Background Quality of recovery (QoR) after surgery is often focused on morbidity, mortality and physiological changes, while well‐being and emotional state are other important aspects that are often ignored. QoR is poorly investigated in clinical settings and a psychometrically tested questionnaire, QoR‐15, has recently been developed. QoR‐15 has not been validated for Swedish conditions. The aim of this study was to translate, adapt and validate QoR‐15 to Swedish conditions (QoR‐15swe). Methods A translation and cultural adaption was performed resulting in a Swedish version of the instrument, QoR‐15swe. Patients answered the QoR‐15swe before surgery, 24 and 48 h after surgery. Feasibility, validity, reliability and responsiveness of the QoR‐15swe were evaluated. Results The QoR‐15swe was feasible in 85.5% of the eligible patients. Construct validity was good, with significant correlations between QoR‐15swe score and, ASA‐PS class, grade of surgery, length of surgery and time in the post‐anaesthesia care unit. The instrument demonstrated good internal consistency with an inter‐item Cronbach's α of 0.83–0.87, and inter‐dimension Cronbach's α was acceptable 0.71–0.76. Test‐retest repeatability was also good with Cronbach′s alpha > 0.99 and an interclass correlation coefficient of 0.992 (CI: 0.981–0.997). There were no floor and ceiling effects. Responsiveness assessed by Cliff's effect size was −0.23 indicating a moderate ability to detect change at 24 h postoperatively. Conclusion We have translated and culturally adapted the QoR‐15 into Swedish. The score demonstrated acceptable validity, reliability and responsiveness. The QoR‐15swe is a clinically acceptable and feasible outcome measure after surgery in a Swedish population.