QR Code Generator

What is a QR code?

Type a web address or any text and get a QR code you can scan, print or share. The code is drawn on this page as you type, and you can download it as a PNG image or as an SVG file that stays sharp at any size. It is free, needs no account, and everything happens in your browser: what you type is never sent to our server.

A QR code (short for quick response code) is a square pattern of dark and light dots that a phone camera can read in a moment. It was invented in 1994 to track car parts, and today it stores things like web addresses, so that a person can point a camera at a poster instead of typing a long link. The pattern is not a picture of the text: it is the text turned into bits, with extra repair data added, and drawn as a grid of squares called modules.

Three large squares in the corners tell the scanner where the code is and which way up it is. Smaller marks inside the grid keep large codes straight when the paper is bent. Everything else is data and repair information.

What can you put in a QR code?

• A web address. The most common use. Include the full address, starting with https://, so every phone opens it as a link.
• Plain text. A message, a serial number, a note or a code for your own app.
• Wi-Fi details. Enter the network name, password and security type, and phones that support it offer to join the network.
• An email, a phone number or a text message. Fill in the address, number or message, and the code opens the mail app, the dialler or the messages app with it ready to send.
• A contact card. Enter a name, phone, email and organisation, and people can save your details with one scan.

A code holds up to about 2,900 characters of plain text, but it becomes dense and harder to scan as the text grows. Shorter is better: a short web address makes a simple code that scans fast, even when printed small.

Choosing an error-correction level

Every QR code carries repair data, so it still scans when part of it is scratched, dirty or covered. You choose how much repair data to include. Low repairs about 7% of the code, Medium about 15%, Quartile about 25% and High about 30%.

More repair data makes the code bigger and denser, because it has to hold more. Medium is a good default. Pick High for codes that will be printed on things that get scuffed, such as stickers, packaging or outdoor signs, and Low for short messages shown on a clean screen.

Tips for a code that scans every time

• Keep strong contrast. Dark code on a light background is the safest. This page warns you when your colours are too close to scan.
• Do not invert the colours. A light code on a dark background fails on many scanners, even when it looks fine.
• Leave a quiet border. The empty margin around the code is part of it, and the downloads include it. Do not crop it off or print text against it.
• Print it big enough. As a rough rule, make the code at least 2 centimetres wide, and about one tenth of the scanning distance for signs and posters.
• Use SVG for print. An SVG file is sharp at any size, so it suits posters, stickers and professional printing. Use PNG for slides, documents and web pages, and download it at a size at least as large as it will appear.
• Test before you print. Scan the finished code with more than one phone, from the distance people will use.

Your text stays on your device

The code is worked out by a script that runs in your browser. The text you type is not uploaded, logged or stored by this page, so it is fine to use for private links and Wi-Fi passwords. Once the page has loaded, the generator keeps working even if you go offline.