How to Create a QR Code (That Actually Scans)

Making a QR code takes a minute. Making one that still works when it's printed on a poster, stuck to a window or photographed in poor light takes a few more decisions. This guide walks through them using the most common case, a QR code for a website, with notes for other content types.

1. Decide what the code should do

Start with the action you want: open a web page, join WiFi, save a contact, send an email. Each needs a different content type, because phones react to the format of the text inside the code (see what a QR code can contain). If you're not sure, a link to a web page is the most flexible option, because you can update the page later without reprinting the code.

2. Prepare the content

For a website link

• Use the https:// version of the address. Browsers warn about unencrypted pages, and cautious people won't open them from a public code.
• Keep it short. https://example.com/menu makes a 25 × 25 code; a 113-character link full of tracking parameters needs 41 × 41, with smaller modules at the same printed size.
• Prefer a path on your own domain over a third-party short link. If a shortening service disappears, every printed code breaks; your own domain can be redirected whenever you like.
• If you want to measure scans, add campaign parameters such as ?utm_source=poster, and your website analytics will count the visits. Static QR codes don't count scans themselves.

The URL QR code generator is set up for this, and adds https:// if you leave it out.

For other content

Enter details exactly as the receiving device expects them: a WiFi network name with the right capital letters, phone numbers with the country code (+44…), email addresses without typos. The QR Code Generator validates each field and formats the text for you.

3. Style it without breaking it

Colours, rounded dots and logos are fine within limits. The rules that matter most:

• Dark code on a light background, with strong contrast.
• A clear margin, the quiet zone, of 4 modules around the code.
• A logo no larger than about a fifth of the code's width, with error correction set to H.
• Leave the three corner squares recognisable.

The generator warns you as you design if contrast, margin or logo size is risky. The reasons are covered in QR code colours, contrast and logos.

4. Choose the right file format

Avoid enlarging a small PNG for print: it blurs the edges of the modules. Download SVG or PDF instead, or a larger PNG.

5. Print it big enough

A common rule of thumb is that a QR code should be at least a tenth as wide as the distance it will be scanned from: 2 cm for a business card held in the hand, 10 cm for a poster read from a metre away. Denser codes need more. QR code size and quiet zone has a table of sizes.

6. Test before you print a batch

1. Scan the downloaded file on screen with two different phones, ideally one iPhone and one Android.
2. Check the result does exactly what you intended: the page loads on mobile, or the WiFi connects.
3. Upload the image to the QR Validator to check its contrast, margin and error-correction margin.
4. Print one copy at the final size, on the final material, and scan it from the distance people will use.

Making many codes at once

For tables in a restaurant, product labels or event badges, create a spreadsheet with one row per code and use the Bulk QR Generator to produce them all in one ZIP file.

Common mistakes

• Linking to a page that isn't mobile-friendly: almost everyone scanning is on a phone.
• Printing a code on a curved bottle or behind glossy laminate without testing it.
• Putting the code where there's no phone signal, such as an underground car park, when it links to a website.
• Using a free “dynamic” code from a service that later disables it unless you pay.
• Forgetting a short line of text telling people what the code does.