Why some QR codes stop working
Many QR code websites don't put your web address in the code. Instead, the code sends people to their computer first, which then passes them on to you. It's free for a week or two, then it's switched off unless you pay a monthly subscription. Often that's after the menus, posters or leaflets have been printed. The code on the paper looks fine, it just stops working.
The codes made here hold your web address (or Wi-Fi details) inside the pattern itself. There's nothing in the middle to switch off, so they work for as long as your website does.
The one honest catch: you can't change where it points later. If your web address changes, just make a new code here, free.
- Making the QR code and saving it as a picture is always free.
- Everything happens on your computer. Your Wi-Fi password and details are never sent anywhere.
- A print-ready A4 poster or sheet of QR code stickers is £1 for the PDF, which unlocks this part of the tool for 30 days. That's a one-off payment, not a subscription: nothing renews, and your codes keep working whether you pay or not. You print it yourself on your own printer and your own sticky labels. Nothing is posted to you.
What should the code open?
Guests point their phone camera at the code and can join your Wi-Fi without typing the password. Both are usually printed on a sticker on your router (the box your internet comes through).
Check it with your phone
Nothing yet. Fill in step 1.
Test it now: open the camera on your phone and point it at the code on the screen. A link (or a "Join network" button) should pop up. If it does, it works.
Print it at home (optional)
Get a PDF that's ready to print on your own printer: a poster for a wall or window, or a sheet of stickers.
What's really happening? (for the curious)
A QR code (Quick Response code) is a pattern of small black and white squares that stands for a bit of text, such as a web address. Your phone's camera reads the pattern and offers to open the address. It was invented in Japan in 1994 to track car parts.
The codes made here are what's called static: the address is stored in the pattern itself. Many QR websites make dynamic codes instead: the pattern holds the address of their computer, which then sends people on to yours. That lets them count scans and change where it points, but it also means the code only works while their computer agrees to pass people on. When a free trial ends or a subscription isn't paid, it stops.
These codes have error correction built in: about a quarter of the pattern can be scuffed or covered and it still scans. The white border around the code (the quiet zone) matters too, so don't trim it off.
The Wi-Fi code holds your network name and password in a standard format (WIFI:S:name;T:WPA;P:password;;) that iPhones and Android phones understand. Anyone who can see the code can join your Wi-Fi, so put it where only your guests will see it.
A safety tip: criminals sometimes stick their own QR codes over real ones, for example on parking machines. When you scan any code, check the web address your phone shows before opening it.
All of this happens inside your web browser. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere.
QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED. This page uses the free qrcode-generator library by Kazuhiko Arase (MIT licence).