QR Code Generator at a glance
- What it does
- Create QR codes for URLs, text, WiFi and contact details, with custom colours and downloadable output. Generated in your browser,
- Where it runs
- Entirely in your browser — no data is uploaded
- Works offline
- Yes, once the page has loaded
- Cost
- Free, with no account and no usage limit
- Category
- Design & Colors
How to use the QR generator
- Enter what the code should contain - most often a URL, including
https://. - Adjust the colours if you need it to match a brand, keeping contrast high.
- Test it with your own phone before you print anything.
- Download the image at a size suitable for where it will be used.
Static and dynamic codes - the important distinction
This tool creates static QR codes: the data is encoded directly in the pattern. They never expire, work forever, involve no third party, and cannot be tracked or changed.
Dynamic codes, sold by commercial services, encode a short redirect URL. The service can change the destination later and count scans. That flexibility comes at a price: the code stops working if you stop paying or the company disappears, every scan passes through their servers, and printed material becomes worthless if the service shuts down. There are well-documented cases of businesses reprinting entire menu sets after a provider changed its terms.
The middle path is to make a static code point at a URL you control, such as yoursite.com/menu, and redirect from there. You keep the ability to change the destination and depend on nobody.
What you can encode
| Type | Format |
|---|---|
| Website | https://example.com |
| WiFi | WIFI:T:WPA;S:NetworkName;P:password;; |
mailto:someone@example.com?subject=Hello | |
| Phone | tel:+441234567890 |
| SMS | sms:+441234567890?body=Message |
| Contact card | vCard format |
| Location | geo:51.5074,-0.1278 |
The WiFi format is genuinely useful and underused - a code on a guest room wall saves explaining a 24-character password to every visitor.
Printing QR codes that scan
- Minimum size. About 2 × 2 cm for close scanning. The rule of thumb for distance is that the code should be roughly one tenth of the scanning distance - a poster read from 3 metres needs a 30 cm code.
- Quiet zone. Leave clear margin equal to at least four modules on all sides. Crowding is the most common reason a printed code fails.
- Contrast and polarity. Dark pattern on a light background. Inverted codes fail on many scanners, and low-contrast brand colours fail on most.
- Do not stretch it. The code must stay square.
- Shorten the URL. Less data means fewer, larger modules, which scan more reliably at small sizes.
- Test on several phones, printed at final size on the final material, before committing to a print run.
Error correction, and the logo in the middle
QR codes include Reed-Solomon error correction at four levels: L recovers about 7% of damage, M 15%, Q 25% and H 30%. Higher correction means more redundant data, so the code becomes denser for the same content.
That redundancy is what allows a logo in the centre. Use level H, keep the logo under roughly 25% of the area, and always test - the three large corner squares are position markers and must never be obscured.
A note on QR code safety
A QR code is opaque to the person scanning it: you cannot see the destination before you go there. That has made them a favoured phishing vector, including stickers placed over legitimate codes on parking meters and restaurant tables.
If you deploy codes publicly, point them at a domain people recognise as yours, and check periodically that nobody has covered them. If you are scanning one, read the URL your phone previews before opening it, and be suspicious of any code that leads to a login or payment page.
Frequently asked questions
No. They are static, meaning the data is encoded directly in the pattern. There is no service in the middle that could stop working, and nothing to renew.
Not for a static code - the destination is part of the pattern. Point it at a URL on your own domain and redirect from there if you may need to change it later.
Yes, without restriction. The QR specification is open and royalty-free, and codes generated here carry no watermark, tracking or usage limit.
Usually size, quiet zone or contrast. Print it larger, leave clear margin around it, and use a dark pattern on a light background. Inverted or low-contrast colour schemes are the frequent culprits.
Yes, at high error correction and covering no more than about a quarter of the area. Keep the three corner position markers completely clear, and test the result.
Nothing you enter here leaves your browser
QR Code Generator does its work in JavaScript running on your own device. The page loads once, and after that there is no upload step and no server involved — which matters here because images carry metadata, and unreleased artwork should not be uploaded to convert it.
You can verify this rather than taking our word for it: load the page, disconnect from the internet, and the tool keeps working. Our privacy policy sets out what is and is not collected, and this guide explains why the distinction matters.