This is a copy of KeePass v2.55 source, with a few changes described in this file. See this page for the original application downloads and source packages.

https://keepass.info/download.html

This repository is maintained to keep track of source changes and to share the experience with other developers who may find these changes useful. However, these steps and source changes have not been tested much and may not work in other environments and may even cause unexpected results, including possible loss of data. Use these instructions, modified source and build artifacts at your own risk.

All UI forms in this repository are updated to use 11pt font size instead of the original 8pt, which is very hard on the eyes, especially on high resolution displays.

There are a few questions on KeePass forums about increasing font size and many of them are either unanswered, answered dismissively or described as working as designed.

https://sourceforge.net/p/keepass/discussion/search/?q=font+size

The authors of this otherwise brilliant application seem to be unaware of display and font scaling and the difference between physical and effective pixels. This repository is an attempt to address the need for larger fonts in KeePass for those who feel comfortable building it from the source.

Note that starting with v2.55.0, the target font size was changed from 10pt to 11pt in this repository, which works best on 4K displays. However, this may result in some dialogues rendered partially cut off on displays with lower resolutions. Make sure to test large dialogues, such as generating master passwords or the options dialogues, before switching to this version.

KeePass comes with excellent data export capabilities, but the bundled XSL style sheets do not export entry history, collapse entry notes, drop group notes and group hierarchy.

Being able to search through password history is quite important for those who want to track down some old compromised passwords and KeePass does not offer history search in the application either.

The new XSL template Ext/XSL/KDBX_Dump_HTML.xsl outputs all fields, including history, and preserves the group hierarchy in the output. It also recognizes the recycle bin group and omits it from the output.

History output may be disabled by changing the following line in the XSL source to look like this:

<xsl:variable name="dump-history" select="'no'" />

Output font size and other CSS properties may be changed in the XSL at the top of the source file.

KDBX_Dump_HTML.xsl may be used in two ways. You can copy this file into the XSL folder in the KeePass installation folder, where other XSL templates are, and use it via KeePass' export functionality. Alternatively, you can export KeePass XML file and use a standalone XSL processor to produce the HTML. For example, using msxsl.exe:

msxsl MyKeePass.xml KDBX_Dump_HTML.xsl -o MyKeePass.html

The latter provides greater flexibility, but you must ensure that exported XML and generated HTML are saved in some encrypted storage, such as a BitLocker drive or a USB drive attached via a hardware encryption key.

The original KeePass source is always committed on master and tagged with the original version number. All changes are maintained in version branches, which contain cherry-picked changes from the previous version and new changes. Current topology looks like this:

       VS2019    8pt/10pt        VS2019   8pt/10pt
          |         |               |        |   
       +--o---------o----->     +---o--------o---->      +---... v2-48-1
      /                v2-46-0 /               v2-47-0  /   
-o---o------------------------o----o-------------------o---o---> master
 |  README.md                 |   README.md            |  README.md
keepass-2-46-0            keepass-2-47-0           keepass-2-48-1

Version branches v2-46-0, v2-47-0 and v2-48-1 contain modifications of the original code, which is maintained in master and is tagged with keepass-2-46-0, keepass-2-47-0 and keepass-2-48-1, respectively, for each new source drop.

The master branch contains original KeePass source and two additional files, .gitignore and README.md. The latter is required for GitHub to show README on the repository home page. README.md on master should be cherry-picked from the latest version branch for each new modified source drop.

New KeePass source is imported using following steps.

• If you maintain Visual Studio key patch as a stash on a version branch, push it onto the stash stack:

  git stash push KeePass\KeePass.csproj
  

• Checkout master

  git checkout master
  

• Delete all source, except .git, .gitignore, .github, README.md and, perhaps, .vs.

• Unzip the new source archive.

• Add all new source, commit and tag with keepass-x-y-z, where x-y-z would be the actual version, such as keepass-2-48-1.

• Create a new branch for changes to the new version, with an actual version instead of x-y-z (e.g. v2-48-1).

  git checkout -b vx-y-z
  

• Remove the .github directory with the empty GitHub workflow from the main branch and commit the change. This will prevent conflicts when the full GitHub workflow is cherry-picked from the previous release branch.

• Upgrade solution to Visual Studio 2022, remove UpgradeLog.htm and commit changes.

• Retarget all projects to use the .Net Framework v4.8. The original .Net v4.0 is no longer installed on GitHub runners. Note, however, that very little testing was done with running a mix of original KeePass DLLs built with .Net v4 with the UI component built with .Net v4.8.

• Cherry-pick non-conflicting changes from the previous version branch, which typically includes added files, such as the new XSL template. For example, if 12345678 represents a commit with the last non-conflicting change for version 2.47.0, the cherry-pick command for version 2.48.0 would look like this:

  git cherry-pick keepass-2-47-0..12345678
  

  If the first commit has conflicts, you will need to cherry-pick changes individually.

