QR Code Generator

Make a QR code for a link, a Wi-Fi network, or a contact

Pick what the code should do, fill in the fields, and it appears as you type. Download it as a PNG for a slide or a document, or as an SVG for anything that gets printed. Everything happens in your browser: what you type is turned into a QR code on your own machine and never sent anywhere, which matters most for the Wi-Fi option — that one involves typing your network password.

These codes do not expire

Many QR generators hand you a code that points at their server, which then redirects to your link. That is how a free code turns into a dead code — or a paid subscription — months later, after it is already printed on a thousand menus. The codes here are static: your link or text is encoded directly into the pattern, so there is no middleman that can disappear, start charging, or count who scanned it. The trade-off is that you cannot change where it points after printing. For a menu, a Wi-Fi network, or a business card, that is the right trade.

Error correction, and why it matters in print

QR codes carry redundant data so they still scan when part of the pattern is damaged. Four levels exist: Low recovers about 7% of the code, Medium 15%, Quartile 25%, and High 30%. Higher levels survive more scuffing but leave less room for data, so the same text produces a physically denser code. Medium is a sensible default for a screen. For something printed and handled — a table tent, a sticker, a poster outdoors — High is worth the extra density.

Why a QR code fails to scan

Two causes account for most failures, and this tool warns you about both before you download. The first is contrast: the pattern must be meaningfully darker than the background. Brand colours that look fine on a screen often fall below what a phone camera can separate in poor light, and an inverted code — light pattern on a dark background — is unreadable to a large share of scanners. The second is the quiet zone, the blank border around the code. The specification calls for four modules' width; crop it tighter and scanners struggle to find the code at all. Size matters too: a rough rule for print is that the code should be at least a tenth of the distance it will be scanned from, so a code read from two metres wants to be about 20 cm across.

Wi-Fi codes, and what you are actually sharing

A Wi-Fi QR code contains your network name and password in plain text — anyone who can photograph the code can read the password out of it. That is fine for a guest network on a café wall and a bad idea for your home network on a public noticeboard. Because the code is generated here on your own device, the password never travels over the internet on the way to becoming a code; but once the code exists, treat it exactly as carefully as you would treat the password written out longhand.

PNG or SVG?

SVG is vector: the code is stored as shapes, so it stays perfectly sharp whether it is printed on a business card or a billboard, and printers generally prefer it. PNG is a fixed grid of pixels — easier to drop into a slide deck, an email, or a web page. If you are sending artwork to a printer, send the SVG.