QR Code Generator

What QR codes actually are

A QR code is a 2D barcode invented by Denso Wave in 1994 to track car parts. It encodes a string of bytes — usually a URL, but it can be any text — in a grid of black and white squares. The three big squares in the corners aren't decorative; they let a scanner figure out orientation and angle, so a code captured by a camera held at any angle still resolves cleanly.

This generator produces a code in your browser, then lets you download it as a PNG (for raster contexts — slides, social posts, screen displays) or SVG (for print, signage, anything that needs to scale).

What to encode

• A URL. The most common case. The QR opens the link when scanned. Keep it short — longer URLs produce denser, harder-to-scan codes.
• A Wi-Fi network. Use the format WIFI:T:WPA;S:NetworkName;P:password;; and most modern phones offer to join the network on scan. Useful in coffee shops, Airbnb welcome signs, conference rooms.
• A vCard. Encodes contact info that gets imported to the scanner's address book. Cluttered to look at but useful for business cards.
• An email or SMS prefill. mailto:you@example.com?subject=Hello or sms:+15555551234?body=Hi.
• A geo location. geo:37.7749,-122.4194 opens the default maps app.
• Plain text. Whatever the scanner does with arbitrary text is up to the scanner; usually it just displays it.

Print and physical placement

If you're printing a QR for the real world, a handful of rules will save you grief:

• Quiet zone. Leave a margin of white space around the code, equal to at least four module widths. Scanners need the contrast to lock on. Codes printed flush against another graphic often fail.
• Minimum size. A scanner needs to see each square clearly. As a rough rule, the code should be at least 1/10th the scanning distance — a QR scanned from 2 feet away should be at least 2 inches across. Larger is fine; too small is a coin flip.
• Contrast. Dark on light. Inverting the colors (light squares on dark background) breaks many older scanners.
• Don't stretch. The squares must stay square. Resize proportionally only.
• Test on real phones. Print a draft, scan it from the typical viewing angle and distance, then go to production.

Error correction

QR codes have built-in error correction at four levels: L (about 7%), M (15%), Q (25%), and H (30%). The percentage refers to how much of the code can be obscured or damaged before the data is unrecoverable. Higher correction means the code can survive a logo overlaid in the center, a smudge of dirt, or a tear — but at the cost of more squares to print and a denser pattern. Default to M for most uses; use H if you're embedding a logo or printing on something that will get beat up.

Privacy and tracking

A QR code itself is just an encoded string. The privacy question is what URL you encode. If you generate a QR pointing at example.com, every scan goes straight to that site — no analytics, no redirect, no tracking unless the destination site does it. If you generate it through a "QR shortener" service, every scan is logged by the shortener and can be re-routed at any time, which is sometimes what you want and sometimes not. The codes from this tool are static and unredirected.