• Trying to cherry-pick font size changes from the previous branch would be quite error-prone, given how Visual Studio maintains form layout in the source, so font size changes should be applied manually at this point.

• Once font size changes are applied, tested and committed, README.md should be updated to reflect the new application version and any additional changes and should be cherry-picked to master.

These steps are tested on Windows 10 (x64) with Visual Studio 2022, Community Edition. The original KeePass project was upgraded to Visual Studio 2022.

Clone this repository and check out the version branch you would like to build.

git checkout v2-50-1

Run cmd.exe and run vcvarsall.bat from Visual Studio installation to set up x64 build environment.

vcvarsall.bat x64

The original solution is configured to sign KeePass binaries with a dummy KeePass.pfx, which cannot be automated because it requires user input in importing this key file on the build machine. This key file was removed from the repository and all projects were modified not to sign build output.

Note that the application built this way will not be digitally signed and if your Smart Screen is turned on, it may pop up a warning that the application is not signed. You will need to click More info and then click the button to run the app anyway.

Start Visual Studio from the the same command prompt, so it can find sgen.exe, which is referenced in the solution, in post build events of the KeePass project.

devenv KeePass.sln

Change the solution configuration to Release, platform to Any CPU, startup project to KeePass and build the solution.

This repository is configured to build KeyPass.exe as described above and maintain release packages with relevant files, which can be used as the installation source instead of the local build output.

Install the standard version of KeePass downloaded from the application website:

https://keepass.info/download.html

Before opening the actual password file with the application built above, launch the installed KeePass application and create a test database with a few passwords. Do not open your actual password file until you tested the new application.

Once you have a test database, launch the application you just built from this directory:

KeePass\Build\KeePass\Release\KeePass.exe

Open the test database and make sure the functionality you typically use still works and you can see all buttons in the dialogs.

Backup your actual password file before you open it with the new application.

Open the KeePass installation directory:

C:\Program Files (x86)\KeePass Password Safe 2

, and rename the original KeePass.exe and KeePass.XmlSerializers.dll files. Do not delete them. Copy the new files you just built and tested into the installation directory.

It's worth noting that this step replaces only the executable and not the KeePass encryption library, which implements encryption and other secure algorithms.

Launch the new KeePass application and test that it works in every way in how you normally use the application.

Before installing a new version of KeePass, restore the original KeePass.exe and KeePass.XmlSerializers.dll files.

Follow the Build steps to make sure Visual Studio can build these changes, so you can check whether font changes work or not.

Visual Studio is very buggy in handling forms and DPI settings and depending on the version of Visual Studio, it may not work as described.

Font changes need to be applied in two steps. Do not change MainForm_Events.cs and MainForm_Functions.cs forms in either of these steps.

For the first step, Visual Studio must be switched to 100% scaling mode, as described below.

• Launch Visual Studio as described in Building
• Expand the Forms solution folder and click AboutForm.cs. The form editor may appear empty and you need to minimize/restore Visual Studio IDE to see the form.
• Visual Studio will present a pop-up line at the top asking if you would like to restart Visual Studio with 100% display scaling. Click to restart with 100% scaling.
• For every form, change the Font property from 8pt to 11pt and AutoScaleMode property from Font to Dpi. Font size must be changed first or the form will not be resized proportionally to accommodate resized fields.
• Once all forms have been changed, exit Visual Studio.

For the second step, Visual Studio must be running in the default display scaling mode.

• Launch Visual Studio as described in Building
• Dismiss the prompt to switch to 100% display scaling mode without switching.
• For every form, find a simple True/False property, such as Behavior/ Enabled and flip it twice to its original value.
• Build the app and run it from Visual Studio to test whether forms are rendered without controls overlapping and there is no truncated text.

The third step makes very little sense, but is required for some forms to render correctly. For example, GroupForm.Designer.cs and TanWizardForm.Designer.cs will have overlapping controls without this step. If you know a better way to avoid this, please start a discussion.

These steps are very tedious and error-prone. It helps to open all forms at once via a Click followed by Shift-Double-Click for multiple forms, skipping those that should not be edited, and edit them one after another, closing updated and saved forms throughout the process.

These changes were tested on 3840x2160 displays, with up to 200% display scaling, and 1920x1080 displays on Windows 10. On one of of the lower resolution displays some buttons were not visible for some display scaling and font scaling combinations.

Make sure to go through application dialogs you regularly use to check whether Ok and Cancel buttons are visible before making any data changes or you will not be able to accept your changes.

This repository has nothing to do with KeePass functionality and application issues should be addressed via the application website.

https://keepass.info/

If you experience any issues with application dialogs display, simply switch back to the original application.

If you find something missing from build instructions in this file, such as inappropriate mix of some .Net assemblies between installed and built application, create an issue here.

Similarly, if you find bugs in KDBX_Dump_HTML.xsl, also create an issue here.