A Wi-Fi QR code encodes your network name and password in a format phones understand. A guest points their camera at it, taps the prompt, and they’re on. Nobody squints at a handwritten password, and nobody asks you whether that character is a lowercase L or a one.
Your password never leaves this browser. The code is drawn on your own device in JavaScript. The network name and password are not sent to our servers, not logged, and not stored anywhere — there is nothing to send, because the phone that scans the code reads the credentials straight out of the image.
What the code actually contains
There is no link and no lookup. A Wi-Fi QR code is a short plain-text string in a format every modern phone recognises:
WIFI:T:WPA;S:MyNetwork;P:hunter2;;
T is the security type (WPA, WEP, or nopass for
an open network), S is the network name, and P is the password. A hidden
network adds H:true;. The two semicolons at the end close the record.
That means the password is readable by anyone who scans the code, or who photographs the card and decodes it later. This is fine for a guest network on a café wall. It is not fine for the network your point-of-sale terminal is on. Put guests on a guest network and print the code for that one.
Which phones actually join
Scanner support is good but not identical everywhere, and the differences are worth knowing before you print a hundred cards.
- iPhone (iOS 11 and later) — the built-in Camera app reads the code and offers “Join Network.” One tap and it connects.
- Android 10 and later — the stock camera joins the same way.
- Android 9 and earlier — the camera usually just shows the credentials as text rather than joining. The guest can still read the password off the screen and type it, so the card is not useless, but it isn’t one-tap.
- WPA3 networks — use
WPAas the security type. Phones treat it the same and connect normally; there is no separate WPA3 value in the format. - Hidden networks — you must set the hidden flag, or the phone will look for a broadcasting network by that name, fail to find it, and give up.
Static codes versus dynamic codes
This is a static code: the credentials live inside the image itself. That has two consequences, one good and one limiting. The good one is that it works forever, with no account, no service in the middle, and nothing that can be switched off or paywalled later. The limiting one is that it can never be edited or tracked — change the Wi-Fi password and every printed card is wrong, and there is no way to count scans because nothing ever contacts a server.
If you need to change what a printed code does later, or want to see how many people used it, that is a dynamic QR code instead — the code points at a short link you control. The free generator makes both.
Where these earn their keep
- Cafés and restaurants — a card on each table beats a password taped to the register that everyone has to walk over to read.
- Guest rooms and Airbnbs — a framed card on the nightstand answers the first question every guest asks, before they have to message you.
- Offices and reception desks — visitors get on the guest network without anyone from IT getting involved.
- Waiting rooms and salons — anywhere people sit for twenty minutes and would rather not burn their mobile data.
Print it at one inch or larger. A long password makes a dense code, and dense codes need size or a close, steady camera.
Frequently asked questions
Does my Wi-Fi password go through your server?
No. The QR code is generated in your browser by a JavaScript library, and the network name and password are used only to draw the image on your screen. They are never transmitted to us, never logged, and never stored. Downloading the code does not change that — the file is created locally too.
Can I change the Wi-Fi password later without reprinting the card?
Not with a static Wi-Fi code. The password is encoded in the image, so a new password means a new code. If you rotate credentials often, point a dynamic code at a small page listing the current network details instead — then you edit the page and the printed code keeps working.
Does a Wi-Fi QR code expire?
No. There is no account, no trial clock, and no service in the middle that could switch it off. It keeps working for exactly as long as the network name and password stay the same.
Can someone read my password off the code?
Yes — anyone who can scan or photograph it can recover the password. Treat the printed card the same way you’d treat the password written on a whiteboard, and use it for a guest network rather than the network your business systems sit on.
Make your Wi-Fi code
Enter the network name and password, see the code render instantly, and download it. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Create a Wi-Fi QR code Free, no account, generated in your browser.Last updated September 18, 2026.