QR Code Generator

How to make a QR code

Making a QR code with this tool takes three steps:

• Pick a content type above the form: Website/URL, plain text, WiFi network, contact card (vCard), email, phone number, or text message.
• Fill in the fields for that type. The preview on the right updates automatically as you type, so you can check it scans correctly before you download anything.
• Open "Colors, logo & shape" if you want to brand the code, then click Download PNG or Download SVG.

Choosing the right content type

The content type changes what happens when a phone scans the code, not just what you type:

• Website/URL: opens the link directly in the phone's browser. Use this for landing pages, menus hosted online, social profiles, or any web address.
• Plain text: shows the text on screen, with no action taken. Good for short messages, serial numbers, or instructions that don't need a link.
• WiFi network: lets a guest join your network by scanning, no typing the password required. Supported by both Android and iOS camera apps.
• Contact card (vCard): saves a name, phone, email and company straight into the scanning phone's address book, in one tap, instead of opening a webpage.
• Email: opens the phone's mail app with the address (and optionally a subject and message) already filled in.
• Phone: opens the dialer with the number ready to call.
• Text message: opens the messaging app with the number and an optional prewritten message ready to send.

Worked example: a WiFi QR code for guests

Say your guest network is named Guesthouse-5G with the password welcome2026, using standard WPA2 security. Select the WiFi tab, type Guesthouse-5G as the network name and welcome2026 as the password, leave security on WPA/WPA2/WPA3, and the preview updates immediately. Print the result next to your router or on a guest information card: anyone scanning it with a phone camera joins the network without ever seeing or typing the password themselves, and without you having to say it out loud to every visitor.

Worked example: a contact card for a conference badge

Select the Contact card tab and fill in a first name, last name, company, and the phone/email you want to share. The tool builds a standard vCard 3.0 payload, the same format every phone's built-in camera and contacts app already understands. A scan adds a ready-to-save contact card instead of a name that has to be typed out by hand, which is why this format shows up constantly on business cards, conference badges, and email signatures. See the QR code for business card page for a version of this tool focused specifically on that use case, with more layout tips for print.

Error correction: why a QR code still scans with a logo on it

Every QR code is built with a level of error correction, a mathematical redundancy that lets a scanner reconstruct the data even if part of the code is damaged, dirty, or covered. This tool uses error-correction level Q ("Quartile") by default, which tolerates roughly 25% of the code being obscured, exactly the headroom needed to place a logo in the center without breaking the scan. That's the same reason a slightly scratched or partially shadowed QR code on a restaurant table or a shipping label still works: the code was never relying on every single module being perfectly readable.

• L (Low): recovers about 7% damage. Smallest code, least headroom for a logo.
• M (Medium): recovers about 15% damage. A common default for plain codes with no logo.
• Q (Quartile): recovers about 25% damage. Used by this tool, since it always allows room for an optional logo.
• H (High): recovers about 30% damage. Common on codes meant for rough environments (outdoor signage, packaging).

PNG vs SVG: which download format to use

PNG is a fixed-resolution image, fine for screens, social posts, and most digital use. SVG is a vector format: it stays perfectly sharp at any size, from a business card to a building banner, because it's built from mathematical shapes rather than a fixed pixel grid. Print shops and designers generally prefer SVG for exactly that reason. Some other free QR generators only offer SVG on a paid plan and give away just a low-resolution PNG or JPG for free; both formats are unlimited and free here, with no account required for either.

Branding your QR code: logo, colors and shape

Open the "Colors, logo & shape" panel to change the dot color (or switch on a two-color gradient), the background color, the dot shape (square, rounded, dots, classy, or extra-rounded corners), and to upload a logo image that gets placed in the center of the code. All of this happens locally: your logo file is read directly in the browser and is never uploaded anywhere. For a deeper walkthrough of branding options and print-size tips, see the custom QR code generator page.

Do QR codes expire?

A QR code generated by this tool never expires and never stops working, because the destination (the URL, WiFi details, or contact info) is encoded directly into the pattern itself, not stored on a remote server that could go offline. Some other QR services sell a "dynamic" QR code, which instead points to a short redirect link they control, so they can change the destination later or track scans, but that convenience comes with a real trade-off: if that company's redirect service ever shuts down, every code printed against it stops working, even though the physical QR image itself never changed. A code from this tool has no such dependency; print it once and it keeps working indefinitely.

Printing a QR code so it scans reliably

A few practical rules keep a printed code scannable at a distance:

• Keep at least a quiet zone (blank margin) of about 4 modules of white space around the code; cropping too tight confuses some scanners.
• Print at 2 x 2 cm (about 0.8 x 0.8 inches) minimum for a close-range scan (a menu or receipt), and scale up for distance: roughly 1 inch of code size per 10 feet of expected scanning distance for signage.
• Keep strong contrast between the dot color and the background. A light color on a light background, or two similar mid-tones, can fail to scan even though it looks fine on screen.
• Test the printed code with two or three different phone models before a large print run, since camera quality and scanning apps vary.

Where QR codes show up in everyday life

QR codes moved well beyond their original factory-floor barcode role years ago, and the content type you pick above usually maps directly onto one of these common situations:

• Restaurant menus: a URL code on a table tent replaces a printed menu, and can be updated any time by changing the page it points to.
• Retail packaging and shelf tags: a URL code links to product details, an ingredient list, a manual, or a warranty registration page.
• Event tickets and boarding passes: a plain-text or URL code stores a reference number a scanner reads at entry, faster and more reliably than a human reading a printed code aloud.
• Business cards and email signatures: a contact-card (vCard) code adds the person straight to a phone's address book in one scan, no retyping a phone number from a photo.
• Storefront windows and posters: a URL code sends foot traffic straight to a menu, a booking page, or a social profile without anyone typing a web address by hand.
• Payment and peer-to-peer transfer apps: many wallet apps generate their own QR codes for sending money, a different but related use of the same underlying format.
• Guest WiFi in cafes, hotels and Airbnbs: a WiFi code lets a guest join the network with one scan instead of asking staff to read out a password letter by letter.

Common QR code mistakes to avoid

Most QR codes that fail to scan run into one of a small handful of avoidable problems:

• Too small for the distance: a code sized for a phone held at arm's length will not scan reliably from across a room. Scale the print size to the expected scanning distance, not just to "fits on the page."
• Low contrast: pastel-on-pastel or mid-tone-on-mid-tone color combinations can fail even when the code looks fine to the human eye on a monitor. Keep the dot color meaningfully darker than the background.
• No quiet zone: cropping the white margin too tight, right up against the pattern, can confuse a scanner that relies on that blank border to detect where the code starts and ends.
• A logo that's too large: this tool caps the logo at a sensible size automatically, but generally a center logo should cover well under half the code's total area, or the redundancy budget from error correction gets used up entirely by the logo instead of protecting against real-world wear.
• Testing only on one device: a code that scans instantly on a newer phone can still struggle on an older camera or a scanning app with weaker decoding. A quick test on two or three different phones before a large print run catches most of these problems early.
• Encoding an unnecessarily long URL: a long link with tracking parameters makes the code visually denser, which in turn makes it slightly harder to scan at a distance. A shortened link, where the destination allows it, produces a simpler, more scan-friendly pattern for the exact same content.