diff --git a/src/base/bittorrent/session.cpp b/src/base/bittorrent/session.cpp
index a049eb478..a17d3a167 100644
--- a/src/base/bittorrent/session.cpp
+++ b/src/base/bittorrent/session.cpp
@@ -1501,10 +1501,12 @@ void Session::enableBandwidthScheduler()
 void Session::populateAdditionalTrackers()
 {
     m_additionalTrackerList.clear();
-    for (QString tracker : asConst(additionalTrackers().split('\n'))) {
+
+    const QString trackers = additionalTrackers();
+    for (QStringRef tracker : asConst(trackers.splitRef('\n'))) {
         tracker = tracker.trimmed();
         if (!tracker.isEmpty())
-            m_additionalTrackerList << tracker;
+            m_additionalTrackerList << tracker.toString();
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/base/bittorrent/torrentinfo.cpp b/src/base/bittorrent/torrentinfo.cpp
index 8f128dce2..3ce4c9cc6 100644
--- a/src/base/bittorrent/torrentinfo.cpp
+++ b/src/base/bittorrent/torrentinfo.cpp
@@ -429,9 +429,10 @@ void TorrentInfo::stripRootFolder()
     lt::file_storage files = m_nativeInfo->files();
 
     // Solution for case of renamed root folder
-    const std::string testName = filePath(0).split('/').value(0).toStdString();
-    if (files.name() != testName) {
-        files.set_name(testName);
+    const QString path = filePath(0);
+    const std::string newName = path.left(path.indexOf('/')).toStdString();
+    if (files.name() != newName) {
+        files.set_name(newName);
         for (int i = 0; i < files.num_files(); ++i)
             files.rename_file(LTFileIndex {i}, files.file_path(LTFileIndex {i}));
     }
diff --git a/src/base/http/connection.cpp b/src/base/http/connection.cpp
index 27cb53c5c..d570fc32b 100644
--- a/src/base/http/connection.cpp
+++ b/src/base/http/connection.cpp
@@ -131,9 +131,9 @@ bool Connection::acceptsGzipEncoding(QString codings)
 {
     // [rfc7231] 5.3.4. Accept-Encoding
 
-    const auto isCodingAvailable = [](const QStringList &list, const QString &encoding) -> bool
+    const auto isCodingAvailable = [](const QVector<QStringRef> &list, const QString &encoding) -> bool
     {
-        for (const QString &str : list) {
+        for (const QStringRef &str : list) {
             if (!str.startsWith(encoding))
                 continue;
 
@@ -142,11 +142,11 @@ bool Connection::acceptsGzipEncoding(QString codings)
                 return true;
 
             // [rfc7231] 5.3.1. Quality Values
-            const QStringRef substr = str.midRef(encoding.size() + 3);  // ex. skip over "gzip;q="
+            const QStringRef substr = str.mid(encoding.size() + 3);  // ex. skip over "gzip;q="
 
             bool ok = false;
             const double qvalue = substr.toDouble(&ok);
-            if (!ok || (qvalue <= 0.0))
+            if (!ok || (qvalue <= 0))
                 return false;
 
             return true;
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ bool Connection::acceptsGzipEncoding(QString codings)
         return false;
     };
 
-    const QStringList list = codings.remove(' ').remove('\t').split(',', QString::SkipEmptyParts);
+    const QVector<QStringRef> list = codings.remove(' ').remove('\t').splitRef(',', QString::SkipEmptyParts);
     if (list.isEmpty())
         return false;
 
diff --git a/src/base/search/searchhandler.cpp b/src/base/search/searchhandler.cpp
index 5194c5007..903fe46d0 100644
--- a/src/base/search/searchhandler.cpp
+++ b/src/base/search/searchhandler.cpp
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@
 #include <QProcess>
 #include <QTimer>
 
