How do I make a QR code?
On this free online QR code generator, you make a QR code by choosing what the code should do, filling in the boxes, and downloading the file. To create a QR code you fill in plain fields, and the page writes the code's format for you, so there is no WIFI: or BEGIN:VCARD to type. Download it as PNG or SVG, at a printed size you pick by where the code will go, with a level of damage protection if the code may get worn. The files carry no watermark and need no account. What you type is encoded in your browser and is not sent to our servers.
Which kinds of QR code can I create?
You can create ten kinds of QR code: Website, Wi-Fi, Contact, Email, Phone, SMS, WhatsApp, Location, Event and Text. Any link, such as a menu page or an Instagram profile, is a Website code: paste its address. This QR code creator shows, for each kind, what you fill in and what the page does with it.
| Kind | What you fill in | What the page does |
|---|---|---|
| Website | The web address | Adds https:// when it is missing and refuses an address with a space. |
| Wi-Fi | Network name, password and password type, and whether the network is hidden | Offers WPA or WPA2, WPA3, WEP and open networks; warns about WEP and about some passwords. |
| Contact | Name, phones, email, company, job title, website, address and note | Writes a vCard 3.0. |
| Address, subject and message | Stores all three in the code. | |
| Phone | The phone number | Keeps the digits and the plus sign, and warns when the country code is missing. |
| SMS | One phone number and, if you like, a message | Takes one number per code. |
| The number with its country code, and, if you like, a first message | Cleans the number to digits. | |
| Location | An address, a place name or coordinates | Turns coordinates into a geo: code, or a Google Maps link if you ask; an address or place name becomes a Google Maps search link. |
| Event | Name, start, optional end, place and details | Refuses a start time that the clocks skip for daylight saving. |
| Text | The text itself | Encodes it exactly as typed. |
How do I turn a URL into a QR code?
To turn a URL into a QR code, choose the Website type, paste the address, and download the code. A website QR code is a QR code for a link: it holds the address; if you leave off https://, the page adds it and says so, and an address with a space is refused. A menu page, a Google Form or a file you have put online also takes the Website type, because this page does not host files.
How do I make a Wi-Fi QR code?
To make a Wi-Fi QR code, choose Wi-Fi, type the network name and the Wi-Fi password, pick the password type, and tick the box if the network is hidden. The password types are WPA or WPA2, WPA3, WEP, and No password (open) for an open network. The page writes the code in the same format Android's own Share Wi-Fi writes (Android source code). It warns about WEP, a password outside 8 to 63 characters, and letters beyond plain ASCII, and it does not block you. Anyone who scans a Wi-Fi code, or photographs it, can read the password: put it where you would share the password. On one Android phone, the camera scanned a Wi-Fi code from this generator and joined the network: a hidden WPA or WPA2 network with a plain 10-character password, scanned from a screen. iPhone, WPA3, WEP, open networks and printed codes were not tested. For open and hidden networks and every password warning explained, use Varnip's Wi-Fi QR code generator.
How do I make a vCard QR code for a business card?
To make a vCard QR code for a business card, choose Contact, fill in only what you want to share, and download the code. A contact QR code is written as a vCard 3.0, and the more you fill in, the denser the code can get. The 2 cm printed size is the option named for business cards. We have not tested scanning a printed code, so scan one printed code before you print many. For a page made only for contact cards, with the details, the code size and the business-card size explained, use Varnip's vCard QR code generator.
How do I make a location QR code?
To make a location QR code, choose Location and type an address, a place name or coordinates. Coordinates become a geo: code, or a Google Maps link if you tick the box, and an address or place name becomes a Google Maps search link. Use it as a QR code for an address, a place or a pair of coordinates. We have not tested scanning a printed code, so scan one printed code before you print many. To make a code for a place on its own page, use the location QR code generator: the same tool with only the Location boxes, an example place to start from, and notes on coordinates and Google Maps links.
How do I make an email QR code?
To make an email QR code, choose Email, type the address, and add a subject and a message if you want them. The address, subject and message are stored in the code, and our test decoder reads them back exactly, line breaks included.
