How to Make a QR Code for Your Wi-Fi

Every visitor asks the same question: “What is the Wi-Fi password?” Reading out a long password, letter by letter, and watching someone type it wrong twice is nobody’s idea of a good time. A Wi-Fi QR code solves it. The guest opens their camera, points it at the code, taps once, and they are connected.

This guide shows how to make one in a few minutes, how to print it, and how to keep your network safe while you share it.

What you need

• The exact name of your Wi-Fi network
• The Wi-Fi password, if it has one
• Your phone or computer, and a printer if you want a paper copy

Step 1: Open the QR code tool and choose Wi-Fi

Open the QR Code Generator and choose Wi-Fi network from the list of code types. Everything happens in your browser. The name and the password are not sent anywhere while you make the code.

Step 2: Type the network name and password

Type the network name exactly as it appears on your phone, including capital letters, spaces and symbols. A single wrong character makes the code useless. Then choose the security type:

• WPA, WPA2 or WPA3 is what nearly every home router uses today. If you are unsure, choose this.
• WEP is an old type that you will rarely meet.
• No password is for open networks, such as a shop that lets everyone connect.

If your network does not show up in the list of available networks, tick The network is hidden.

Step 3: Check the preview

The code appears as you type. Look at the contrast hint below the colour boxes. Dark squares on a white background are the safest. If you change the colours, keep the squares much darker than the background. A warning appears when the colours are too close, because phones then cannot read the code.

Leave the error correction on Medium. A higher level lets the code survive scratches or a small logo on top, but it makes the squares smaller and harder to read from far away.

Step 4: Create it and test it

Tap Create QR code. You get two files:

• a PNG picture, which is good for screens, messages and printing at normal sizes
• an SVG file, which can be made as large as you like without getting blurry, which is ideal for posters

Before you print anything, scan the code with your own phone. Open the camera, point it at the screen and see whether it offers to join the network. If it does, any other modern phone will too.

Printing and placing it

• Print it at least 3 cm wide, and bigger if people will scan it from a distance.
• Use plain white paper and a dark printer colour. A light grey code does not scan well.
• Put it where guests can see it: on the fridge, in a frame in the living room or on the guest-room desk.
• Add a few words under it, such as “Scan to join our Wi-Fi”, so that people know what it is.

Keep your network safe

A QR code is not a lock. It simply hands over the password in a form that a phone can read, which means that anyone who can scan the code can read the password. A few habits help:

1. Show the code only where you are happy for people to connect.
2. If you run a shop or an office, consider a separate guest network with its own password, and make the code for that one.
3. If the code ends up somewhere it should not be, change the Wi-Fi password in your router settings and make a new code.

Other kinds of codes

The same tool also makes codes for a website address, plain text, a WhatsApp message, an email and a phone number. A code for your website or shop page is a good way to bring a printed flyer to life. If you want to put your code on a document, try Resize Image to get the size right, or JPG to PDF to put it on a page.

A short checklist

1. Choose Wi-Fi network and type the name and password carefully.
2. Keep dark squares on a light background.
3. Create the code and scan it with your own phone.
4. Print it clearly, and put it where guests can see it.
5. Change the password and make a new code if it gets to the wrong people.

With a minute of work, you will never have to read out a Wi-Fi password again.