What a QR code actually stores
A QR code is a two-dimensional barcode holding plain text. Phones treat certain patterns specially: a string starting https:// opens as a link, tel:+441234567890 offers to dial, mailto:you@example.com starts an email, and WIFI:T:WPA;S:MyNetwork;P:MyPassword;; joins a network. The three big squares in the corners let a scanner find and rotate the code, and built-in error correction means it still reads with a logo over it or a corner scuffed.
Once you are done here, the URL encoder picks up where this leaves off.
The colour picker is the obvious companion when this one is not quite the right shape.
Choosing a size and printing
Shorter text means fewer modules and a code that scans from further away, so link to a short URL rather than encoding a long one. On screen 240 px is plenty; for print pick the 512 px PNG and place it at least 2 cm across, larger for a poster. Keep a clear white margin of about four modules around the code, never stretch or invert it — dark on light is what scanners expect.
For a closely related job, the UUID generator does it in one click.
Privacy and permanence
Generation happens fully in your browser using a JavaScript encoder loaded from a public CDN. Your text is never uploaded, logged or shortened, and no account is required. That also means the code is static: it points straight at whatever you encoded, so it works forever and cannot be switched off, but equally you cannot change its destination later. If you need to edit a target after printing, encode a URL you control and redirect it at your end.
Worth having open at the same time: the pixels to inches calculator.
Frequently asked questions
- Do these QR codes expire?
- No. The code encodes your text directly with no tracking redirect, so it keeps working for as long as the destination does.
- Is my text sent anywhere?
- No. The code is generated entirely in your browser; nothing you type is uploaded, logged or stored.
- What size should I download for print?
- Use the 512 px PNG and print it at least 2 cm wide, bigger for posters, keeping a clear white border around it.
- Can I make a Wi-Fi QR code?
- Yes. Encode WIFI:T:WPA;S:NetworkName;P:Password;; and most phones will offer to join the network when they scan it.
- How much text can one QR code hold?
- A QR code holds a few thousand characters at most, and long input makes the pattern dense and harder to scan. Keep links short and host longer content on a page you link to.