QR Code Generator
Create scannable QR codes for URLs, text, WiFi, email, phone, SMS and vCards, and download a print-ready PNG. Free, no sign-up, and it runs in your browser.
Dedicated page: /en/qr-code-generator
Higher error correction survives more damage and logos pasted over the code, but makes the pattern denser. Keep strong contrast between code and background or scanners will struggle.
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Quick answer
A QR code generator turns a link, text, WiFi login, email, phone number, SMS or contact card into a scannable QR code you can download as a PNG. Customise the colours and size, scan test it, then print it on menus, posters, packaging and business cards.
About this QR Code Generator
Create scannable QR codes for URLs, text, WiFi, email, phone, SMS and vCards, and download a print-ready PNG. It is one of the Image and Media on ToolUstad, and like every tool here it runs entirely in your browser: nothing you type, paste or open is uploaded to a server, and there is no sign-up or usage limit.
What is a QR code?
A QR code, Quick Response code, is a two dimensional barcode invented by Denso Wave in 1994 for tracking car parts. Where a normal barcode stores about 20 characters in one direction, a QR code stores up to several thousand characters in a grid of squares, read by any phone camera. The three big corner squares let scanners detect orientation, and built in Reed-Solomon error correction keeps the code readable even when up to 30 percent of it is damaged or covered.
QR code types this generator creates
| Type | What the scan does | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| URL | Opens the web page | Menus, posters, product pages |
| WiFi | Joins the network without typing the password | Cafes, offices, rentals |
| vCard | Saves your contact to the phone | Business cards, email signatures |
| Email / Phone / SMS | Starts a prefilled message or call | Support cards, feedback requests |
| Plain text | Shows the text on screen | Serial numbers, instructions |
Static vs dynamic QR codes
This generator makes static QR codes: the content is encoded in the pattern itself, so the code works forever, for free, with no account and no redirect through anyone's server. A dynamic QR code points at a short URL a service can retarget, which adds scan analytics but means the code dies if the subscription ends. For most printed uses, static is the safer choice.
Best practices
- Always scan test the final code with two different phones before printing.
- Keep strong contrast: dark modules on a light background scan fastest.
- Leave a quiet zone (blank margin) around the code, and print at least 2 cm wide.
- Use a higher error correction level when a logo or design overlaps the code.
- Shorten long URLs first: fewer modules means a cleaner, more reliable code.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Inverting the colours (light code on dark background), which many scanners cannot read.
- Printing tiny codes that phone cameras cannot focus on at normal distance.
- Encoding a URL without https://, which some phones treat as plain text.
- Stretching the PNG out of square when placing it in a design.
Who is the QR code generator for?
Restaurants printing menu codes, shops linking to reviews, event organisers sharing WiFi, salespeople modernising business cards, and teachers linking worksheets to videos. Paid QR services mostly sell dynamic redirects and analytics; if you simply need a correct, permanent, scannable code, generating it directly is faster and removes the middleman from your printed materials forever.
Designing QR codes that still scan
Branded QR codes are welcome, plain ones are reliable, and the difference is discipline. Keep the module contrast high, recolour only with dark foregrounds on light backgrounds, place any logo inside the centre at a high error correction level, and never redraw the finder patterns in the corners. Then test the printed proof at the real distance, under the real lighting, with a mid range phone rather than a flagship. Following that routine, a coloured code with a small centre logo scans as reliably as the plain version this generator produces, and your menus and posters get the brand treatment without the support complaints.
Learn: how to use the QR Code Generator
- Pick the content type. A WiFi code lets guests join your network by pointing a camera, a vCard code saves your contact details to a phone.
- Fill the fields and watch the code and the exact encoded content update live.
- Choose a size (2048 px for print), set your colours with strong contrast, and download the PNG.
Features
- Seven content types: URL, text, WiFi, email, phone, SMS and vCard
- Four sizes up to 2048 px for print
- All four error correction levels (L, M, Q, H)
- Custom code and background colours
- Shows the exact payload being encoded, so WiFi and vCard formats are verifiable
- Generated entirely in your browser with a proven QR library
Worked example
WiFi fields (network HomeNet, password correct horse, WPA) encode to WIFI:T:WPA;S:HomeNet;P:correct horse;;, the standard format every phone camera understands.
Frequently asked questions
Do these QR codes expire?
No. These are static QR codes: the content is encoded in the pattern itself, with no redirect service in between, so they work forever as long as the content (like a URL) stays live.
Why will my code not scan?
Low contrast is the usual cause: keep the code much darker than the background. Very long content at high error correction also gets extremely dense; shorten the content or choose a bigger size.
Can I put a logo in the middle?
Not in this tool, but if you paste a small logo over a downloaded code, use error correction H, which tolerates about 30% of the code being covered. Test the result with two different phones.
Is my WiFi password sent anywhere?
No. The code is drawn in your browser. The password exists only in the pattern you download.
Do QR codes expire?
Static QR codes never expire, because the data lives in the pattern itself. Dynamic codes from paid services can stop working when the subscription lapses, because they redirect through the provider's server.
How do I make a QR code for my WiFi?
Choose the WiFi type, enter your network name (SSID), password and security type (usually WPA), and generate. Guests scan it and join without typing the password. Print it where guests can see it, not where strangers outside can.
What size should I print a QR code?
At least 2 x 2 cm for close range scanning, and bigger as the scanning distance grows: a poster scanned from a metre away needs roughly 10 cm or more. Download the PNG at a large pixel size so print stays sharp.
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