Reading a code instead of making one
Every other tool on this site turns information into a QR code. This one goes the other way: give it an image and it tells you exactly what the code contains, in plain text, before anything opens.
That matters for two quite different reasons. The everyday one is that you cannot point a camera at your own screen, so a code sent in a message needs a different route. The more important one is safety: seeing the contents first is the single habit that defeats almost every QR scam.
Four ways to scan
- Choose a file. Any image containing a code, including screenshots.
- Drag and drop an image straight onto the box.
- Paste. Copy an image anywhere, then press Ctrl+V or Cmd+V on this page.
- Use the camera. Point it at a printed code. Your browser will ask permission first, and the video never leaves your device.
What it tells you
The scanner does not just dump the raw string. It identifies what kind of code it is, because the contents mean different things depending on type:
| Type | What you will see |
|---|---|
| Website link | The full URL, plus a button to open it once you have read it |
| WiFi network | The network name, the password in plain text, and the security type |
| Contact card | The full vCard, name, phone, email and company |
| Calendar event | The event title, start, end and location |
| Phone or SMS | The number, and any prefilled message |
| Plain text | The message exactly as encoded |
The WiFi row is worth pausing on. A WiFi QR code carries the password as readable text, which surprises people. Scanning one here shows you exactly how exposed that password is to anyone who photographs the code.
Read before you tap. A link is only shown as a clickable button after you have seen the full address. If the domain is not what you expected, close the page. That one check defeats nearly every QR based scam, and it is the reason this tool never opens anything automatically.
Checking a code you did not create
Codes arriving by message, email or post deserve more suspicion than one printed on a menu, because you did not choose the source. Things worth looking at once the contents appear:
- Does the domain match the business? A parking payment should not open a domain you have never heard of.
- Lookalike spelling. A zero for an o, an extra hyphen, an unusual ending.
- A shortener you cannot inspect. Legitimate businesses use them, but a shortener plus urgency is a poor combination.
- An immediate request for payment or a login from something you did not initiate.
Our guide on spotting a malicious QR code goes through how these scams actually work, with a test we ran on two visually identical codes pointing at very different places.
When a scan fails
If nothing is detected, it is almost always the image rather than the code:
- Too small. This is the usual cause. We measured it: the same code decoded down to 92 pixels and failed at 55. Ask for the original image rather than a forwarded copy, since messaging apps shrink pictures.
- Too much around it. A full page screenshot leaves the code tiny. Crop to the code and try again.
- A corner is cropped or covered. The three large squares are position markers. Damage there stops detection completely rather than degrading gracefully, as our damage test shows.
- A screenshot of a screenshot. Each round trip loses resolution.
Interestingly, compression is rarely the problem. In the same tests, a code survived being saved as JPEG at quality 5. Size is what breaks scanning, not file size.
Privacy
Images are decoded in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, no file reaches a server, and camera video is processed frame by frame on your own device and discarded. Close the tab and there is nothing left anywhere.
That is the point of doing it this way. A WiFi password or a contact card read through an online scanner that uploads the image has been handed to a stranger. Here it has not left the machine you are sitting at.
Common questions
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, and the camera option is the natural one there. On a phone your own camera app may already read printed codes, so this is most useful for codes already saved in your photos.
Can it read a damaged or partly covered code?
Sometimes. QR codes carry error correction that recovers a limited amount of missing data, and the scanner will use it. But damage to a corner marker is usually fatal regardless of how much of the rest survives.
Can it read barcodes too?
No, QR codes only. Traditional barcodes use a different format entirely.
Why not open the link straight away?
Because that would defeat the purpose. The value here is seeing the destination before committing to it.
Related tools
Need to make a code rather than read one? Start with URL, WiFi, vCard or text, or generate a whole list at once with the bulk generator. If you are scanning something from a screenshot, our guide on scanning from screenshots covers the platform specific shortcuts too.