-#include "../global.h"
-#include "../utils/foreignapps.h"
-#include "../utils/fs.h"
+#include "base/global.h"
+#include "base/utils/foreignapps.h"
+#include "base/utils/fs.h"
 #include "searchpluginmanager.h"
 
 namespace
@@ -161,24 +161,29 @@ void SearchHandler::processFailed()
 // file url | file name | file size | nb seeds | nb leechers | Search engine url
 bool SearchHandler::parseSearchResult(const QString &line, SearchResult &searchResult)
 {
-    const QStringList parts = line.split('|');
+    const QVector<QStringRef> parts = line.splitRef('|');
     const int nbFields = parts.size();
+
     if (nbFields < (NB_PLUGIN_COLUMNS - 1)) return false; // -1 because desc_link is optional
 
     searchResult = SearchResult();
-    searchResult.fileUrl = parts.at(PL_DL_LINK).trimmed(); // download URL
-    searchResult.fileName = parts.at(PL_NAME).trimmed(); // Name
+    searchResult.fileUrl = parts.at(PL_DL_LINK).trimmed().toString(); // download URL
+    searchResult.fileName = parts.at(PL_NAME).trimmed().toString(); // Name
     searchResult.fileSize = parts.at(PL_SIZE).trimmed().toLongLong(); // Size
+
     bool ok = false;
+
     searchResult.nbSeeders = parts.at(PL_SEEDS).trimmed().toLongLong(&ok); // Seeders
     if (!ok || (searchResult.nbSeeders < 0))
         searchResult.nbSeeders = -1;
+
     searchResult.nbLeechers = parts.at(PL_LEECHS).trimmed().toLongLong(&ok); // Leechers
     if (!ok || (searchResult.nbLeechers < 0))
         searchResult.nbLeechers = -1;
-    searchResult.siteUrl = parts.at(PL_ENGINE_URL).trimmed(); // Search site URL
+
+    searchResult.siteUrl = parts.at(PL_ENGINE_URL).trimmed().toString(); // Search site URL
     if (nbFields == NB_PLUGIN_COLUMNS)
-        searchResult.descrLink = parts.at(PL_DESC_LINK).trimmed(); // Description Link
+        searchResult.descrLink = parts.at(PL_DESC_LINK).trimmed().toString(); // Description Link
 
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/src/base/search/searchpluginmanager.cpp b/src/base/search/searchpluginmanager.cpp
index 28dfe948a..ce0a777a3 100644
--- a/src/base/search/searchpluginmanager.cpp
+++ b/src/base/search/searchpluginmanager.cpp
@@ -376,8 +376,10 @@ void SearchPluginManager::pluginDownloadFinished(const Net::DownloadResult &resu
         Utils::Fs::forceRemove(filePath);
     }
     else {
-        QString pluginName = result.url.split('/').last();
+        const QString url = result.url;
+        QString pluginName = url.mid(url.lastIndexOf('/') + 1);
         pluginName.replace(".py", "", Qt::CaseInsensitive);
+
         if (pluginInfo(pluginName))
             emit pluginUpdateFailed(pluginName, tr("Failed to download the plugin file. %1").arg(result.errorString));
         else
@@ -462,7 +464,7 @@ void SearchPluginManager::update()
             plugin->fullName = engineElem.elementsByTagName("name").at(0).toElement().text();
             plugin->url = engineElem.elementsByTagName("url").at(0).toElement().text();
 
-            const auto categories = engineElem.elementsByTagName("categories").at(0).toElement().text().split(' ');
+            const QStringList categories = engineElem.elementsByTagName("categories").at(0).toElement().text().split(' ');
             for (QString cat : categories) {
                 cat = cat.trimmed();
                 if (!cat.isEmpty())
diff --git a/src/base/utils/misc.cpp b/src/base/utils/misc.cpp
index e9f089918..fa91e0667 100644
--- a/src/base/utils/misc.cpp
+++ b/src/base/utils/misc.cpp
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ QString Utils::Misc::libtorrentVersionString()
 QString Utils::Misc::opensslVersionString()
 {
     const QString version {OPENSSL_VERSION_TEXT};
-    return version.split(' ', QString::SkipEmptyParts)[1];
+    return version.splitRef(' ', QString::SkipEmptyParts)[1].toString();
 }
 
