About QR Code Reader
You often meet a QR code on the same device you would need to scan it with: in an email, a PDF, a chat message or a web page. Phones cannot point at their own screens, so this page reads the code from a screenshot or saved image instead. It also works with a camera, on a laptop or a phone.
It is also a safer way to look at a code you do not trust. Your phone's camera may offer to open a link with one tap. Here you see the full text first, along with a warning about anything unusual in the address, and nothing opens until you press the button. The result stays on your device: the image is read in the page and is not uploaded.
How it works
If your browser has a built-in barcode detector, the page asks it first, because it is fast and can find several codes in one image. If it does not, or it finds nothing, the page uses its own reader. That reader tries the image at up to three sizes and turns it into black and white in several ways, including a local threshold that copes with shadows and a pass for light-on-dark codes. It locates the three corner squares, corrects for perspective, then repairs damage with Reed-Solomon error correction before reading the data.
The text is then sorted by what it looks like. A WIFI: code becomes network, security and password fields, and a vCard becomes name, phone and email. Addresses for email, phone, text messages and maps get a matching title. A web address gets a warning message written for that link: shortened links, addresses made of bare numbers and unencrypted http links each get their own caution.
How to use QR Code Reader
- Press Select an image, drop a file on the box, or paste a screenshot straight onto the page.
- Or press Scan with your camera, allow access, and hold the code steady. Scanning stops by itself once it reads a code, or when you press Stop camera.
- Read the result and the warning beside it. Press Copy to take the text, or Open link if you are happy with the address.
A real Wi-Fi code
WIFI:T:WPA;S:Cafe\;Guest;P:latte\:2026;;Wi-Fi network
Network: Cafe;Guest
Security: WPA, WPA2 or WPA3
Password: latte:2026The backslashes in the raw text are escapes, and the fields show the true values. A short link such as https://bit.ly/3abc gets this warning instead: bit.ly is a link shortener, so the real destination is hidden.
When it helps
- Reading a code that arrived in an email or PDF on the phone you would normally scan with
- Getting the Wi-Fi password out of a code so you can type it on a laptop
- Checking a code on a parking meter or poster before you trust it with a payment
- Testing a code you made, to confirm the text inside is what you intended
Tips for a better result
- Crop first if the image is busy. A code that fills most of the picture is far easier to find than one in the corner of a wide shot.
- On a computer, a screenshot is usually sharper than a photo of the screen. Take one and paste it straight onto the page.
- Read the host name in the warning carefully. Fake codes are often stickers placed over real ones, and the address is the only thing that gives them away.
Good to know
- It reads QR codes only. EAN, Code 128 and other barcodes are a different format and will not be found.
- The warnings look at the form of the address and do not check it against any list of bad sites. A clean result is not proof that a link is safe.
- The built-in reader returns one code per image, so several codes are listed only in browsers with a native detector. For the rest, crop to the code you want.
- Kanji segments are not supported by the built-in reader, and codes that are badly blurred, heavily cropped or too damaged to repair will not read.
- HEIC photos often cannot be opened by the browser. Convert them to JPG first.
Questions people ask
Is my image uploaded anywhere?
No. The picture is read by code running in this page, and the camera feed never leaves your device. The only thing that goes online is the link itself, if you press Open link.
Why was no code found in my photo?
Usually the code is too small in the frame, out of focus or partly cut off, or glare has washed out part of it. Crop so it fills most of the picture, or retake the photo straight on.
Can it read a code shown in reverse, white on black?
Yes. The built-in reader also tries the image with its colors flipped, so inverted codes can read here even when some phone cameras refuse them.
What to use next
- QR Code Generator: to make a replacement or test code of your own
- Barcode Generator: for the one-dimensional codes this reader does not cover
- EXIF Viewer: if the photo itself is what you want to inspect
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