How to Make a Wi-Fi QR Code Guests Can Scan to Join

Make a Wi-Fi QR codeDownload the printable Wi-Fi sign and checklist (PDF)

What is inside a Wi-Fi QR code

A Wi-Fi QR code is not a link. It holds a short piece of text in a format that phone cameras recognise, and the phone offers to join the network when it reads it. The format was popularised by the open-source ZXing barcode project, whose documentation shows it as WIFI:T:WPA;S:mynetwork;P:mypass;;: T is the security type, S the network name, P the password, and an optional H:true marks a hidden network. The same page notes that a few characters (backslash, semicolon, comma, colon and double quote) must be escaped with a backslash inside the code.

You never have to type that by hand. The point of knowing it is that it explains every way these codes fail: the phone receives exactly the name, password and type you entered, and tries to join with them. If one of the three is slightly wrong, the code scans perfectly and the join fails.

Both major phone platforms read these codes from the camera. Apple's iPhone guide says you can scan a QR code with the Camera app or the Code Scanner in Control Center, and Android's help page shows that an Android phone can even display a QR code for the network it is on so another person can scan it.

Make the code, step by step

1. Find the exact network name

Copy the network name from a phone or laptop that is already connected. Capitals, spaces and symbols all count: "Harbor Cafe Guest" and "harbor cafe guest" are different networks to a phone.

2. Check the security type

Most routers made in the last decade use WPA2 or WPA3, sometimes both. In the generator these share one setting, "WPA, WPA2 or WPA3". Older routers may use WEP, and an open network has no password at all. If you are not sure, the router's admin page or the label on the router usually says.

3. Make the code

Open the free QR code generator and choose Wi-Fi. Type the network name and password, pick the security type, and tick "The network is hidden" only if your network really does not broadcast its name. The special characters are escaped for you. The password is never saved on the page or sent anywhere; the code is made in your browser.

4. Style it and download

Keep the code dark on a light background; the generator warns you if the colours are too close or inverted. You can add a logo, which switches the code to the highest error correction automatically. Download a PNG for printing on an office printer or an SVG for a print shop or design tool.

5. Test with two phones

Before you print anything, test on an iPhone and an Android phone. Each phone must first forget the network, otherwise it is already connected and the test proves nothing. On iPhone, open Settings, then Wi-Fi, tap the info button next to the network and choose Forget This Network. Then scan the code on screen.

6. Print and place it

Print the code at least 4 cm (about 1.5 inches) wide for a sign people scan from arm's length, larger for a wall across the room. Write the network name underneath in plain text, so a guest whose camera will not cooperate can still join by hand. The printable sign in this post's PDF is laid out for exactly that.

Security: what a Wi-Fi code gives away

Anyone who scans the code gets your password, and anyone who photographs the sign can scan it later. That is fine for a café or a waiting room. It is not fine for the network your till, cameras and office computers are on.

If your router has a guest network, put the QR code on that one. A guest network keeps visitors' devices away from your own, and you can change its password without disconnecting your business equipment. When you change the password, make a new code and replace every printed sign the same day; the old code will scan but no longer join.

Wi-Fi codes are also a nice way to share access with staff or family without reading out a long password. For that, keep the code in a private document rather than on the wall.

If the code scans but will not connect

• The network name does not match exactly. Capitals and trailing spaces are the usual culprits. Copy it again from a connected device.
• The security type is wrong. A WEP code will not join a WPA2 network. Check the router.
• The password changed. Old signs keep working as QR codes but fail as Wi-Fi logins. Remake the code.
• The hidden setting is wrong. Tick it only for a network that does not broadcast its name.
• The phone was already connected. Forget the network and test again.

If the camera does not react to the code at all, the problem is the print rather than the Wi-Fi details: size, contrast, border or glare. Our QR code troubleshooting guide works through those, and the QR code size guide covers how big to print it. Fynl's paid plans add QR codes that count scans and can be re-pointed, but a Wi-Fi code has to hold the details itself, so the free static code is the right tool here.

The QR code generator is one of several no-sign-up tools on our free tools page, including a UTM builder for tagging the links you put in codes and a Google review link generator.

Questions people also ask

Sources

• ZXing project wiki — Barcode contents (Wi-Fi network config)
• Apple iPhone User Guide — Scan a QR code with your iPhone camera
• Android Help — Connect to Wi-Fi networks on your Android device