 QString Utils::Misc::zlibVersionString()
diff --git a/src/gui/downloadfromurldialog.cpp b/src/gui/downloadfromurldialog.cpp
index e1d690d46..ebd6b8d43 100644
--- a/src/gui/downloadfromurldialog.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/downloadfromurldialog.cpp
@@ -67,13 +67,15 @@ DownloadFromURLDialog::DownloadFromURLDialog(QWidget *parent)
     m_ui->textUrls->setWordWrapMode(QTextOption::NoWrap);
 
     // Paste clipboard if there is an URL in it
-    const QStringList clipboardList = qApp->clipboard()->text().split('\n');
+    const QString clipboardText = qApp->clipboard()->text();
+    const QVector<QStringRef> clipboardList = clipboardText.splitRef('\n');
 
     QSet<QString> uniqueURLs;
-    for (QString str : clipboardList) {
-        str = str.trimmed();
-        if (str.isEmpty()) continue;
+    for (QStringRef strRef : clipboardList) {
+        strRef = strRef.trimmed();
+        if (strRef.isEmpty()) continue;
 
+        const QString str = strRef.toString();
         if (isDownloadable(str))
             uniqueURLs << str;
     }
@@ -90,14 +92,15 @@ DownloadFromURLDialog::~DownloadFromURLDialog()
 
 void DownloadFromURLDialog::downloadButtonClicked()
 {
-    const QStringList urls = m_ui->textUrls->toPlainText().split('\n');
+    const QString plainText = m_ui->textUrls->toPlainText();
+    const QVector<QStringRef> urls = plainText.splitRef('\n');
 
     QSet<QString> uniqueURLs;
-    for (QString url : urls) {
+    for (QStringRef url : urls) {
         url = url.trimmed();
         if (url.isEmpty()) continue;
 
-        uniqueURLs << url;
+        uniqueURLs << url.toString();
     }
 
     if (uniqueURLs.isEmpty()) {
diff --git a/src/gui/mainwindow.cpp b/src/gui/mainwindow.cpp
index 44652c1c7..76dd2bb54 100644
--- a/src/gui/mainwindow.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/mainwindow.cpp
@@ -1354,21 +1354,22 @@ void MainWindow::on_actionOpen_triggered()
         QFileDialog::getOpenFileNames(this, tr("Open Torrent Files"), pref->getMainLastDir(),
                                       tr("Torrent Files") + " (*" + C_TORRENT_FILE_EXTENSION + ')');
 
+    if (pathsList.isEmpty())
+        return;
+
     const bool useTorrentAdditionDialog = AddNewTorrentDialog::isEnabled();
-    if (!pathsList.isEmpty()) {
-        for (const QString &file : pathsList) {
-            qDebug("Dropped file %s on download list", qUtf8Printable(file));
-            if (useTorrentAdditionDialog)
-                AddNewTorrentDialog::show(file, this);
-            else
-                BitTorrent::Session::instance()->addTorrent(file);
-        }
 
-        // Save last dir to remember it
-        QStringList topDir = Utils::Fs::toUniformPath(pathsList.at(0)).split('/');
-        topDir.removeLast();
-        pref->setMainLastDir(Utils::Fs::toUniformPath(topDir.join('/')));
+    for (const QString &file : pathsList) {
+        if (useTorrentAdditionDialog)
+            AddNewTorrentDialog::show(file, this);
+        else
+            BitTorrent::Session::instance()->addTorrent(file);
     }
+
+    // Save last dir to remember it
+    QString topDir = Utils::Fs::toUniformPath(pathsList.at(0));
+    topDir = topDir.left(topDir.lastIndexOf('/'));
+    pref->setMainLastDir(topDir);
 }
 
