How to make a QR code for a link, Wi-Fi or contact card
2 min read
A QR code is just text with error correction wrapped around it. That means two useful things: you can encode anything, including data you would not want to send to a website, and you can generate one offline.
This generator renders the code in your browser, so the content — a private meeting link, a Wi-Fi password, a phone number — is never transmitted.
Open tool →QR code generatorTurn any text or URL into a downloadable PNG or SVG QR code.What you can put in one
- A URL, which is the common case.
- Plain text, up to a few hundred characters.
- Wi-Fi credentials in the WIFI:T:WPA;S:<name>;P:<password>;; format, which most phones understand.
- A vCard, so scanning adds a contact.
- A phone number, an e-mail address or an SMS target.
The steps
Generate a QR code
- Choose the content typeURL, text, Wi-Fi or contact, depending on what the scan should do.
- Enter the valueKeep it short. Every extra character adds modules and makes the code harder to scan from a distance.
- Set the error-correction levelL recovers from about 7% damage, M from about 15%, Q from about 25% and H from about 30%. Higher means a denser code.
- Pick the size and marginFour modules of quiet zone is the standard minimum; do not crop it away.
- Download PNG or SVGUse SVG when it will be printed or scaled.
Making a code that scans reliably
- Contrast is everything: dark modules on a light background. Inverted codes fail on many scanners.
- Do not shrink below roughly 2 cm for a phone scan, and scale up with distance — a poster code has to be readable from a metre away.
- Keep the quiet zone. A code cropped tight against a coloured edge is the most common printing mistake.
- Test with two phones before you print a thousand of them.
PNG or SVG?
SVG is resolution-independent, so it is the right choice for anything printed or displayed at variable size. PNG is fine for a web page at a fixed size, and is what most people need for a slide.
A word on “dynamic” QR codes
A static code like these encodes the destination directly — it works forever, because there is nothing between the scan and the target. A dynamic code points at a redirect service, which lets the destination change but also means the code dies when that service does. For a permanent sign, static is the safer choice.
A QR code is not encrypted. Anyone who can photograph it can read what it encodes — which matters for a Wi-Fi password printed on a wall.
Tools used in this guide
Questions about this guide
- Do these QR codes expire?
- No. A static code contains the data itself, so there is no service that could shut down and no redirect that could stop working.
- Can I add a logo in the middle?
- Not in this tool. A logo covers modules, so it needs a high error-correction level and careful placement; a code with a badly sized logo often fails on older scanners.
- Why will my phone not scan it?
- Usually contrast, size or the quiet zone. Test the screen version first, then the printed one — a code that scans on a monitor can still fail on matte paper at small size.
- Is the content sent anywhere?
- No. The code is generated in your browser; the text you encode never leaves the page.
All guides
- How to merge PDF files without uploading themCombine several PDFs into one document, in the order you choose, entirely in your browser. No upload, no account, no page limit.
- How to split a PDF: extract a page range or one file per pagePull out the pages you need from a PDF, or turn a document into one file per page — locally, without uploading it.
Written and maintained by the FreeOnlineBox project. Every tool named in this guide runs on the reader’s own device; no file described here is uploaded to check it.