Can I make a QR code for a phone number or a text message?
Yes, you can make a QR code for a phone number with the Phone type, or for a text message with the SMS type. The page keeps the digits and the plus sign, and warns when the country code is missing. An SMS code takes one number only.
How do I make a WhatsApp or calendar event QR code?
To make a WhatsApp QR code, choose WhatsApp; for a calendar event QR code, choose Event. For WhatsApp, type the number with its country code and, if you like, a first message; the page cleans the number to digits. WhatsApp's help page for its chat link says to omit zeroes, brackets and dashes when adding the phone number in international format (WhatsApp Help Center). For an event, type the name, the start, an optional end, a place and details, and choose Same clock time (in person) or My time zone (online). The page refuses a start time that the clocks skip for daylight saving.
Can a QR code expire?
Static QR codes made here do not expire on a date of ours: each one keeps working as long as what it points to does. This makes a static QR code: what you type is stored inside the code itself. A phone reads a static code directly: scans do not pass through Varnip, so Varnip does not count or limit them. That makes this a QR code generator that doesn't expire your codes; what can stop one working is the website, the phone number, the WhatsApp account or the Wi-Fi password it points to.
Is this a static or a dynamic QR code generator?
This is a static QR code generator: what you type is stored inside the code itself, and a code can't be changed after you print it. To change what a code does, make a new one. Can you create a dynamic QR code here? No: Varnip makes static codes.
Can QR codes be tracked?
A QR code made here is not tracked by Varnip: scans do not pass through Varnip, so Varnip does not count or limit them. Varnip does count how the generators are used, such as which format was downloaded, never what you type.
Do I need to sign up to make a QR code?
No, you do not need to sign up to make a QR code here, and there is no account to create. This QR code generator has no sign-up, no login and no email to give, and it is free.
Is there a watermark on the QR code?
No, there is no watermark on the QR code. The file holds only the squares, the blank margin and the background.
Is a QR code generator safe to use?
This answer covers the generator, not the codes you scan: what you type is encoded in your browser and is not sent to our servers. If you are asking whether a QR code generator is legit, this one needs no sign-up or account, and it is free. Anyone who scans a Wi-Fi code, or photographs it, can read the password: put it where you would share the password.
Are QR codes free to make and use?
Making a QR code here is free: the generator costs nothing and needs no account. On the QR Code standard itself, DENSO WAVE says no application is necessary to use a QR Code, that you can use the code freely as long as you follow the JIS or ISO standards for QR Codes, and that there is no fee.
What size should a printed QR code be?
How big a printed QR code should be depends on where it will go, and this page offers four sizes named by use: 2 cm for business cards, 3 cm for flyers and menus, 5 cm for posters and shop windows, and 10 cm for banners and signs. Under the code, Printed size shows the QR code size for print: the size of the downloaded file, blank margin included, and SVG and PNG share it. The file is close to the size picked, not equal to it, because each square is drawn in whole pixels. Every file has a blank margin four squares wide on every side, the quiet zone that DENSO WAVE says a QR Code requires. DENSO WAVE's FAQ puts the smallest QR Code a common laser printer can print at about 3.57 mm, for the smallest version and not counting the margin; that is a printing limit, not a size for scanning. We have not tested scanning a printed code, so scan one printed code before you print many.
| Printed size | Suits | PNG at 300 dpi | PNG at 600 dpi |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 cm | Business cards | 161 to 314 pixels | 411 to 555 pixels |
| 3 cm | Flyers and menus | 290 to 423 pixels | 644 to 785 pixels |
| 5 cm | Posters and shop windows | 507 to 660 pixels | 1,110 to 1,267 pixels |
| 10 cm | Banners and signs | 1,110 to 1,267 pixels | 2,295 to 2,422 pixels |
Should I download a QR code as PNG or SVG?
