QR Code Reader

How to use it

1. Choose a picture of the code, or paste an image with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac).
2. Wait a moment. The text of the code appears in the box under the result heading.
3. Check a web address before you open it. Open the link appears only for addresses that start with http or https.
4. Press Copy to take the text elsewhere, or Start camera to read a code with the camera instead of a picture.

How the code is read

A QR code keeps its text in a square grid of black and white modules, with three large squares at three of its corners that show where the grid is. The reader finds those squares, reads the grid and uses the error-correction data the standard adds, so a code that is partly dirty, creased or covered can still be read. The reading is done by jsQR, an open-source library that runs in a background worker, so a large picture does not freeze the page. Where the browser has its own barcode detector, the Barcode Detection API, that detector is used instead.

What the fields mean

The text is shown exactly as the code holds it. A code whose text starts with WIFI: names a Wi-Fi network, with its name, its security type, its password and whether it is hidden. A code that starts with MAILTO: is an email, one that starts with TEL: is a phone number, and one that starts with BEGIN:VCARD is a contact card. Any other text is shown as it is, and a code that holds no web address is never turned into a link.

The password of a Wi-Fi code is shown on this page in plain text, so check who can see your screen before you read one out.

Links and your safety

A web address is opened only when you press its button. The link opens in a new tab and does not pass this page's address on to the site, and the tool never opens anything by itself. Codes on posters, stickers, parking meters and receipts can be covered with someone else's code, so look at the address before you press the button, and do not open a link you do not trust.

Frequently asked questions