 void MainWindow::activate()
diff --git a/src/gui/programupdater.cpp b/src/gui/programupdater.cpp
index 95c8e5ee2..9ac1311c6 100644
--- a/src/gui/programupdater.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/programupdater.cpp
@@ -139,10 +139,10 @@ bool ProgramUpdater::isVersionMoreRecent(const QString &remoteVersion) const
 {
     const QRegularExpressionMatch regVerMatch = QRegularExpression("([0-9.]+)").match(QBT_VERSION);
     if (regVerMatch.hasMatch()) {
-        QString localVersion = regVerMatch.captured(1);
-        qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "local version:" << localVersion << "/" << QBT_VERSION;
-        QStringList remoteParts = remoteVersion.split('.');
-        QStringList localParts = localVersion.split('.');
+        const QString localVersion = regVerMatch.captured(1);
+        const QVector<QStringRef> remoteParts = remoteVersion.splitRef('.');
+        const QVector<QStringRef> localParts = localVersion.splitRef('.');
+
         for (int i = 0; i < qMin(remoteParts.size(), localParts.size()); ++i) {
             if (remoteParts[i].toInt() > localParts[i].toInt())
                 return true;
diff --git a/src/gui/properties/trackersadditiondialog.cpp b/src/gui/properties/trackersadditiondialog.cpp
index 6d5feeee1..92e00d1fc 100644
--- a/src/gui/properties/trackersadditiondialog.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/properties/trackersadditiondialog.cpp
@@ -56,11 +56,13 @@ TrackersAdditionDialog::~TrackersAdditionDialog()
 
 QStringList TrackersAdditionDialog::newTrackers() const
 {
+    const QString plainText = m_ui->textEditTrackersList->toPlainText();
+
     QStringList cleanTrackers;
-    for (QString url : asConst(m_ui->textEditTrackersList->toPlainText().split('\n'))) {
+    for (QStringRef url : asConst(plainText.splitRef('\n'))) {
         url = url.trimmed();
         if (!url.isEmpty())
-            cleanTrackers << url;
+            cleanTrackers << url.toString();
     }
     return cleanTrackers;
 }
diff --git a/src/gui/search/pluginselectdialog.cpp b/src/gui/search/pluginselectdialog.cpp
index e6395c377..7bfa2a6d3 100644
--- a/src/gui/search/pluginselectdialog.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/search/pluginselectdialog.cpp
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ void PluginSelectDialog::dropEvent(QDropEvent *event)
         }
     }
     else {
-        files = event->mimeData()->text().split(QLatin1String("\n"));
+        files = event->mimeData()->text().split('\n');
     }
 
     if (files.isEmpty()) return;
diff --git a/src/gui/torrentcontentmodel.cpp b/src/gui/torrentcontentmodel.cpp
index 5c81f94e3..e2ff20a04 100644
--- a/src/gui/torrentcontentmodel.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/torrentcontentmodel.cpp
@@ -469,14 +469,18 @@ void TorrentContentModel::setupModelData(const BitTorrent::TorrentInfo &info)
     // Iterate over files
     for (int i = 0; i < filesCount; ++i) {
         currentParent = m_rootItem;
-        QString path = Utils::Fs::toUniformPath(info.filePath(i));
+        const QString path = Utils::Fs::toUniformPath(info.filePath(i));
+
         // Iterate of parts of the path to create necessary folders
-        QStringList pathFolders = path.split('/', QString::SkipEmptyParts);
+        QVector<QStringRef> pathFolders = path.splitRef('/', QString::SkipEmptyParts);
         pathFolders.removeLast();
-        for (const QString &pathPart : asConst(pathFolders)) {
-            if (pathPart == ".unwanted")
+
+        for (const QStringRef &pathPartRef : asConst(pathFolders)) {
+            if (pathPartRef == QLatin1String(".unwanted"))
                 continue;
-            TorrentContentModelFolder* newParent = currentParent->childFolderWithName(pathPart);
+
+            const QString pathPart = pathPartRef.toString();
+            TorrentContentModelFolder *newParent = currentParent->childFolderWithName(pathPart);
             if (!newParent) {
                 newParent = new TorrentContentModelFolder(pathPart, currentParent);
                 currentParent->appendChild(newParent);