt: find_path(QRENCODE_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES qrencode.h) find_library(QRENCODE_LIBRARY_RELEASE qrencode) find_library(QRENCODE_LIBRARY_DEBUG qrencoded) set(QRENCODE_LIBRARIES optimized ${QRENCODE_LIBRARY_RELEASE} debug ${QRENCODE_LIBRARY_DEBUG}) add_executable(main main.cpp) target_include_directories(main PRIVATE ${QRENCODE_INCLUDE_DIR}) target_link_libraries(main PRIVATE ${QRENCODE_LIBRARIES})