How to share your WiFi with a QR code
Let guests join your network by pointing their phone camera at a card, without reading out a password. How to make one that works and keep it secure.
Reading a WiFi password aloud is a small ritual of frustration: capital letters, zeros that might be Os, a guest who gets one character wrong three times. A QR code replaces the whole thing. A guest points their phone camera at a card, taps join and they’re on.
Making the code
The WiFi QR code generator needs three things: the network name exactly as it appears in the list of networks, including capitals and spaces; the password; and the security type, which is WPA2 or WPA3 for virtually every home and office router. Tick hidden network only if your network doesn’t broadcast its name.
The generator escapes characters such as semicolons and colons that the WiFi code format uses as separators and reads the finished code back to check it, so a password with punctuation in it doesn’t produce a code that scans but fails to join.
Printing it
WiFi codes are short, so they print small. A few centimetres across is plenty for a table card; make it larger for a wall where people will scan from a step away. Put the network name and password in plain text underneath too, for the one guest whose phone won’t cooperate. Scan the printed card with an iPhone and an Android phone before you frame it.
Keeping it secure
The password is inside the code in plain text. Anyone who photographs the card can read it with any scanner, including the QR code scanner on this site, which shows the network name and password. So point the code at a guest network, which most routers can create in a couple of minutes and keep your own devices on a separate network with a different password.
When you change the password
The password is written into the code, so a new password needs a new code. That is also why a WiFi code never stops working on its own: there is no service behind it, as explained in do QR codes expire. And if you come across a code in public that claims to be free WiFi, check where it leads first.
Common questions
Do guests need an app to scan it?
Not on current phones. The iPhone camera has joined networks from WiFi codes since iOS 11 and Android handles them through the camera or Google Lens on most recent devices.
Can I make a code from my phone instead?
Android can show a QR code for the network it is connected to, from the network's share option in WiFi settings and recent iPhones can show one from the Passwords app. Those are handy for a one-off; a generated code can be printed and framed.
What if my password has a semicolon or colon in it?
Those characters are part of the WiFi code format, so they must be escaped or the phone reads the password wrong and fails to join. A good generator does this automatically. Test the printed code with a phone before relying on it.
Is a WiFi QR code secure?
It is as secure as writing the password on the card, because anyone who scans or photographs it can read the password. Use it for a guest network, not the one your own computers use.