QR Code Generator
Create a QR code for a link, text, WiFi network or contact card — generated on your device, pointing straight at your data.
Processed on your device — no upload
Fill in the fields to see the code.
How to use it
- Choose what the code should contain.
- Fill in the fields.
- Download the PNG or SVG.
How it works
A QR code is a short string of text drawn as a grid. Everything else is convention: a phone offers to join a network when the text starts with WIFI:, offers to save a contact when it starts with BEGIN:VCARD, and opens a browser when it looks like a URL. This page builds those strings correctly and draws the grid.
Error correction is why a QR code survives a coffee ring. Redundant data is woven through the grid so a damaged code can still be read: seven percent at level L, up to thirty percent at level H. Higher correction means a denser grid for the same content, which is a fair trade for anything printed and a waste on screen.
The quiet zone is not decoration. The specification calls for four empty modules around the code, and scanners genuinely need them to find where the pattern begins. A code cropped tight against a coloured background is the most common reason a printed code will not scan.
SVG for print, PNG for screens. An SVG is drawn from geometry rather than pixels, so it stays sharp on a poster at any size. A 512-pixel PNG is right for a slide or an email and will look soft on anything large.
A worked example
The thing most QR generators do not tell you. A large number of free generators do not encode your link. They encode their link, which redirects to yours — so every scan passes through their server, they count it, and the code stops working the day they shut the service down or move it behind a subscription. Printed menus, business cards and event posters have all died this way.
This page encodes exactly what you typed. The Encoded content box shows the complete string that goes into the grid, so you can confirm there is no redirect in it. A code containing https://your-site.example/menu works for as long as that address does, and nobody is counting the scans.
A WiFi code for a guest network. Choose WiFi, enter the network name and password, keep WPA, and print the result. A guest points their camera at it and joins without you reading a twenty-character password aloud. Note what that means: the password sits in the code in plain text, because that is how the phone reads it. A printed WiFi code is the password on the wall — appropriate for a café, not for the network your accounts sit on.
A password with a semicolon in it. The WiFi format uses ; and : as separators, so a password containing one has to be escaped or the phone reads the field as ending early. This is handled here, and it is why strong passwords sometimes fail with other generators.
Before you print it, scan it. Open the QR reader on your phone and check the code says what you meant — it takes ten seconds and it is the only test that matters.
Questions
Is a QR code the same as a barcode?
A qrcode is two-dimensional, holding thousands of characters, while a shop barcode holds a number in one dimension. This makes QR codes only.
Do these codes expire?
No. The code contains your content directly, with no redirect through this site. It works for as long as the thing it points at exists, and nothing here can switch it off.
Do you track scans?
There is nothing to track. The code holds your link, not ours, so scans never touch any server of ours. Generators offering scan analytics do it by putting their own redirect in the middle.
PNG or SVG?
SVG for anything printed. It is geometry, so it stays sharp at any size. PNG for screens, slides and email.
How much text fits in a QR code?
A few thousand characters at most, and long content makes a dense grid that phones struggle with. For a link, shorter is genuinely better.
Which error correction level should I choose?
Medium for screens. High for anything printed, exposed to wear, or with a logo placed over the middle — it can lose thirty percent of the grid and still read.
Can I change the colour?
Yes, but keep it dark on white. Scanners look for contrast, and inverted or pale codes fail on older phone cameras.
Is my WiFi password sent anywhere?
No — the code is drawn in your browser. It is written inside the code in plain text, though, so anyone who photographs the printout has the password.
Why does my code not scan?
Usually no quiet zone, too little contrast, or it is printed too small. As a rule, a code should be at least a tenth as wide as the distance it is scanned from.