QR Code Generator — Wi-Fi, vCard, URL & Payment Codes

Choose “Wi-Fi” and enter the network name (SSID) and the password, then pick the security type — WPA for essentially every modern router, WEP for old hardware, or “No password” for an open network. Guests scan the code and their phone offers to join; they never have to type the password.

The vCard type. It writes a contact card into the code, so scanning it offers “Add contact” with the name, phone, email and address already filled in — much less error-prone than a plain text code that the user has to copy by hand.

The WIFI: grammar treats \, ;, ,, : and " as structural characters, so any of them inside a network name or password has to be escaped. This tool does that escaping; a code made by hand often does not, which is the usual cause of a scan that opens a joining screen and then fails.

SVG for print and for anything that will be scaled — it stays sharp at any size. PNG for pasting into a slide, an email or a document. Both are generated from the same symbol, so they contain the same data.

Up to about 2,900 bytes, but density is the enemy of scanning: the more data, the smaller each module, and the harder an older camera finds it. Keep a link short, and for a vCard leave out fields you do not need. A larger on-screen size also scans far more reliably than a small one.

It is redundant data that lets the code survive damage — a tear, a smudge, or a logo printed over the middle. Level M is the sensible default; Q or H tolerate more damage but make the symbol denser. Use H only when the code may be partly covered or worn.

A static QR code never expires — it is a drawing of the data, so it works as long as the printed symbol exists and the data is still meaningful. If the code contains a shortened URL, the link behind the shortener can expire or be repointed, and that is where “expiring QR codes” come from: the symbol is fine, the destination is not. Codes generated here encode the content directly, so there is no redirect to expire.

Yes, within limits. Error correction lets a scanner reconstruct missing modules, so a small logo over the centre still scans — but the logo destroys data, and the higher the correction level the more damage the symbol tolerates. Use level H, keep the logo well under a fifth of the area, avoid covering the three finder squares in the corners, and test with several phones before printing. A code that scans on one phone and not another is usually too dense or too damaged.

Size is set by the module, not by the symbol as a whole. As a working rule, each module should be at least 0.4 mm across in print; a version-3 code is 29 modules wide, so it needs at least 12 mm — and that is the minimum, not a comfortable size. For a poster read from a metre away, make it several centimetres. If you must shrink a code, reduce the payload first: a shorter URL needs fewer modules and stays readable at a smaller size.