Make a QR code

This generator makes static QR codes for a link, Wi-Fi network, contact card, text, email, phone call or SMS, and lets you download them as PNG or SVG. The code is drawn in your browser. It doesn't route through our server, it doesn't count scans, and it never expires.

Static vs. "dynamic" QR codes

Many QR sites give you a code that points to their short link, which then forwards to your address. That lets them count scans, record the time, rough location and device of each person who scans, and switch the code off if you stop paying. The code on your poster depends on their server.

A static code stores your content directly in the pattern:

• A link code opens your exact address. No middle step.
• A Wi-Fi or contact code is read by the phone offline. Nothing is looked up on the internet.
• Nobody is counting. We don't see the code, the content or the scans.

The trade-off is honest: you can't edit a static code after printing it. If the address might change, put a page you control behind it.

How to use it

1. Choose the type: Link, Wi-Fi, Contact, Text, Email, Phone or SMS.
2. Fill in the fields. The code updates as you type, and "What the code contains" shows the exact text inside it.
3. Pick the colors and error correction, then download a PNG (512, 1024 or 2048 px) or an SVG.

Where the browser has a built-in scanner, the tool also reads the finished image back and confirms that it decodes to exactly what you typed.

Wi-Fi QR codes

A Wi-Fi code saves guests from spelling out a long password. Use the network name exactly as your router shows it, including capitals and spaces, choose the security type (WPA covers WPA2 and WPA3 too), and tick Hidden network only if the network doesn't broadcast its name. Special characters such as ;, : and , are escaped for you.

Contact (vCard) codes

A contact code carries a vCard: name, phone, email, company, title, website, address and a note. When scanned, the phone offers to save it to Contacts. Fill in only what you are happy to hand to anyone who sees the code, since a business card can be photographed and read later. Fewer fields also mean a simpler, easier-to-scan code.

Colors, size and error correction

• Classic is black on white and scans everywhere.
• Amber is near-black on our amber. Dark modules on a light background keep it readable by phone cameras; light-on-dark codes fail on some scanners, so we don't offer them.
• Error correction L, M, Q and H let roughly 7%, 15%, 25% or 30% of the code be damaged and still scan. Higher levels make the pattern denser.
• Leave the white margin. The border around the code is part of the standard. Don't crop it when you place the image.

For print, the SVG stays sharp at any size. As a rule of thumb, make the code at least 2 cm wide for scanning at arm's length, and larger for posters read from a distance.

Email, phone and SMS codes

• Email opens a new message with the address, subject and body filled in. The person still chooses whether to send it.
• Phone starts a call to the number. Spaces and dashes are removed; keep the international prefix if people will scan it from abroad.
• SMS opens a new text with the number and message filled in.

Use obviously fake or role addresses, like a shared front-desk mailbox, for anything you post in public.

Privacy around QR codes

QR codes are a convenient way to pass details without a stranger handling your phone, which is the same idea behind lending your phone without exposing everything on it. They are also a common phishing trick: before following a code in a public place, check the address your phone previews. For passwords you put in Wi-Fi codes, the password generator makes long random ones locally.

If you need to hand over photos rather than a link, our guide on how to share photos privately compares the usual options.