Choose SVG for print and PNG for documents, websites and messages; these are the only two file types this page makes. SVG is a vector file sized in millimeters. PNG is 600 dpi by default and 300 dpi on request, with the dpi stored in the file. The table above gives the PNG size in pixels for each printed size: about 650 to 790 pixels a side for a 3 cm code at 600 dpi, depending on what you type.
Can I make a QR code with a transparent background?
Yes, you can make a QR code with a transparent background: tick Transparent background and download the code. The page warns you to place it on a white or light surface, because our test decoder read nothing from a transparent PNG. You can also pick black, dark blue or a custom color; the page warns when the code is lighter than its background or the contrast is below 4:1, our own limit, and it never changes your colors.
What is QR code error correction?
In the words of DENSO WAVE: "QR Code has error correction capability to restore data if the code is dirty or damaged." Varnip calls it damage protection and offers four levels, Medium recommended. The file carries the level you chose, and the page never raises it silently. DENSO WAVE adds that raising the level makes the code larger. At every published build, our tests read the codes back with a software decoder: every damage-protection level, all ten content types, and PNG files drawn in Chromium, Firefox and WebKit.
| Level | Label on this page | DENSO WAVE rate |
|---|---|---|
| L | Low: the smallest code | About 7% |
| M | Medium: recommended | About 15% |
| Q | High: for codes that may get dirty or scratched | About 25% |
| H | Highest: for codes outdoors or that get worn | About 30% |
How much of a QR code can be missing?
At level H, DENSO WAVE gives a data restoration rate of about 30%, counted in codewords. The lower levels restore less: about 7% for L, 15% for M and 25% for Q. We have not tested scanning printed codes, damaged or not, so scan one printed code before you print many.
How much can a QR code hold?
One code holds up to 7,089 digits at level L, and less for letters and symbols. Plain text holds up to 2,953 bytes at level L and 1,273 at level H. If what you type is too long, the page says so, names the level it would fit at, and never cuts your text.
Can I put accents or emoji in a QR code?
You can type accents, other scripts and emoji in a Text code: they are encoded as UTF-8, and our test decoder reads them back exactly. What you type in a Text code is encoded exactly as typed, with no trimming, and a cut-off emoji is refused with its own message. We have not tested how phone cameras show them, so scan one before you print many.
Why might a QR code not scan?
Colors are one reason a QR code might not scan, and this page warns about three color problems: a transparent background, a code lighter than its background, and contrast below 4:1, our own limit. Keep the blank margin: every file has one four squares wide on every side, which DENSO WAVE says a QR Code requires, so do not crop it. DENSO WAVE's FAQ also says that scanners using red light cannot detect a code when the code and the background both reflect, or both absorb, red. A code with a lot of text is dense, and the page says when it is too dense to scan from the screen; the downloaded file is unaffected. We have not tested scanning a printed code, so scan one printed code before you print many.
Can a QR code just be text?
Yes, a QR code can hold just text: a Text code holds the words themselves, exactly as you typed them, stored inside the code. Choose Text, type or paste the words, and download the code: text to QR code, made in your browser.
Can I make a QR code for a PDF or a Google Form?
Yes, as a link: put the PDF, the form or the menu online, copy its address, and make a Website code with it. This QR generator does not host files, and it has no separate type for them. For reviews, Google's Business Profile Help says a business can create and share a link or QR code to request reviews. A review link works the same way: paste it into the Website type.
Can I add a logo to my QR code?
No, Varnip does not add a logo to a QR code. You can pick the color of the squares, black, dark blue or custom, on a white or a transparent background.
Does this page scan QR codes?
No, this page makes QR codes; it does not read or scan one you already have.
Do I need to install an app to make QR codes?
No, you do not need to install anything: this online QR code generator works in the web page. It is a web page, not an app or a browser extension. A browser that is too old shows a message and keeps the buttons off.
Can I make a barcode instead of a QR code?
Yes, on a separate page: for a product barcode (UPC, EAN, Code 128), use Varnip's barcode generator. To put a product's GTIN, batch or expiry date in a QR code or a Data Matrix, use Varnip's GS1 Digital Link generator. Not sure which code you need? Both tools are on one page, with a switch between them.