QR Code for WiFi

How a WiFi QR code actually works

A WiFi QR code holds a short text payload your phone's camera recognises as network credentials rather than a URL. The format is WIFI:T:WPA;S:YourNetworkName;P:YourPassword;; — T is the security type, S is the SSID, P is the password, and the double semicolon closes the record.

When someone scans it, iOS and Android both offer a 'Join network' prompt instead of opening a browser. Nothing is sent anywhere: the phone reads the credentials locally and connects. That is why it works even before the guest has internet.

Use T:WPA for anything modern — WPA2 and WPA3 networks both accept WPA here. Use T:nopass for a genuinely open network, and leave the password empty: WIFI:T:nopass;S:CafeGuest;;. Getting the type wrong is the single most common reason a code scans but fails to connect.

Characters that break the code

The payload uses backslash, semicolon, comma, colon and double quote as its own delimiters. A password containing one of them has to escape it, or the scanner reads the record short and the join fails without saying why.

The generator escapes them for you, which is the main reason to use it instead of typing WIFI:T:WPA;S:...;; by hand. If you do write the string yourself — to check it, or to paste it into another tool — put a backslash before each of those characters and close the record with two semicolons.

The other frequent mistake is the security type. WPA covers WPA2 and WPA3; use the open option for a genuinely password-free network. Choosing the wrong type produces a code that scans perfectly and then refuses to connect.

Test before you print

Always scan your own code with a phone that is not already on the network. A phone with the credentials saved will connect regardless of whether the payload is correct, which is how a broken batch of fifty table cards gets printed.

Turn WiFi off, forget the network, then scan. If the prompt shows the right network name and connects, the payload is right. If it opens a browser instead, the payload was read as text — usually a missing closing semicolon.

Test on both an iPhone and an Android device if you can. Android's handling of unusual security types is slightly stricter, so a code that works on iOS may still fail on a Pixel.

Where to put it

Placement matters more than design. Table tents in a cafe, the reception desk in an office, the fridge door and the welcome book in a short-let, and the wall directly opposite the seating in a waiting room are the spots that actually get scanned.

Keep the printed code at least 2 cm square for a card held in the hand, and roughly 1/10th of the viewing distance for a wall sign — a code read from two metres away wants to be about 20 cm. Leave a clear white margin around it; QR codes need that quiet zone to be found by the camera.

Download the print-ready PDF rather than the PNG for anything that goes to a printer: it stays crisp at any size because it is vector, so the same file works on a small table card and a framed A5 sign.

Styling it without breaking it

You can change dot shape, colour, corner style and background, and add a frame with a caption like 'Connect to WiFi' so people know what the square is for. A caption measurably increases scans, because an unlabelled QR code on a table gets ignored.

Two rules keep a styled code readable: keep strong contrast between dots and background — dark on light, never light on light — and do not let a logo cover more than about 20% of the centre. WiFi payloads are short, which means fewer error-correction modules to spare than a long URL.

If you print on a coloured surface, use a transparent background and let the paper show through, or the white box around the code will look like a sticker.

When a link-based QR is the better choice

A WiFi QR code is static by nature: the password is baked into the printed square. Change the password and every card you printed is dead. For a home network that never rotates, that is fine.

If you rotate a guest password monthly — a common policy in offices and co-working spaces — encode a link to a page you control instead, and use a dynamic QR code. The printed square never changes; you edit the destination page when the password changes.

The same approach lets you put more than credentials behind the scan: house rules for a short-let, a captive-portal terms page, the guest WiFi plus your menu, or a link-in-bio page with everything a visitor might need. You also get scan analytics, which a pure WiFi code can never give you.

Step by step

1. 1Pick the Wi-Fi formThe generator opens on Static → Wi-Fi network. Static means the credentials are encoded in the square itself, with no ShareCut link in the middle — that is what makes the phone offer to join instead of opening a browser.
2. 2Enter the network name exactlyType the SSID as the router broadcasts it, including capitals and spaces. 'CafeGuest' and 'cafeguest' are two different networks to a phone.
3. 3Choose the security and passwordWPA covers WPA2 and WPA3. Pick 'Open' for a network with no password and the password field disappears. Semicolons, commas, colons and backslashes in the password are escaped for you — the single most common reason a hand-written payload scans but fails to connect.
4. 4Style and label itPick a dot style and colour with strong contrast, then add a frame with a caption such as 'Scan to connect to WiFi'. A code nobody understands is a code nobody scans.
5. 5Test on a phone that is not connectedForget the network on your phone, then scan. You should get a join prompt with the correct network name — not a browser.
6. 6Download and place itDownload the PDF for print or the PNG for screens, then put it where guests sit — table tents, reception, fridge door, waiting-room wall.

Frequently asked questions