Wi-Fi QR code generator
Turn your network name and password into a QR code that guests scan to join the Wi-Fi, instead of copying a twenty-character key off the back of the router. Built in your browser: what you type is never sent anywhere, nor put in a share link.
Part of design tools and image tools.
How the phone reads it
The code holds a single line of text in a format the ZXing barcode project defined and phones adopted: WIFI:, then T for the security type, S for the network name, P for the password and H when the network is hidden, each field closed by a semicolon. The iPhone camera has recognised it since iOS 11, and Android phones read it from the camera or from the QR scanner in the Wi-Fi settings; either way the phone offers to join, and nothing is looked up online — the password comes straight out of the image.
WPA, WEP or none
WPA/WPA2 is the right choice for nearly every router: the T field only tells the phone which kind of key to expect, and WPA there covers WPA2 as well. WEP belongs to routers from the early 2000s and can be cracked in minutes, so pick it only if the network really still uses it. None is for an open network, and then no password is written into the code at all — the generator leaves the P field out.
Hidden networks
Tick Hidden network when the router does not broadcast its name: the code then carries H:true, which tells the phone to look for that network by name rather than wait to see it in the list of nearby ones. Hiding the name is not protection, though — devices that already know the network call it out by name to find it. The password is what keeps people out, and the code holds it in plain text: whoever can photograph the printout can join, so put it where only guests see it.
Special characters, escaped for you
Say these are the values typed into the generator above:
| Network name (SSID) | Café "Corner" |
|---|---|
| Password | tea;biscuits,2\go |
| Security | WPA/WPA2 |
| Hidden network | No |
The code then holds the text below, produced when this page was built by the same function the generator runs:
WIFI:T:WPA;S:Café \"Corner\";P:tea\;biscuits\,2\\go;;
A backslash goes in front of every semicolon, comma, double quote and backslash inside the network name or the password, because those characters would otherwise close a field or open a quoted value. The phone strips them again when it reads the code, so the router still receives the password exactly as typed. Type it as it is — the generator adds the backslashes itself. Spaces and accents need no escape: the text is encoded as UTF-8.
Other kinds of QR code
For a link or any other text, use the QR code generator in free-text mode. Only that mode gets a share link; what you type here stays in this tab — see the privacy page.