How to Get a WiFi QR Code for Your Network

Reading a WiFi password aloud is a small, recurring indignity. “Capital B, then two ones, no — lowercase L.” A QR code removes it: your guest points a camera at a square, taps a prompt, and they are on the network.

You do not need an app, an account, or a service that stores your password. A WiFi QR code is just text, encoded. Here is what it actually contains, how to make one, and the one thing worth checking before you print it and stick it on the fridge.

What a WiFi QR code actually is

There is no magic in it. A WiFi QR code encodes a single line of plain text in a format both Android and iOS understand:

WIFI:T:WPA;S:MyNetworkName;P:MyPassword;H:false;;

Four fields, and that is the whole standard:

• T — the security type. WPA covers WPA, WPA2 and WPA3. WEP is for old hardware. nopass is an open network.
• S — the SSID, which is the network name exactly as it appears in your WiFi list.
• P — the password. Left empty for open networks.
• H — whether the network is hidden. true only if the SSID is not broadcast.

That is the entire payload. Because it is only text, generating the code is pure arithmetic — no server needs to see it. Our WiFi QR code generator does the encoding in your browser, so the password is never transmitted anywhere. That matters more than it sounds: a generator that builds the image server-side has your WiFi password in its logs.

Making the code

Three fields, one download:

1. Type the network name exactly. SSIDs are case-sensitive and count spaces. “Home WiFi” and “Home Wifi” are different networks as far as the code is concerned.
2. Enter the password. Same rule — it is case-sensitive, and a trailing space will break it.
3. Pick the security type. If you are unsure, it is almost certainly WPA. Anything sold in the last fifteen years uses WPA2 or WPA3, and both are covered by the WPA setting.

Download it as PNG for printing or SVG if you want to scale it without blurring. SVG is the better choice for anything going on a sign or a menu, because it stays sharp at any size.

Test it before you print it

This is the step people skip, and it is the one that saves you laminating something useless.

Turn WiFi off on a second phone. Scan the code. It should prompt to join the network without asking for a password. If it asks for the password, something in the code is wrong — almost always a typo in the SSID or the wrong security type.

Testing on the phone that is already connected proves nothing. It will join the network regardless because it already has the credentials saved.

Where the code physically goes

Print it at least 3cm across. Smaller than that and phone cameras struggle at anything but very close range, particularly in low light — which is exactly the condition in most cafés and living rooms.

Matte paper beats glossy. Gloss reflects overhead lighting straight back into the lens and defeats the scan from the most natural angle.

If it is going somewhere public — a café table, a waiting room, an Airbnb — put it on your guest network rather than your main one. Which brings us to the part worth thinking about.

The security question, honestly

A WiFi QR code is your password written down. Anyone who can photograph the square has your password, and any QR reader will display the decoded text rather than joining automatically.

That is not an argument against using one — it is an argument for putting it on the right network. Most routers made in the last decade can run a guest network: separate password, internet access, no visibility of your printer, your NAS, or the laptop you do your banking on. Generate the code for that network and the worst case is a stranger using your bandwidth.

For a code that only ever lives inside your own home, the main network is fine. For anything visible to the public, use the guest network. That single decision is the whole of WiFi QR security.

When it does not work

• It prompts for a password. The SSID or password has a typo, or the security type is wrong. Regenerate and re-test.
• Nothing happens at all. Older Android versions and iOS before 11 cannot read WiFi codes from the camera app. A dedicated QR reader will still decode the text.
• It joins but has no internet. The code worked. The problem is the network, not the code.
• Special characters fail. Semicolons, colons, commas and backslashes in a password must be escaped in the payload. A generator should handle it; if you are hand-writing the string, prefix each with a backslash.

Other things worth encoding

The same technique works for anything text-based. A link QR code is the most common — menus, reviews, event pages — and works identically, minus the security consideration.

Both generators here produce static codes. Nothing expires, nothing tracks scans, and nothing stops working if this site does — the code contains your data, not a redirect to our server. That is the difference between a static QR code and the “dynamic” ones most services sell you.